Key Takeaways: ACE Conference and Expo 2026

Key Takeaways:

• Keynotes spanning brand-led retail experiences (Warner Bros. Discovery retail experiences) and commercial craft/entrepreneurship (Spice Kitchen).
• A strong digital/customer thread (eCommerce UX, CRM & data, ticketing/platform unification).

Dynavics exhibited at stand 007, highlighting joined-up operations across admissions/ticketing, retail, catering, finance and ecommerce with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and LS Retail.

Commercial Resilience is an Operating Model

The sector is still tight: UK inflation, so it’s not surprising the conference leaned hard into repeatable revenue generation(not one-off “campaign wins”) across core trading areas such as retail, food& beverage, ecommerce, venue hire and ticketing

Commercial teams are being asked to run like product-led businesses inside cultural organisations: tighter merchandising cycles, clearer KPI ownership, faster decision loops.

Secondary Spend Matters

Industry benchmarks underline why the conference keeps returning to commercial income, as visitor levels are still at pre-pandemic levels.

Trading performance is increasingly judged by conversion and spend-per-visitor (not just footfall). That pushes venues toward better product relevance, pricing discipline, and smoother checkout/fulfilment.

Digital Is Not a Channel - It's the Doorway

The agenda’s emphasis on eCommerce, UX, CRM/data and ticketing signals a continued shift: visitors expect fast booking, good service design, and consistent experiences across on-site and online.

The Visit England annual attractions survey (as reported by sector analysts) suggests 94% of attractions use digital comms, but only 57% offer online booking, highlighting a gap between marketing presence and transactional capability.

“single customer view” and joined-up stock/availability are becoming baseline requirements, especially for multi-site operators or venues with complex ticket types, memberships, events, retail ranges, and F&B.

Experiential Retail is Driven By Entertainment Brands

With senior retail experience voices in the speaker mix (e.g., destination retail and flagship thinking), the subtext was clear: retail is part of the visit, not a bolt-on.

Venues are redesigning store layouts, product storytelling, packaging, and “Exclusive” ranges, while expecting the back office to keep up (replenishment, reporting, margin control).

Leadership, Talent & Sustainability are Mainstream

The conference positioning explicitly includes broader organisational topics like leadership, recruitment, inclusivity and sustainability (not separate “values tracks”). That reflects the reality that trading performance is now tied to workforce stability, ethical supply choices, and reputation.

This means that organisations should factor in real-world engagement as part of their learning and innovation cycles, not just digital channels.

Final Thoughts

If there’s one macro-trend underneath everything, it’s that organisations want fewer systems and fewer handovers.

At Dynavics, that’s exactly what we were demonstrating at stand 007: how cultural venues can connect admissions/ticketing, retail, catering, finance and ecommerce in one platform, built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, with LS Retail capabilities tailored for visitor attractions.

When your data is connected:

• you reduce double entry and reconciliation effort
• you get clearer, faster insight into what’s working
• you can improve queues and service speed
• you can plan stock and staffing with confidence

Practical Next-Steps For Your Business

If you missed us in Birmingham , then of course we’re happy to share:

• A quick systems and process review of your current setup
• A walkthrough of what “connected operations” can look like in practice
• Examples of how venues use real-time reporting to improve trading performance

Simply click the "Say Hello" button above and we will be in-touch.