There’s something wild about stepping into a giant hall full of strangers and thinking, “Right, let’s show them who we are.”
That was exactly the feeling I had last week as our 94n Digital team walked into the eCommerce Expo in London. We had a stand. We had our new product, AdPeak. We had some of our amazing clients with us. And we had zero experience doing anything quite like this before.
This was our first proper go at exhibiting at a major event. It felt big—and to be honest, slightly intimidating. But that’s exactly why we did it.
Why We Went
This expo wasn’t just about visibility (although that’s a nice bonus). It was about doing something different, something a bit out of the norm for us as a remote-first performance marketing agency. We partnered with Exadev and Suppliant for the stand, and brought along some of our fantastic clients from Alljigsaw Puzzles, Happy Puzzle Company, and Abel to share the experience and conversations with us.
And we were there to soft-launch AdPeak, our new software that helps brands optimise their Google Shopping feeds in real-time, while solving a surprisingly common issue: ad spend that only focuses on a small part of the product catalog.
Our headline at the stand said it all:
“Is your ad spend ignoring 80% of your inventory?”
Turns out, it’s a problem that hits home with a lot of retailers.
The First Hour Was… Quiet
Let’s not sugarcoat it—the first hour or so of the expo was painfully slow. We were suited up, stand ready, armed with coffee, and… no one was really walking around. I had a moment where I thought, “Have we gone too far into something that might just fall flat?”
But by 10:30 AM, the entire hall came to life. The place filled up, people started exploring, and the conversations started flowing. We shifted quickly from “waiting mode” to “go-go-go” mode. It was actually a pretty great reminder: in events like these (and in business in general), momentum takes a minute—but when it kicks in, you’ve got to be ready.
Launching AdPeak – And Getting Real-Time Feedback
One of the highlights was seeing people’s faces as we introduced AdPeak. It solves a technical but powerful problem: helping eCommerce brands scale ad visibility beyond just their top sellers. The feedback was fantastic. Some even said they had been looking for something just like this but didn’t know it existed.
We walked away with 25+ meetings booked with brands ranging from household names to DTC newcomers looking to scale smarter.
It was the best kind of validation—not from a slide deck, not from an email campaign—but from standing in front of someone, showing them a problem they didn’t know they had, and offering a real solution.
Lessons We’ll Take Into the Next One
1. Your headline matters. That “80% of your inventory” line got people to stop, ask, and engage. It opened doors.
2. Being face-to-face builds trust faster than anything else. In just two days, we had deeper conversations than some email chains take months to produce.
3. You learn fast when you’re out of your comfort zone. From figuring out how to set up a physical booth (we’re digital marketers, not decorators) to adjusting our pitch on the fly—we learned a lot in real-time.
4. The team shines when given space. Watching different members of the team step up, own conversations, and share the excitement was easily one of the best parts of the week.
Looking Ahead
This won’t be our last expo.
In fact, it opened our eyes to how these events can play a bigger part in our strategy—not just for lead generation, but for team bonding, client connection, and brand positioning. It was deeply human. And deeply valuable.
If you were there and stopped by—thank you. If you missed us, we’ll be back soon. And if you’re curious about what AdPeak could do for your product feed, reach out. We’d love to give you a peek.
Have you ever done something for the first time that completely changed your thinking?
Let us know in the comments—we’d love to hear your story.