FAST & FORWARD 2026: New markets, new rules

On this wonderful day in March, Von Greifswald was a sight to behold. The foyer has a palletising robot precision-load parcels, to reliably demonstrate its skillset. The music humming softly in the background from the speakers complements the spring-like weather. And the large LED wall behind the stage is trying to outshine Berlin’s morning sun. Everything is ready. 

For one day, the former railroad depot in the capital city is the place to be for all things social commerce. Right at the start, FIEGE’s Co-CEOs, Jens Fiege and Felix Fiege, while on stage talking with the two presenters, Kati Wilmsmeier and Sarah Schimmelpfennig, confer the idea of just how big this topic is already nowadays, and how much bigger it will become in the future: “Social commerce is presumably similarly disruptive for the retail trade as the launch of eCommerce was back in the days”, Jens Fiege says. “When looking at markets where social commerce is already established, it is impressive to see just how large of a share social commerce already takes up in the overall context of online retailing as a whole. In China, for example, this share already exceeds 30 per cent. And even here in Europe and Germany, we are witnessing strong growth. Although TikTok Shop has only been available here for a year, its turnover has already reached over 700 million euros. To this extent, social commerce is a huge topic for us and our customers and simultaneously, presents a major opportunity.”

Felix Fiege explains: “Our guiding motto here at FIEGE is: We connect brands and consumers across all channels. As a service provider, logistics is our signature service. However, along with our digital units, product units and subsidiaries such as heyconnect, we also see ourselves as a partner beyond logistics alone. We support brands, retailers and makers in harnessing the different channels, especially marketplaces, as best as possible. So this topic is an ideal match, and I am very much looking forward to engaging in this exchange because I am convinced that we will learn a lot from each other and about one another. Networking across the various sectors and seeing the bigger picture is what FAST & FORWARD amounts to for me.” 

The programme on and beyond the stage of Von Greifswald is just as diverse as the opportunities in social commerce are. Theo Carow followed Jens Fiege and Felix Fiege. The 29-year-old TikTok creator who originally wanted to become an actor, has a following of over five and a half million on social networks today. For Carow, professional content on social media has long become a line of business. In his own words: “These days, creator marketing is huge, yet it could be even bigger. This requires a fundamental rethinking within marketing, towards involving creators at an even earlier stage in marketing campaigns and using existing creator formats even better and smarter. The general rule of thumb is: the campaign must always align with the creator, to ultimately be authentic.”

Carow’s impulse is followed by a discussion, where things go deep. During a 90-minute round of discussions, Maximilian Burianek, Head of TikTok Shop Germany; Dorothee Ebert, Partner at KPMG; Florian Heinemann, Founding Partner at Project A; and Patrick Sostmann, CEO Visable and General Manager of Alibaba.com Europe, explore topics like social commerce and agentic commerce from different angles. 

Burianek says: “Ever since we launched TikTok Shop in Germany in spring of 2025, we have been witnessing a highly positive trend and are recording strong growth. It is an exciting journey.” The platform offers direct in-app purchasing and checking-out without end consumers having to leave the TikTok app. It relies heavily on creator marketing for this. “TikTok Shop thrives on creator content”, Burianek explains. “Products are explained to end consumers so that they understand them even better. Creators and their content thus influence buying decisions strongly, which lends a high degree of credibility to a product. I’m therefore convinced that brand launches and product launches through TikTok Shop will become the new default in the future.”

Ebert also sees enormous potential in social commerce, especially for mid-sized businesses. “The reach through social commerce will grow tremendously over the next years”, she says. Platforms like TikTok Shop know how to perfectly meet the many wishes and needs of online shoppers and level up the buying experience. At the same time, Ebert has concerns: “There are also risks involved, like becoming addicted or indebted, especially amongst younger people.” It is thus of central importance “that here in Germany, we focus even more strongly on media competence on the one hand without neglecting the word social in social commerce, on the other.” 

Sostmann directs the attention to yet another topic: agentic commerce. His theory: “Every one of us will have a supportive buying agent in two years from now.” He follows up with the reasons for this: “Agents facilitate and support better buying decisions in less time.” This applies especially to the B2B sector. Still, the final decision will largely remain with the human but the work leading up to this, the comparing, the research, in brief everything that takes up a lot of time and also costs a lot of money, will be passed more and more to AI agents in the future, so Sostmann’s projection, concluding that: “This has partly already become reality today.”

Heinemann further stresses this argument. “Agentic commerce is very good at serving the need for advice, which always exists. It can also scale good advice and efficient processing for end consumers”, he says. This explains why most brands can’t afford to not buy into agentic commerce. The important thing is that every business recognises and finds their role. “The question is not whether, but how to do it. Ultimately, it is about maintaining and securing the strength of one’s own margin and good position, for example in marketplaces. And to achieve this, there is no way around agentic commerce in the future.”

All four speakers agree on one thing: social commerce and agentic commerce are much more than mere trends and will change the e-tailing landscape. Product launches via TikTok Shop? The norm in the future. Supportive and AI-based buying agents for the B2B sector? Soon the default. Even more premium brands in TikTok Shop? Heinemann answers this question in one sentence: “This will definitely happen since brands need to go where their audiences take them. And that destination is social media.” 

Following the round of talks, the FAST & FORWARD audience heads for an extensive lunch break which, next to plenty of time for talks, also offers Connecting Tables where the participants can join an exchange with these start-ups: Enkime, Geminos, Fryte, Unchained Robotics, as well as the FIEGE subsidiary, heyconnect. In the afternoon, two keynotes held by Einhorn founder, Philip Siefer (The Einhorn Social Condom) and the two-time Ironman World Champion, Normann Stadler (What is takes – the staying power of success) round off the extensive programme.

Jens Fiege summarises the day at the end like this: “I hope our invitees and customers will take just as much with them from this day as we will. One central learning point for me is: social commerce affects all of us – and with agentic commerce, the next exciting megatrend is just around the corner. The important thing here is that we don’t just wait for new trends to come around and observe how they evolve, but actively gain our own experience, try things for ourselves, and improve iteratively.” And Felix Fiege adds: “We gathered many thought-provoking ideas today which we can and will use in our work. A big thank you to everyone who attended FAST & FORWARD, for their openness – and of course, our special thanks go to all the speakers.”