Let’s be honest: if you’re running a Shopify store in Central & Eastern Europe and you weren’t at the Grand Hotel Bucharest on May 28th, you missed out big time.
The Shopify Meetup CEE came back for its second edition, and the vibe was incredible. Last year was great, but this year? The teams at Ecommerce Today and Vevol Media completely outdid themselves. We’re talking over 200 merchants, founders, and developers packed into one space, sharing real numbers, actual mistakes, and strategies that are working right now in 2026. No fluff, no boring corporate pitches—just pure, actionable value.
If you couldn’t make it, don’t worry. Here is a look at what went down (and what you need to steal for your own business).
The Main Stage: Why Paul Apostu Had Everyone Talking About AI
The energy in the Ronda Ballroom was high from the first sip of coffee. We had great sessions early on, like Steluța Stici (Easy Sales) dropping knowledge from 1,000+ CEE merchants and David Sima (Vevol Media) showing how to migrate to Shopify without losing your mind.
But things got really exciting when the conversation shifted to AI—not as a futuristic concept, but as a tool to make more money today.
The Retention Game-Changer
Our very own Paul Apostu (Chief Growth Officer @ Ecommerce Today) took the stage, and honestly, he completely changed the room’s perspective on email marketing.
Paul broke down AI-Powered Email Automation, and he didn’t just talk theory. He showed exactly how to move away from those annoying, generic blast emails and build smart, behavior-led customer journeys instead. Paul proved that when you let AI predict exactly what a customer wants based on how they behave on your site, email stops being a chore and becomes your store’s biggest profit engine. If you weren’t thinking about hyper-personalized retention before he spoke, you definitely left the room re-evaluating your whole strategy.
Later, our CEO Stefan Chiriacescu joined Bogdan Dogaru (Vevol Media) and Carlotta Zorzi-Chapman (Shopify) on stage to drive the point home: in 2026, if you aren’t using AI to personalize how you talk to your customers, you’re simply leaving money on the table.
The Workshops: Learning the Real Secrets with Andreea & Diana
While the main stage had the big-picture ideas, the Opera Room was where people went to actually roll up their sleeves and get to work.
Diving Deep Into Shopify
The absolute highlight of the morning workshops was hosted by Ecommerce Today’s power duo: Andreea Bălașa & Diana Matei. They ran a packed house through The Complete Shopify Workshop: Setup, Functionality & Optimization.
Andreea and Diana didn’t just give a basic tutorial; they literally opened up the hood of Shopify and showed merchants exactly how to audit their own stores. They shared hidden features that can save you thousands in unnecessary app fees and walked everyone through quick conversion rate optimization (CRO) tweaks that you can launch in minutes. If you wanted a concrete blueprint on how to stop losing customers at checkout, their workshop alone was worth the ticket price.
The hands-on value kept going all afternoon, with Tudor Goicea (Aqurate) breaking down AI personalization and Bogdan Dogaru (Vevol Media) sharing growth delivery hacks.
Cold Drinks & Hot Leads: The Afterparty
Let’s be real for a second—as good as the presentations were, some of the best moments happened during the coffee breaks and over drinks at the afterparty. This is where the real community came alive. Merchants found their next agency partners, tech people solved complex coding bugs over a cocktail, and everyone got to connect with people who actually get the daily grind of e-commerce.
If you were there in 2025, you already knew this was going to be epic. If you joined us this year, welcome to the family.
So… What’s Your Next Move?
E-commerce moves way too fast to just sit on this information. You can try to figure out AI automation and store optimization by yourself, or you can team up with the people who do this every single day.
- See you next year! If you missed out on tickets because they sold out (and they sold out fast), make sure you keep an eye on us for the 2027 edition. We’re already planning to make it even bigger.
- Want to scale your store right now? Let’s chat. You don’t have to wait until next year to implement Paul’s email tactics or have Andreea and Diana look at your store setup. Let’s hop on a quick call, look at your numbers, and see how we can unlock some serious growth for you.
Schedule a free discovery call with our team today and let’s turn these insights into profit.
