About this episode

Chet Silverman discusses his 25-year journey in e-commerce events and the evolution of the industry.

Brent Peterson sits down with Chet Silverman, aka Mr. eTail, the Director of Sponsorships at eTail. With 25 years in the e-commerce conference space, Chet shares stories from the early dot-com crash days, how he convinced Google to exhibit before they were a household name, and why conferences remain the best way to connect with retail executives in a post-COVID world. He also breaks down the current AI startup boom and predicts where the technology is heading. Chapters 00:00 - Meet Mr. eTail: Chet's origin story and joining eTail after the dot-com bust 01:05 - The evolution of e-commerce technology over 25 years 01:59 - Cold-calling Google and convincing them to sponsor eTail Boston 03:07 - The rise and fall of hot tech categories: CRM, mobile shopping, social commerce 03:56 - Watching companies grow up at eTail, from startups to acquisitions 05:12 - The AI explosion and why it will follow the mobile shopping pattern 06:15 - Why companies should sponsor eTail and how COVID changed B2B sales 07:23 - Quality vs. quantity: the 50/50 retailer-to-vendor ratio 07:56 - Strategic timing: Palm Springs in February, Boston in August 09:08 - eTail as a community and kicking off the…

More episodes of Talk Commerce

• B2B Marketers Are Under Pressure and the C-Suite Needs to Pay Attention · June 9, 2026 · 22 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Talk Commerce podcast page.