Hyvä Out & About: Meet Magento Romania, Tweakwise Partner Day, MxLDN & the Retail Technology Show
Welcome back to Hyvä out and about - last week we were out and about a lot! We had not one, not two, but four events across Europe - starting with Meet Magento Romania on Monday attended by John Hughes and followed by the Tweakwise Partner Day, the London Magento Meetup (MxLDN) and The Retail Technology Show later in the week.
Watch Our Event Catch Up On YouTube:
John & the Magento Community Magic…
John Hughes, our VP of Product, had a great time at Meet Magento Romania in the historic heart of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca, which was kicked off with a lively dinner in downtown Cluj, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. The conference started with a surprise change when Mathias Schreiber unfortunately couldn't attend, leading to an impromptu Magento community panel discussion. John and other Mage-OS board members stepped in to discuss the critical role of open source in eCommerce and the need to bolster the Magento community.
The sessions were insightful, with Ivan Chepurnyi sharing advanced strategies for enhancing Magento catalogue performance, which might be integrated into Mage-OS and Magento Open Source in the future. Jakub Winkler turned his past frustrations with Magento into a powerful discussion on overcoming challenges and embracing positive changes.
John also took to the stage and shared his insights on evolving eCommerce storefronts simply and affordably, reflecting Hyvä’s values of performance and quality. Sorin Bărnuţiu from Baldwin discussed the practical benefits of transitioning sites to Hyvä, highlighting the ease and effectiveness of our platform.
Meet Magento Romania was another good reminder of the power of the Magento community and the breadth of its reach, and as with any event, the magic is always in connecting with like-minded people and learning from each other's experiences to improve.”
The evening allowed for relaxed networking, and John even managed to squeeze in plenty of sight-seeing!
It's about time for Sanne’s arrival…
Hyvä's Commercial Director, Sanne Bolkenstein, brought back plenty of laughs and insights from the Tweakwise Partner Day, hosted at the stunning Hoogtij Amsterdam. The event had great talks from Tweakwise and their partners with two specialised tracks: a Commercial Track designed for marketers and business moguls, and a Technical Track tailored for the wizards in development and IT.
One stand out moment was the Tweakwise Awards, where Emico, the agency responsible for the Hyvä & Tweakwise integration, was honoured for their contribution. This award highlighted not just the seamless integration and its enhanced eCommerce capabilities, but also the community's strong support for innovative solutions that advance the whole of the Magento ecosystem.
Sanne also rocked the event in more ways than one! Besides diving into eCommerce discussions and enjoying delicious food, Sanne also stole the spotlight on the karaoke stage with a rendition of Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrty.”
It was very well organized with interesting sessions, great food and cocktails! Tweakwise knows what community is about!
But of course, the highlight of my evening was doing karaoke with Daniël Klomps, Nicoline Bredt, Niek Verkoelen, Tjitse Efdé, Gerwin Souman and Erik Brandt”
Rebecca rode up on the afternoon train…
It was sunny. (My fellow Swifties will understand)
I had a marvellous time at MxLDN & the Retail Technology Show last week, here are my best bits…
Parakeets at Hyde Park
I know this is probably old news to frequent London go-ers, but I’d never seen the green ring necked parakeets that reside at the Lancaster gate end of Hyde park near the Italian garden.
I decided to take a detour through the park on my way from Paddington Station to my hotel, and I was pleasantly surprised when a bright green flock of them flew right across the path in front of me!
MxLDN
The Remarkable Power of Just Asking: How Direct Customer Feedback Drives Success
The first session of the Magento London Meet-Up was a really insightful and interesting talk by Shaun Loughlin, Head of eCommerce at LeMieux.
How many people working in eCommerce have never actually spoken to their customers or asked for any amount of feedback? I think it’s pretty common”
Shaun shared some seriously impressive stats around LeMieux and what they’ve been able to achieve with their truly customer-centric strategy.
The three key pillars of customer feedback:
- Open-Ended Feedback - Collecting open-ended feedback and prioritising qualitative research over quantitative data.
- Multiple, regular feedback sources - Such as pop-ups triggered by actions (Checkout Exit or Post Purchase), customer interviews, and user testing.
- Reflective analysis - The process that you use to analyse the information you’ve gathered
The results of this customer feedback? Le Mieux was able to group their feedback by solution and then tally up just how many problems they would be solving with each in order to decide which to tackle first.
The top solution? A 3D rendered outfit builder which allows customers to try on an outfit for both horse and rider - which led to some incredible results thanks to them directly answering the calls in their open customer feedback.
Managing a Magento website: How to fix operational issues before they become problems
Dan Garner, Founder and Managing Director at On Tap, delivered an engaging session on their Audit IQ tool. He emphasised the importance of proactive management and optimization of Magento sites to prevent potential pitfalls that can affect performance and user experience as well as relationships between agency and merchant. Audit IQ acts as a comprehensive monitoring system, providing instant alerts for any issues that arise, ensuring that both developers and store owners can address them before they escalate.
Friends, colleagues and partners
After the event, I popped over the road to the pub for a drink with Peter from Sonassi, and Tadgh and Thomas from Monsoon Consulting. It was a great opportunity to unwind - these informal gatherings are always so nice, reinforcing the value of our community and the shared goals that bring us together.
The Retail Technology Show
Walking through the aisles of the Retail Technology Show, amid the vibrant displays for POS systems, hardware solutions, and the usual payments and distribution services, it struck me: where were the dedicated eCommerce stands?
It's clear that this expo is heavily geared towards brick-and-mortar retail solutions, which feels increasingly disconnected from the thriving eCommerce industry that I’m deeply involved in with Magento & Hyvä. While it's always beneficial to stay updated with broader retail technologies, the lack of eCommerce-focused stands was a bit puzzling.
Is it that the audience at these events isn't looking for eCommerce solutions, or is it the fear of being the first to dive in? The risk of failure is there, but so is the potential to stand out and succeed spectacularly. It feels like a missed opportunity.
Paul Jarvis, International Partner Manager at Hypernode, suggested a collaborative approach: "Maybe we can club together with some others next year and share a stand to test the waters again!" This idea of a collective effort could indeed mitigate some of the risks involved and provide a stronger platform for showcasing e-commerce solutions.
Perhaps, it’s about time we in the Magento community consider making a stronger, more concerted appearance at these expos. Who knows? It might just be the perfect setting to introduce the benefits of our platform and innovations to a wider retail audience on a big scale.
Purpose and profit, can you really have it all?
Whilst at the Retail Technology Show a sustainability talk by Sophie Trueman, Managing Director at Too Good To Go, caught my eye. Sophie shared insights into integrating sustainability in UK retail and hospitality as well as her background and all about Too Good To Go. They are a pioneering company focused on reducing food waste by connecting consumers with businesses that have surplus food.
Sophie's discussion revolved around understanding consumer trends towards sustainability and leveraging technology to enhance ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) strategies. She emphasised that businesses could significantly drive social change by aligning profits with purpose and using innovative solutions to boost sustainability efforts.
Here are the key steps Sophie outlined for businesses aiming to make a real impact:
- Align actions with core values to build credibility and trust.
- Utilise technology to streamline and enhance sustainability measures.
- Cultivate a sustainability-focused culture within your team.
- Engage actively with the community to broaden the impact of sustainability initiatives.
- Track and measure sustainability outcomes to ensure continuous improvement.
Sophie’s gave practical insights for businesses looking to balance economic goals with environmental and social responsibilities, showcasing how companies like Patagonia, Lego and Too Good To Go are leading the way in sustainable business practices.
What a week it’s been!
From insightful talks to karaoke, this week was a reminder of how dynamic and vibrant the Magento community is. Each event provided unique takeaways and reinforced the power of community and innovation in our industry.
Want more? Here’s John’s recap of an engaging few days: Meet Magento Romania 2024 Recap & Rebecca's video of her time in London: MxLDN & the Retail Technology Show | April 2024.
