By Stephan Schambach, Demandware Founder & Executive Chairman

Are you interested in the state of ecommerce in Europe? One of the best ways to get a first-hand introduction is to attend Mail Order World in Wiesbaden, Germany. It is the largest trade show & congress about ecommerce and the mail order business in Europe, with a 10,000 square meter (107,000 square foot) trade show floor, 5,000 attendees, 370 exhibitors, keynotes, presentations, break-out sessions, awards, parties...you name it.

If you are familiar with the annual Shop.org Annual Summit, then you may think of Mail Order World as Continental Europe's version of that event—with a few differences. While Shop.org focuses on ecommerce only, Mail Order World originally started as an event for the catalog industry and sports a multichannel mix of 2/3 ecommerce and 1/3 catalog. Since it takes place in Germany, most exhibitors and attendees are of Continental European origin—some presentations are in German and others in English.

Demandware is a proud sponsor of the community, not just in the US but also in Europe. Thus, we attended as a premium sponsor, with our own booth which was run by our German marketing and sales team. Many of our European customers and partners visited us during the show—obviously enjoying the networking opportunity. Booth traffic was terrific, there is a lot of interest in on-demand ecommerce.

My general impression is that traditional mail order business models still play a larger role here, but that brands and retailers have recognized the opportunity and invest aggressively in ecommerce. For example, the retailer Goertz Shoes recently relaunched its ecommerce site with Netrada, a Demandware partner, and won the "Best Online Shop of 2009" at the show's award ceremony. This very coveted prize is the equivalent of the "Oscar" for ecommerce sites. The jury was impressed with its outstanding and innovative user experience and excellent multichannel integration with its stores.

Aside from the usual assortment of vendors and services providers, there were quite a number of local, highly innovative on-demand software companies at the show. They provide add-on niche services for ecommerce sites with a "European" flavor, such as payment gateways, fraud detection services, shipping, mobile payment, recommendations, etc.

If you are interested in expanding with your brand into Europe via ecommerce, I highly recommend attending this show. Use the networking opportunities to learn from retailers and service providers alike. It's the cheapest way to get educated on the "European flavor" of ecommerce. Alternative: Shop.org has an event in Amsterdam, which is getting better every year.