From AI agents to live shopping: The OMR Festival 2026 shows how retail is reinventing itself. In Hamburg, top speakers discuss the most important trends.
Trends between automation and emotion
E-commerce continues to grow, but the rules of the game are changing noticeably. Rising costs, saturated markets and more demanding customers make growth more difficult. At the same time, new opportunities arise through technologies such as AI, visual search or live shopping.
The OMR Festival 2026 takes up exactly these developments – and bundles them into the e-commerce journey. It’s not just about trends, but also about concrete questions from the everyday life of many companies: How are purchasing decisions made today? Which channels still work? And what comes after that?
Check out the full program of the e-commerce journey at OMR26 now and secure your tickets.
Deep dive into the trading models of tomorrow
At the OMR Festival 2026 in Hamburg, these developments will be discussed by the leading minds in the industry. When Pinterest’s Malik Ducard talks about the future of search, it’s clear that it’s no longer just about keywords, but about inspiration. In the future, artificial intelligence will help to find individually tailored products.
At the same time, greats like Tarek Müller from About You, Rocco Bräuniger from Amazon and Ikea Germany boss Peter Jelkeby share their insights into how brands stay relevant in times of constant change. The look into the US ecosystem is particularly exciting: Jovan Protić from Idealo reports directly from Silicon Valley about the consequences when AI agents no longer just recommend products, but also make the purchase independently.
And on the Conference Stage, Brendon Kraham, Vice President Global Search Ads at Google, together with Zalando Co-CEO David Schröder, will show how companies should prepare now for the future of agentic commerce.
Concrete approaches for everyday e-commerce
In addition to major developments, the OMR Festival is also about implementable strategies. Examples such as WhatsApp marketing with high open rates or community-driven brands show how companies can reach their target groups more directly.
It becomes clear again and again: reach alone is no longer enough. Successful brands rely on relationships, clear positioning and a consistent shopping experience across all channels. This is exactly where many of the lectures provide concrete approaches that can be integrated directly into existing structures.
The conclusion for the industry
Anyone who works in e-commerce will face many unanswered questions in 2026. The OMR Festival brings together different perspectives in one place: from international platforms to fast-growing startups to established trading companies.
The e-commerce journey helps you keep track of things and find relevant content. The result is a program that not only inspires, but also offers orientation.
Get your tickets for OMR26 now and meet the world’s most important e-commerce players in Hamburg.
