Meet Our Exhibitors: Anna Sutton, Co-Founder and CEO of The Data Refinery
As the curtain comes down on 2024’s eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing, we sat down with Anna Sutton, Co-founder & CEO of data and analytics platform The Data Refinery to talk about the challenges eCommerce retailers are facing ahead of peak season and the importance of industry events in bringing people together.
What industry trends excited you the most at this year’s eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing?
I know that AI is vastly overused and hyped, but I was excited to see some real progress with the commercial implementation of AI and data-based tools. Obviously, I have a personal interest in data, but the thing that’s always struck me is that so much talent is wasted because manual, time-consuming tasks fill up our to-do lists, leaving us little time to get really creative and drive results.
What are the biggest challenges facing eCommerce retailers heading into Q4 and peak season?
Well, we all know that the market has been tough. As we head into Christmas trading it will be critical to spot opportunities quickly and respond. Keeping pricing right to ensure margins are managed, whilst keeping an eye on sell-through rate is one thing. The potential to go viral on TikTok shop is something else altogether. Managing demand, stock, pricing, and channels and responding to trends across them all to hit the target is a big challenge as we fragment further across selling channels and unpredictable new audiences.
What is most exciting to you about the eCommerce and digital marketing industry right now?
There are so many ways to talk to your customers and potential customers. If you can be truly creative and targeted, you can achieve wild success. There’s nothing else like seeing a campaign you’ve created take off and now there are more ways than ever to make that happen!
Why is it important to bring the industry together at events like eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing?
Learning from others' successes and mistakes is always a valuable thing to do. Likewise hearing stories about how other people are harnessing new technologies and techniques to boost their trading gets our imagination and creative side going. Events like eCommerce Expo always feel like they’re full of potential – which is exciting!
What’s the best piece of advice you would give to new people joining the industry?
New people joining the industry bring new ideas – whether that’s a new perspective from the industry they’re joining from or a fresh look at ways of doing things from the next generation. Celebrate your differences, don’t be in a rush to conform to how everyone else seems to be doing it. Listen and learn from them yes, but think about what you have to offer that’s unique.
Latest News
-
2024 in Review: eCommerce and Marketing
18 Dec 2024The ever-evolving world of eCommerce and marketing has seen transformative shifts this year. Here's what stood out in 2024.... -
So, Black Friday – Was It Any Good?
12 Dec 2024 Andy Mulcahy, Strategy and Insight Director, IMRGBlack Friday 2024 showed positive revenue growth, marking the first uplift since 2020, but traffic remained subdued, dampening the overall success. Year-on-year comparisons were skewed due to the timi ... -
November 2024 in Marketing and eCommerce
25 Nov 2024 Lily Tokmantseva, Head of Marketing & Content - eCommerce Expo, Technology for Marketing and IMRGBite-size updates on what happened in marketing and eCommerce this month, to keep you ahead of the curve and inform your campaigns. -
How to Grow Your Small Business on TikTok and Instagram with Ramona Gohil, Founder of Rani & Co
25 Nov 2024 Laura Dazon, Senior Content Marketing Executive at CloserStill MediaIn this exclusive interview, we sit down with Ramona Gohil, founder of the feminist jewellery brand Rani & Co. From humble beginnings to TikTok-fuelled success, Ramona shares her journey, insights int ... -
Black Friday 2024: A Test of Nerve
25 Nov 2024 Andy Mulcahy, Strategy and Insight Director, IMRGRetailers are gearing up for the biggest sales event of the year, but with shifting dates and unpredictable shopping habits, it’s a rollercoaster ride. Andy Mulcahy, Strategy and Insight Director at I ... -
Whisper It…but eCommerce Might Just Be Back
30 Oct 2024 Andy Mulcahy, Strategy and Insight Director, IMRGECommerce has been in the doldrums for a few years now, with negative revenue growth, lower conversion and dips in site traffic becoming an accepted part of market conditions; that has been the post-p ... -
Meet Our Exhibitors: BigCommerce's Mark Adams
02 Oct 2024Mark Adams, senior vice president and general manager of EMEA at eCommerce platform BigCommerce talks to us about the industry trends he was excited to see during the show and the exciting development ... -
Meet Our Exhibitors: Nibble's CEO Rosie Bailey
02 Oct 2024Rosie Bailey, Founder & CEO at AI negotiation platform Nibble, talks about what she found most insightful from the show and the hottest trends driving developments in eCommerce and marketing. -
Meet Our Exhibitors: SCAYLE's Craig Smith
02 Oct 2024Craig Smith, Country Manager UK & Ireland at enterprise commerce platform SCAYLE, shares his insights on the hottest trends in eCommerce and marketing and offers advice for newcomers entering the indu ... -
Anna Sutton, Co-founder & CEO of data and analytics platform The Data Refinery talks about the challenges eCommerce retailers are facing ahead of peak season and the importance of industry events in b ...
-
Harshal Shah, CEO and Founder of virtual assistant service ECOMVA talks about the trends he found most interesting during the show and his best pieces of advice as we head on into peak season.
-
Hugo Borensztein, Co-founder & CEO of 3D visualisation tool Omi, talks about what he’s most looking forward to from this year’s eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing and the advice he’d give for ...
-
Sam Theakston, Director at B2 Agency, discusses what he’s most looking forward to at the events and the critical challenges facing eCommerce retailers ahead of peak season.
-
Eva Palatinsky, Founder and CEO of Globalfy, shares what excites her most in the current eCommerce and marketing landscape and the top advice for newcomers to the fields.
-
Zaria Parvez: Senior Global Social Media Manager at Duolingo – Creativity, Community, and Social Media Strategy
11 Sep 2024 Laura DazonMeet Zaria Parvez, the mastermind behind Duolingo's viral social media success, who grew their TikTok from 50K to over 11M followers. Discover how she transformed Duolingo into a social-first brand, c ... -
Lucas van der Schalk, CEO at circular plastics solution provider Corplex highlights the biggest trends and challenges within eCommerce and marketing and what’s exciting him the most in those industrie ...
-
We spoke to Dorota Wróbel, Chief R&D at digital marketplace G2A on what she’s looking forward to most about the show and the importance of bringing the community together at the event.
-
Is The Future of eCommerce Looking a Bit Brighter?
10 Sep 2024 Andy Mulcahy, Strategy and Insight Director, IMRGIf you are a regular reader of this column, you’ve probably gotten used to the updates often containing news that don’t paint a great picture of eCommerce performance. But I’m just the messenger! I ca ... -
Gavin Warwick, European Partnership Manager at supply chain software provider SmartFreight explains what’s exciting him about the industries today as well as the trends helping shape the future.
-
Meet Our Exhibitors: Gnatta's CEO Jack Barmby
05 Sep 2024Jack Barmby, CEO of communication tech provider Gnatta, discusses the industry trends he’s most looking forward to seeing at eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing this year as well as the bigges ... -
Beth Chapman, Managing Director at global delivery solution provider Starlinks Global talks to us about what she’s most looking forward to at the show and her advice for newcomers entering the industr ...
-
Georgia Leybourne, CMO at eCommerce inventory and order management software business Linnworks discusses the things she’s most looking forward to at the show and the importance of the event in bringin ...
-
Meet Our Exhibitors: Ecommpay's Moshe Winegarten
05 Sep 2024Moshe Winegarten, Chief Revenue Officer at payment service provider Ecommpay talks about the biggest challenges facing eCommerce retailers ahead of peak season. -
Meet Our Exhibitors: SnapFulfil's Chris White
05 Sep 2024Chris White, EMEA Chief Revenue Officer at warehouse management system SnapFulfil to discuss the key challenges he’s seeing in his sector and why events like eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketin ... -
Meet Our Exhibitors: Ucraft's Founder Gev Balyan
05 Sep 2024Gev Balyan, Founder of eCommerce website builder Ucraft tells us what he’s looking forward to most from eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing this year and why the shows are so important in brin ... -
Pratik Padhiar, Director of New Business at digital marketing communications agency h2o Creative talks to us about the biggest challenges online retailers are facing right now and what’s exciting them ...
-
Meet Adam Ull, Global Product Information Lead at H&M, who is transforming commerce by using data and AI to enhance customer experiences across digital channels. He discusses building agile systems an ...
-
As we approach this year’s eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing events, Na’ama Sheba, Chief Marketing Officer at B2B payments provider Mondu discusses the hottest trends in eCommerce payments r ...
-
In the ever-evolving world of eCommerce, UK merchants must adopt strategic approaches to ensure sustainable growth both at home and abroad. In our recent webinar featuring Emily McMorran, CX Lead at w ...
-
5 Top Tips for Speaking at eCommerce Expo & Technology for Marketing
21 Aug 2024 Alyssia Smith, Senior Content Manager at CloserStill MediaSome essential tips to help you deliver an impactful presentation with Alyssia Smith, Senior Content Manager at eCommerce Expo and Technology for Marketing