The premiere of the “ECD Lunch”, the smaller edition of the annual ECD event, took place on November 9th together with OTTO. More than 80 visitors, including brands such as GERRY WEBER, MUSTANG and ETERNA, met at the OTTO campus in Hamburg. On the one hand, they were able to exchange ideas directly with the contact persons from OTTO and Tradebyte. On the other hand, expert discussions, such as with Steven Mattwig from Tom Tailor and Marcel Brindöpke from heypaula, as well as the three themed deep dives provided insights into the specific needs and challenges of retailers and brands when working with OTTO. From inspiring networking scenes to intensive specialist discussions, everything was possible in one day – entirely in the spirit of the ECD and in the interests of the participants.

The new sub-format “ECD Lunch” takes up the success factors of the ECD and yet has its own characteristics. The principle is that Tradebyte hosts together with a marketplace or platform – at its location. The group of visitors is exclusive, participation is only possible by invitation. A central component is of course a shared lunch, where providers, brands and staff of the hosts experience a productive exchange. However, the program starts at 10 a.m. with a welcome and expert interviews. After lunch, there will be sessions that thematically deal with the peculiarities of the platform in detail.

To welcome the first “ECD Lunch”, Robert Schlichter, Head of Partner Processes at OTTO, Matthias Schulte, CEO of Tradebyte and Dr. Michael Heller, OTTO Board Member for Categories, and emphasized their long history together. „Tradebyte and OTTO have been cooperating since our founding year 2009 and when the idea for the ECD Lunch was born, we immediately agreed that the premiere should take place in Hamburg,“ says Matthias Schulte. „We are pleased about the great popularity and the very creative and professional cooperation with OTTO – topping this premiere will be a real challenge!“

The main event ECD will take place on May 3, 2018.

The next “ECD Lunch” is already being planned for the first quarter of 2018, co-hosts and dates will be announced in January.