Start for GPeC 2014 – 9th edition of Romanian E-Commerce Awards Gala

Cristina Blanaru Business, e-Commerce, Events

The 9th annual edition of GPeC (E-Commerce Awards Gala) – the most important e-commerce event in Romania – kicked off on April 25th. Starting Friday, online shops can register for GPeC online shops competition and are on the road for 7 months of must-attend premium e-commerce events.

For the online shops competition, online shops can apply between April 25th – May 23rd. To be accepted in the competition, all online shops must meet the pre-screening requirements related to compliance with current European e-commerce laws and industry best practices. Some examples are: compliance with the product return policy of 14 calendar days/10 working days, the existence of internal conciliation procedures for unsatisfied customers, accurate information regarding the product final price, information about the payment and delivery methods accepted by the online shop, the warranty and service conditions etc.

Once registered in GPeC Online Shops Competition 2014, online shops will be evaluated by more than 20 e-commerce specialists, that will take in consideration an assessment criteria set consisting of over 90 aspects considered essential to any online business. Adding to criteria considered for previous editions, GPeC organizers added some category specific criteria, namely particular criteria which especially applies to online shops from that category of products/services.

The evaluation of online shops is done in 2 separate stages, at different moments, in order to capture their evolution in time. All online shops registered in the competition receive comprehensive evaluation reports including: grades they obtained for each criteria considered and short explanations and recommendations from the specialists which assessed their performance. Secondly, participant online shops will also receive a benchmarkof their position compared to that of their competitors.

The registration fee for GPeC 2014 online shops competition is 250 EUR. The fee, however, sees participants receiving business services worth over Euro 3,000 such are:

  • access to both jury assessment reports – similar e-commerce evaluations usually cost over 2000 EUR;
  • access to performant conversion optimization and A/B testing tools – Marketizator and Vibetrace – a benefit worth 800 EUR, the cost of the tools monthly subscriptions;
  • access to a specialised face-to-face e-ecommerce consultancy session – GPeC Consultancy Meetings – where they receive recommendations from jury members and get the chance to ask questions;
  • free access for 2 participants/registered online shop to GPeC Summit (Conference + 12 top-notch e-commerce workshops + E-Commerce Expo) taking place on May 26-28 2014,
  • Romanian online shops also receive the TRUSTED trust brand for free for a period of 12 months – they save another 120 EUR – the normal cost of the trust brand had they not been registered with GPeC 2014.

Online shops can register by filling in the registration form available on GPeC’s website until May 23 2014, at 23.50 Romania’s time (CET+1, GMT+2). Online shops registered until May 9 2014 inclusive benefit from free 3-day-passes at GPeC Summit for 2 persons/online shop, saving, this way, Euro 254.

Apart from the online shops competition, “Bucharest will become present on the international e-commerce map through GPeC Summit”, as organizers stated. On May 26-28, GPeC Summit e-commerce event will bring together some of the best international speakers and offer unprecedented networking and business opportunities for its participants, as well as experience exchange and especially premium content.

Among the speakers that confirmed their participation to GPeC summit are:

GPeC Summit is a real 3-day e-commerce show: 1 Conference day filled with inspirational keynote speeches and dynamic debate panels, 12 practical workshops covering the hottest topics which any online business should focus on, E-Commerce Expo area where the most important e-commerce services and solutions providers meet the participant online shops and E-Commerce Party – the ideal networking place for both participants and speakers (…) We’ve prepared an exceptional line-up of Romanian and international speakers – speakers whose books are Amazon bestsellers, so it’s pretty obvious why GPeC is a must-attend event

Andrei Radu,

Founder & CEO GPeC.

The topics covered by GPeC Summit target all important aspects of an online business: Conversion Optimization, Web Analytics, SEO & SEM, Personalization, Usability, Social Media, Logistics & Fast Delivery, Team Management, Customer Loyalty, A/B Testing, Email Marketing, Differentiation & USP.

Tickets for GPeC Summit 2014 are now on sale and, until May 9th, an early-bird offer is available: a 3-day-pass for only Euro 127 (VAT included).

Besides the online shops competition and GPeC Summit, the organizers also prepared other notable e-commerce events or, as Andrei Radu says, “a real 7-month e-commerce marathon for the participants and for all involved in e-commerce” that will also include GPeC Consultancy Meetings, GPeC E-Commerce Summer School, ECOMfest – the first Online Shops Expo, GPeC Summit Autumn Edition and GPeC 2014 E-Commerce Awards Gala.

The sponsors of GPeC are Carrefour Online, DPD, FAN Courier, MasterCard, Microsoft, Orange, SameDay, UIS and ZITEC, while the recommended travel partner is Paravion.ro. The event also benefits of suport from Advanced Ideas, CasaDeTraduceri, ECOMpedia, EuroWeb, Hostway, Marketizator, New Black, TRUSTED.ro, Vibetrace, WebDigital, White Image, ZeList.

The media partners of the event are AdHugger, Akcees, Bursa, Business Review, ANIS, Blogal Initiative, Business24, Business Woman, Cariere, Comunicate De Presa, Femei in Afaceri, Fulvia Meirosu, Laptop News, Modern Buyer, Softbinator, SoftLead, Tech Cafe and Ziare.com, while the official bloggers are Alex Mihaileanu, Alin Vlad, Ana Matei, Anca Duma, Andreea Stan, Auras Mihai Geambasu, Blogatu.ro, Carmen Albisteanu, Chinezu, Claudia Tocila, Corina Maria Scheianu, Cristi Dorombach, Dorin Apavaloae, Elena Ciric, George Hari Popescu, Ioana Budeanu, Lavinia Biberi, Madalin Blidaru, Miruna Siminel, Raluca Popa, Razvan Acsente, Sandra Clipea, Sorin Rusi.