Summary
MD Ecom 26 hosted more than 200 ecommerce practitioners and brands at Sister in Manchester city centre to discuss trends and strategies in online retail. Sponsored by illuminise and AND Digital, the event featured panel sessions and talks covering AI adoption, consumer regulation, accessibility, and product discovery.
Gary Young, Group Head of Tech at the Regatta Group (headquartered in Urmston), outlined how AI is creating a new shopping interface and how the company is automating its warehouse with robotics to improve efficiency tenfold. A separate panel with the Competition and Markets Authority, Nexer Digital and IBM discussed regulatory compliance and the responsibilities of digital scale, including dynamic pricing concerns and data sovereignty.
Speakers from bet365, THG Ingenuity, Protein Works and Whitestores shared how AI is embedded in their workflows to accelerate tech team productivity. THG Ingenuity reported employees completing 3.9 times more work with AI assistance. Accessibility specialist Molly Watt highlighted that 81% of disabled users abandon websites during checkout, costing businesses £446bn annually in the 'purple pound'.
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Common questions
- What is this article about?
- Manchester Digital's full-day ecommerce conference at Sister in Manchester city centre drew over 200 guests to hear from industry leaders on AI adoption, regulatory compliance, and emerging technologies reshaping online retail. Speakers included the Regatta Group, based in Urmston, alongside executives from bet365, THG Ingenuity, Protein Works and Whitestores.
- When was this published?
- This article was published on 14 July 2026.
- Who published this article?
- This article was published by Manchester Digital.