B2B eCommerce World Americas 2026: the annotated attendee guide

Nick Pericle (Tenexity) on moving agents from single tasks to long-running work; 3M on Ask3M; Deloitte Digital with Emerson and Toyota on agentic commerce; ULE Group on a year of AI against a 60,000-SKU catalog; Justin King's Day 2 keynote; and Zoro's CTO on going from experiment to production. The common thread is that these are reports from teams that shipped.

Braskem reached roughly 50% eCommerce adoption inside a traditional sales culture. Kimball Midwest and Airgas talk about the internal beliefs that slowed them down, like "the website competes with sales commissions." A distributor panel asks what makes a site the sales team can't work without. If your platform is live but usage is flat, Day 1 afternoon is for you.

TricorBraun argues that a PIM strategy isn't a data strategy without customer, application and usage data. Wastequip and Apple cover how to get content work funded. The awards add Best Product Content Experience. For a primer on what complete B2B product data looks like, see our attribute schema library.

B2BEA's Richard Isaac presents a search maturity framework for manufacturers and distributors, then a panel with Direct Supply and Coveo on what comes after the baseline. Search quality is mostly an attribute problem, which is why zero-result queries are a good place to start: we've written about it in site search is only as good as your attributes.

New this year, Day 1 afternoon splits into a Manufacturer Track and a Distributor Track that run at the same time (2:00–3:30 PM). Plan who goes where before you arrive.

Fly into Indianapolis International (IND), about 13–14 miles from the hotel: 20–25 minutes by taxi or rideshare. The JW Marriott is downtown at 10 S West St, connected by sky bridge to the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium, so you won't need a car once you arrive. If you drive, the hotel has self-parking from the Maryland St and Washington St entrances plus valet; rates aren't published.

Two calendar notes. Daylight saving time ends at 2:00 AM on Sunday, November 1, which is arrival day (Indianapolis is on Eastern Time). And Tuesday, November 3 is US Election Day, so plan to vote early or absentee.

There is no conference room block. The organizer says to book directly with the JW Marriott, which is part of Marriott's five-hotel IndyPlace complex (2,284 rooms between them, all connected). Accepted VIP hosted delegates get three nights included, checking in November 1 and out November 4. Downtown hotels fill up when the convention center is busy, so book early.

Manufacturer and distributor delegates pay $1,295. Senior practitioners who own or influence eCommerce, digital, technology or CX can apply for the VIP Hosted Practitioner Program: a $0 ticket plus three hotel nights, in exchange for attending the full conference and taking up to eight pre-scheduled 10-minute meetings with sponsors (only where there's mutual interest). On October 7 the organizer listed fewer than five VIP places left. Vendor passes are $3,995 without meetings; the $4,995 meetings tier is sold out. No public discount codes or group rates are posted.

Sunday 5:00 PM: welcome reception. Sunday 7:00 PM: Women in B2B eCommerce Dinner (separate registration). Monday 7:00 PM: B2BEA Professionals Party at Punch Bowl Social (bowling, arcade, karaoke). Tuesday 2:30–5:00 PM: offsite activities with limited places, from the Indianapolis 500 Museum to go-karting. Tuesday 7:00 PM: the black-tie B2B eCommerce Industry Awards at the Indiana Roof Ballroom, 140 W Washington St (entrance through the Indiana Repertory Theatre building), a short walk from the hotel.

The awards grow from 8 categories in 2025 to 17 in 2026, including Enterprise and Mid-market Manufacturer and Distributor of the Year, Best B2B Search & Discovery Experience, Best Product Content Experience, AI & Automation Excellence, and Best Emerging B2B AI Technology. Finalists weren't published as of October 7. Gala registration is separate from the conference pass.

Early November in Indianapolis averages highs in the mid-to-high 50s °F and lows around 35–40 °F. Bring a coat for the walk to evening events. The conference itself has no published dress code (business casual is the norm at practitioner events like this); the awards gala is black-tie.

White River State Park is across the street, Victory Field is walkable, and Circle Centre Mall is a few minutes away. In the hotel: OP Italian, the Lobby Bar, a Starbucks and a 24-hour gym.