The conversation that doesn't happen at industry events
There's a type of conversation that doesn't happen at industry events. The format doesn't allow it. In a room of 500 people, nobody really talks about what's going wrong. Nobody asks what's actually worrying them.
On May 7th we organised something different with Ecommedia and Scalapay: a private dinner at Campoluz Enoteca, in Elche, with 20 ecommerce decision-makers. CEOs, operations directors, marketing directors. All with one thing in common: they're trying to sell outside Spain and they know there's still a lot to figure out.
The format was simple: a table, food and an unfiltered conversation.
Three angles on the same problem
Each partner shared their view on the challenges of international ecommerce. Not to convince, but to open the debate.
Andrés from Ecommedia went straight to the point most brands ignore: going international isn't about translating your website. It's about understanding how customers buy in each market. What builds trust. What kills conversion. In markets like Asia, where they've been working for years, the rules are so different that what works in Europe can have the opposite effect in the Asian market.
Scalapay brought data on something few brands consider when entering new markets: the payment method isn't just a conversion lever, it's a loyalty tool. In Italy and France, customers who buy in instalments come back to buy sooner and more frequently. A variable that changes the model when you start measuring it properly.
From Reveni we talked about Atlas. About the part of international business that holds brands back the most when they try to scale: tariffs, taxes, customs clearance, costs that show up once the package is already on its way. The goal isn't for brands to better understand the complexity. It's for them to stop managing it. For cross-border logistics to stop being a bottleneck and become a real advantage.
What came out of the table
That's where it got interesting. When the presentations were over and the food arrived, the brands put on the table what's really worrying them. The topic that came up most was the impact of Trump's tariffs on international shipments. Not as an abstract concern. As a concrete problem they're already dealing with, one that's forcing them to rethink routes, carriers and cost structures in real time.
When there's no programme to follow, the conversation naturally finds its way to the topics that really matter.
The knowledge that doesn't get published
The atmosphere was set by El Flaco's fusion kitchen and the Campoluz sommelier's wine pairings. The conversation did the rest.
There's a kind of knowledge that only circulates in small circles. The kind that comes from who's tried it, who's got it wrong and who already knows which roads not to go down again. That knowledge doesn't get published, presented or included in any report. It gets generated when there's enough trust to share it.
This was the second event in the series in Elche. It won't be the last.