What to Expect for Event Marketing in 2025

As brands look to the new year and their 2025 marketing strategies for growth, various channels begin to stand out for their impact on building brand awareness, with event marketing being one of them. Event marketing leverages in-person engagement to connect with future customers, network, and gain industry insights. Brands can participate in event marketing in-person or online through trade shows, conferences, seminars, pop-up shops, webinars, or other various types of events. Whatever the medium, these events allow ecommerce brands to get in front of the consumer and give a first-hand interaction to their company and offerings. Although this method serves as a valuable tool for top of funnel marketing, attending or sponsoring events can be on the pricier side, especially for smaller brands looking to grow. Luckily, working capital partners such as Clearco can step in to bridge the gap in funding for brands to leverage these key events for growing their business. 

Why Event Marketing is Key for Ecommerce Brands

Event marketing is a channel many ecommerce brands participate in when seeking brand awareness and customer acquisition and retention. With the event marketing industry expected to be valued at $36.31 billion by 2026, more and more businesses and marketers are investing in event-led growth to further their reach. In 2023 alone, a staggering 73% of marketers reported they would increase their event marketing budget in the coming year, with 47% of event marketers reporting the highest return on investment (ROI) from in-person events.

The stats are there, and it’s clear to see that events marketing poses a unique opportunity for ecommerce brands to tap into new audiences. Various in-person and virtual conferences and events provide many opportunities for growing businesses such as: 

• Networking with potential customers and partners
• Opportunity to learn industry insights and gain a competitive edge 
• Boost brand awareness and visibility 
• Gain partnerships and sponsorships though industry networking and relationship building

Events marketing not only positions ecommerce brands to connect with other industry leaders, but also can serve as a great opportunity for brands to meet potential customers and partners, leading to longer term growth and resulting in a high performing ROI. According to Cvent’s 2024 An Outlook on Events report, 93% of US companies leveraging event led growth (ELG) strategies are consistently meeting their companies revenue and pipeline goals, leading to sustainable success and positive ROI for the business.

Top Conferences to Attend or Sponsor in 2025 as an Ecommerce Brand

Depending on your ecommerce brand’s area of business, there’s plenty of events and conferences available to attend and drive impactful ROI. Clearco has put together a list of a few impactful events ecommerce brands may find beneficial to explore for networking, staying ahead of industry trends, and discovering growth opportunities.

Retail & Fashion Events

• NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show - Explore the evolving retail landscape at the National Retail Federation’s 2025 Retail’s Big Show. Join thought leaders and discover innovative retail technologies and emerging trends at one of the largest retail focused conferences in the world.
• NY Fashion Week: Fall/Winter & Spring/Summer - Witness cutting-edge trends and celebrate the next generation of retail & fashion at the highly sought out New York Fashion Week. Taking place in Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer seasons, join leading designers as they showcase their latest collections and connect with fashion innovators.
• Retail Innovation Conference & Expo - Combine technology and retail at this year's Retail Innovation Conference & Expo. Discover the intersection of the buyer's journey and technology’s role in retail businesses to unlock further business opportunities, geared towards small startups to large retailers alike.

Ecommerce & Digital Marketing Events

• eTail Palm Springs 2025 - With a 65% retail attendance rate, eTail focuses on connecting ecommerce brands with retailers, allowing ecommerce brands to get in front of more buyers than sellers. Explore transformative shifts taking place in the retail space and how to propel your business forward to stay ahead of the curve.
• ShopTalk Spring & Fall - ShopTalk’s premier event gathers over 10,000 attendees across retail, consumer brands, and retail tech. Here, industry players, including Clearco’s own team, discuss innovative technologies, customer experiences, and emerging market trends at the world’s biggest meetup program for ecommerce retailers. 
• Sellers Summit 2025 - This ecommerce focused workshop empowers growing ecommerce brands with a practical, hands-on conference experience designed to help ecommerce sellers build and scale their businesses. With a curriculum-based program, ecommerce entrepreneurs will walk away with highly effective actionable insights through workshops and expert-led sessions.
• CommerceNext - Digital, marketing, and retail experts gather at CommerceNext to unlock growth potential in the ecommerce space. With peer-to-peer connections and over 2700 attendees, ecommerce brands will gain valuable networks and see how technology is quickly advancing commerce strategies. 
• White Label Expo – At this global event for private labeling and branding, ecommerce retailers, manufacturers, and professionals gather to explore innovative products, cutting-edge strategies, and business opportunities to scale their private label brands.

Marketplace Seller Events

• Amazon Accelerate 2025 - Amazon's flagship event for sellers features tools, insights, and resources to help sellers grow and succeed on the platform to accelerate their growth. Equipped with learning sessions, peer networking, and personalized support, amazon sellers leave inspired and armed with tactics to take the next step on the marketplace.
• Miami Sellers Conference - Focused on connecting amazon sellers, Miami Sellers Conference brings together ecommerce sellers to share insights, learn new strategies, and network with peers in the industry while building a robust community.
• Prosper Show - Discover how your business can become more profitable at Prosper show, a key event for all marketplace sellers. Focused on connecting ecommerce brands with their target audience and strategies to grow their profits, ecommerce brands walk away with actionable insights to take their ecommerce brands to new heights.

Supply Chain, Procurement & Finance Events

• Gartner Supply Chain Symposium - The top supply chain focused conference is a leading event for all procurement professionals looking to gain insights into   how to optimize supply chain and procurement processes leveraging new strategies and technologies. Backed by Gartner experts pulling on data-driven research and thought leaders, procurement professionals will gain actionable insights into solving operational challenges.
• WBR's Procurecon Connect 2025 - For over 25 years, Worldwide Business Research has hosted Procurecon Connect for senior procurement professionals looking to discuss innovation, cost management, and supplier relationship strategies. This invite only event gathers the world’s leading companies and offers valuable keynotes, workshops and networking sessions.
• Gartner CFO & Finance Executive Conference 2025 - Discover the latest finance insights and solutions with experts, peers and service providers at Gartner’s leading finance conference. Designed for CFOs and finance executives, explore emerging trends, finance strategies and management techniques, and key challenges faced in the industry.
• Money 20/20 USA – A premier conference for the financial services and fintech industries, Money 20/20 brings together leaders across the global money ecosystem to discuss innovations, deals and partnerships, showcasing disruptors in the world of money.

Tech & Innovation Focused Events

• DX3 Canada - Canada’s largest retail, DTC, and ecommerce event hosts over 2000 attendees to showcase the digital evolution of marketing and retail for ecommerce brands, retailers, agencies and innovative tech companies in the space. 
• MDS Inspire - High-level entrepreneurs across amazon, tiktok and the DTC industry gather in Las Vegas to form meaningful partnerships, inspire connections and share resources to scale their businesses. 
• Finovate Fall - A showcase for fintechs looking to make a splash with live demos, one-on-one meetings, and expert panels is held yearly in New York. Join the innovative companies exploring financial technology and grow your network while exploring the latest fintech players.
• The Lead Summit - Gathering fashion, retail and tech leaders, the Lead Summit provides a space for scaling brands to explore tech-partnerships and transformative trends that are shaping the future of ecommerce. Rapidly scale your operations and brand by connecting with other high-growth retail companies and technology providers at this summit. 
• GROW Summit - With three high-impact events, ecommerce and business leaders join in London to collaborate and discuss the opportunities emerging technologies provide in reaching growth goals for founders, investors, and advisors.
• SubSummit – Fortune 500 to startups gather at the largest event dedicated to the subscription economy. SubSummit connects industry leaders, exploring tangible ROI strategies, technology, and trends for subscription-based business growth.

Food & Beverage Events

• WBR's Digital Food & Beverage Conference - Worldwide Business Research hosts this event, uniting marketing, eCommerce, and technology leaders to explore strategies and innovations in digital transformation, customer journey optimization, and sustainable growth in the food and beverage sector.

Make the Most of Your Event Marketing Budget with Funding

As the new year kicks off and ecommerce brands explore new channels and events for customer acquisition, event marketing should take center stage. With over 80% of event marketers identifying in-person events as the most impactful marketing channel, now is the time to harness this valuable tool to drive organizational growth, increase brand visibility and unlock networking opportunities in the year ahead. Although investing in an experimental channel such as event marketing may feel daunting, it doesn’t have to be. Clearco bridges the gap by providing flexible funding solutions, empowering ecommerce brands to leverage event marketing for scaling their businesses effectively. Clearco funds advertising and marketing budgets and could be a funding solution for your conference strategy or invoices and receipts from event bookings (subject to diligence). From securing booth spaces to sponsoring key events and conferences, Clearco’s receipt and invoice funding ensures brands have the cash flow available to seize these upcoming growth opportunities.