The event is designed to gather industry experts, entrepreneurs, and small business owners to explore the newest technologies impacting online retail, including artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality.

The retail Tech Fest seeks to provide a platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to enhance their competitiveness through digitization.Sandra Infante, director of DES, stated that integrating new technologies is transforming commerce by enabling hyper-personalization, omnichannel strategies, and cost-reducing automation.

E-Commerce Growth in Europe and Spain

E-commerce is a critically important contributor to the European economy.Eurostat reports that the retail sector accounts for 11.5% of the EU’s added value and employs approximately 30 million people. In Spain, the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) indicates that e-commerce represents about 6% of the country’s GDP, making Spain the fourth-fastest-growing e-commerce market in Europe.

Currently, around 30 million consumers in Spain shop online, with one in three small Spanish companies selling online, although only 9% engage in international exports.

“It will be a space to connect with leaders, discover innovative solutions and forge strategic alliances.”

Jordi González Torrens, director of the Spanish Electronic Commerce Observatory of Adigital, emphasized that the event will facilitate connections with industry leaders, the finding of innovative solutions, and the formation of strategic alliances.

What to Expect at the Retail Tech Fest

The festival will feature an exhibition area with over 400 technology companies, including IBM, Lenovo, Google, and Oracle, showcasing AI, cybersecurity, blockchain, and extended reality solutions for retail.

A conference program will host executives from brands like Alibaba.com, Miravia, Just Eat, Ikea, Destination, and Conforama, who will share strategies for competing in the current market.

Key trends to be covered include social commerce, live shopping, conversational e-commerce, and ‘phygital’ experiences that blend the physical and digital.

The event will also address expansion through online marketplaces and the use of AI to personalize shopping experiences and optimize logistics, a sector that handles over one billion packages annually in Spain.

The Premios Ecommerce, organized by the Adigital Electronic Commerce Observatory, will recognize innovative, safe, lasting, and clear e-commerce initiatives, including categories for international strategy and technological innovation.

DES2025 Aims to Position Málaga as a Digital innovation Hub

The DES2025, featuring the Retail Tech Fest, anticipates attracting over 17,000 executives and 500 global experts to the Digital Business World congress, reinforcing Málaga’s status as a digital innovation center.

The participation of Mexico as a guest country, presenting advancements in AI, underscores the event’s global scope.raúl Jiménez, managing director of the Andalusian digital agency, noted that DES reflects the region’s digitalization strategy, aligned with trends like AI and quantum computing.

The Retail Tech Fest offers self-employed individuals and small retail businesses an opportunity to discover strategies from sector leaders and implement them in their operations. The combination of conferences, networking, and technological solutions aims to catalyze digital transformation.