Midwest Ecommerce Summit: Built to Grow (STL TechWeek 2026)

TechSTL **MIDWEST ECOMMERCE SUMMIT AT STL TECHWEEK** The Midwest Ecommerce Summit returns to St. Louis on April 15 at T-REX as part of [STL TechWeek](https://techstl.com/techweek/)! This year’s theme — **Built to Grow** — challenges ecommerce leaders to take a hard look at the technology powering their business. Growth changes everything. Will the technology you have today get you to tomorrow? The systems that helped you launch and scale may not be ready for what comes next. As revenue increases and operations become more complex, cracks begin to surface. What once powered growth can begin to slow it down. The Midwest Ecommerce Summit is a leading ecommerce conference in St. Louis focused on modernizing the ecommerce tech stack for growing Midwest brands. MES brings together manufacturers, retailers, and distributors to evaluate and strengthen the systems behind their ecommerce operations — without adding unnecessary complexity. Throughout the afternoon, speakers and merchants will explore what it takes to modernize an ecommerce operation at scale. We’ll examine how the layers of a modern tech stack connect across the business. Platform decisions influence marketing performance. ERP alignment shapes reporting accuracy. Inventory visibility impacts customer experience. Payments, tax compliance, AI, and automation operate within the same ecosystem. Understanding how those systems work together is essential to sustaining growth. **WHAT** **WE'LL COVER IN THE MODERN ECOMMERCE TECH STACK** The Midwest Ecommerce Summit is one of the only ecommerce conferences in the Midwest dedicated specifically to manufacturers, retailers, and distributors modernizing their ecommerce operations. The program moves across the full ecommerce stack, examining the systems that most directly impact growth and operational clarity. Each topic reflects a layer that typically requires modernization as organizations scale. * **Platform & Strategy:** Aligning your ecommerce platform with long-term growth plans and avoiding costly limitations as revenue scales. * **ERP & Back-Office Alignment:** Connecting ecommerce, finance, and operations to improve reporting accuracy and internal visibility. * **Inventory & Demand Planning:** Building tighter control over stock, forecasting, and multi-channel complexity. * **Payments & Tax Infrastructure:** Strengthening payment operations and managing compliance as geographic reach expands. * **Data Integration & Automation:** Ensuring systems communicate cleanly and eliminating manual workarounds that slow growth. * **SEO, AI & Optimization:** Using data-driven insights and AI tools to drive performance and smarter decision-making. * **Lifecycle & Ecommerce Marketing:** Integrating automation and retention strategy into the broader technology ecosystem. **WHO SHOULD ATTEND THE ECOMMERCE SUMMIT** This event is designed for leaders shaping ecommerce strategy and execution inside their organizations. That includes ecommerce directors, digital marketing leaders, operations and fulfillment executives, and finance or ERP stakeholders responsible for supporting online growth. If your role involves improving performance, strengthening systems, or guiding technology investment, this summit is built for you. **WHAT YOU'LL LEARN** * How to evaluate whether your current ecommerce stack can support your next stage of growth * Where modernization efforts typically create the greatest operational impact * How platform, ERP, inventory, payments, and marketing systems influence one another * Common integration gaps that slow scaling organizations * Practical approaches to aligning internal teams around infrastructure decisions * What experienced merchants would do differently after modernizing their stack **NOW PART OF STL TECHWEEK** The Midwest Ecommerce Summit is entering its sixth year and continues to evolve alongside the region’s ecommerce community. Launched as a virtual event during the pandemic, MES created space for operators to share insight at a time when digital channels were accelerating rapidly. The summit transitioned to an in-person format in 2022 and has since grown into a dedicated gathering for Midwest ecommerce leaders. 2026 marks MES’s first year as part of STL TechWeek, positioning the summit within a broader week celebrating innovation, technology, and regional growth. MES brings the ecommerce infrastructure conversation into that larger ecosystem, highlighting how digital commerce continues to reshape manufacturing, retail, and distribution across the Midwest. **VENUE & TRAVEL** The event will take place at the T-REX Innovation Center in downtown St. Louis, a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship in the Midwest. Travel and venue information is available at: [https://www.midwestecommercesummit.com/travel-venue/](https://www.midwestecommercesummit.com/travel-venue/ "https://www.midwestecommercesummit.com/travel-venue/") **SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES** The Midwest Ecommerce Sum