2013 IRCE kicks off June 4

The world of e-commerce is gearing up for the 9th annual Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition, which will be held at Chicago’s McCormick Place West from June 4-7. This year's theme is "Breaking Barriers."



The conference aims to analyze the social, mobile, global, personal, interactive and managerial changes that e-commerce players are bringing to the new retail economy. Online retailing and wholesaling professionals and consumer marketers who attend the educational event have direct access to insights and analysis that can give their businesses a competitive advantage in the ever-expanding segment.



IRCE 2013 expects to draw 9,500 e-retailing executives, from up-and-coming startups to long-established retail chains, representing more than 40 countries. They will be treated to a customizable agenda that features 205 speakers and 120 sessions, plus 5 workshops (pre- and post-conference, held on June 4 and 7, respectively) and 10 tracks running concurrently on the two main conference days (June 5 and 6) on subjects that include maximizing the effectiveness of rapidly evolving, consumer-empowering interactive technologies and social media platforms and dismantling internal barriers within an organization to facilitate more profitable Web-based businesses.

Some of the topics covered at the conference include harnessing the social marketing revolution for your e-commerce business, preparing for the massive shift to mobile devices, taking advantage of the web’s global reach and creating web designs and merchandising strategies that convert shoppers to buyers.



The 250,000-sq.-ft. exhibit hall will house displays of e-commerce technology from 570 e-commerce vendors.



IRCE speakers are trailblazers chosen by Internet Retailer’s award-winning editorial staff based on each speaker's expertise. The special guest speaker is former VP of the United States Al Gore, a leader in technology and global investment and innovation. The keynote speaker is Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani. The keynote speaker for Day 2 will be CEO of HSNi Mindy Grossman, and the featured speaker on June 6 will be Alex Zhardanovsky, co-founder of PetFlow.com.