D-Congress 2025 Recap: Key Insights & Future Trends
A Quick Recap of D-Congress 2025 in Gothenburg, Sweden
As an e-commerce SME with more than 25 years of experience, attending D-Congress has been a key event in my professional calendar for the past 15 years. I've participated in various capacities (buyer, vendor, and software provider), giving me a unique perspective on how the event and the industry have evolved.
D-Congress 2025: Bridging Borders – Building Futures
This year’s event, held at the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre in Gothenburg and hosted by Svensk Handel, bore the theme “Bridging Borders – Building Futures” and focused on four key pillars:
- Global E-Commerce
- Intuitive E-Commerce
- Regenerative Retail
- Brand Brilliance
With 4,000+ participants, 120+ sessions, 130+ exhibitors and 150+ speakers, the event served as a hub for retailers, brands and tech companies like Klarna1, Contentor2 and Junipeer3, offering valuable networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities.
B2C Dominance and the Underserved B2B Sector
One of the most striking aspects of D-Congress 2025 was the overwhelming focus on B2C. The majority of presentations, panels and case studies were tailored for retailers and direct-to-consumer brands, with sessions primarily held in Swedish. English-language content was limited, and only a few sessions were explicitly dedicated to B2B e-commerce, a stark contrast to the booming real-world growth in B2B digital commerce.
These B2B-focused sessions were so popular that many attendees couldn’t even get into the room. This clearly signals a huge demand for more content on B2B, a sector that is rapidly evolving but often overlooked at events like D-Congress.
Why B2B E-commerce Deserves More Attention
The lack of B2B representation is surprising, given the significant market shifts in recent years. Here’s why B2B needs a larger presence at D-Congress and similar events:
- B2B e-commerce is outpacing B2C growth
The global B2B e-commerce market is expected to reach over $20 trillion by 20274, making it significantly larger than the B2C market. Digital transformation is accelerating in industries like manufacturing, distribution and wholesale, yet insights into this evolution were scarce at the event. - Complexity creates opportunity
Unlike B2C, B2B e-commerce comes with complex pricing structures, custom contracts, multi-user purchasing workflows and deep integrations with ERP and CRM systems. Events like D-Congress are a great platform to discuss how businesses can solve these challenges, but this topic was barely touched upon. - The rise of B2B marketplaces and D2B trends
More manufacturers and wholesalers are bypassing traditional intermediaries to sell directly to business buyers. B2B marketplaces are growing rapidly, but there was minimal discussion on this trend. With the success of B2B-focused platforms, the absence of deeper insights at D-Congress was noticeable. - Retail media and on-site advertising in B2B
Retail media, highlighted as the ”next big thing” at this year’s congress, is not just a B2C play. B2B companies are also exploring on-site advertising, sponsored listings and account-based marketing on their digital commerce platforms. Such precision marketing capabilities, which are built into HCL Commerce Cloud, capture statistics on different content variations in web activities, tracking clicks, orders and other key engagement metrics. This is another area where B2B businesses could benefit from more tailored discussions.
The Changing E-commerce Platform Landscape
Another interesting takeaway was the shifting presence of e-commerce platforms at the event. While many Swedish platforms had dedicated booths, only a few major international platforms were visibly represented.
Interestingly, some larger platforms, which had their own booths in previous years, were absent this time. Instead, some platforms were present within system integrator (SI) booths, indicating a shift in how these companies engage with events like D-Congress.
One notable absence was the global system integrators (GSIs). While some GSIs attended as participants, none exhibited. This raises questions about their approach to the Nordic market and whether they see alternative avenues to engage with potential clients.
Looking Ahead: More B2B in Future D-Congress Editions?
D-Congress remains a premier event for retail and e-commerce, but it must adapt to changing industry dynamics. The overwhelming interest in B2B sessions should be a wake-up call for Svensk Handel and the event organizers: B2B commerce is too big to be a niche topic.
To make future editions even more valuable, we need:
- More dedicated B2B tracks that go beyond just two or three sessions.
- Stronger representation from B2B platforms and service providers.
- Case studies and best practices from manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers embracing digital commerce.
- Discussions on B2B-specific challenges like procurement workflows, contract pricing and omnichannel sales strategies.
If D-Congress embraces these changes, it has the potential to become not just a leading retail event, but a must-attend conference for all aspects of digital commerce, including B2B.
Final Thoughts
Overall, D-Congress 2025 delivered great insights, strong networking opportunities and a clear look at where the retail industry is headed. The rise of retail media and the evolving platform landscape were key takeaways. However, the overwhelming demand for B2B-focused content signals a major opportunity for future events.
As someone who has been on all sides of the e-commerce industry (buyer, vendor and software provider) I look forward to seeing how D-Congress evolves in the coming years to reflect the growing importance of B2B digital commerce.
What are your thoughts on the current state of B2B at industry events? Let’s discuss!
Go to the D-Congress web and look at the recordings from the events. Highly recommended!
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