Around 450 retail experts, partners and decision-makers came together at Cegid Connections Retail 2026 in Prague to exchange ideas on the future of retail. The event offered a successful mix of inspiration, professional exchange, practical insights and fresh perspectives on the future of retail.

Around 450 retail experts, partners and decision-makers came together at Cegid Connections Retail 2026 in Prague to exchange ideas on the future of retail. The event offered a successful mix of inspiration, professional exchange, practical insights and fresh perspectives on the future of retail.

The Cegid Connections Retail event, which takes place every two years, kicked off with a city rally, during which we explored the city in smaller teams. With perfect weather, it was an ideal opportunity to make first contacts, start conversations with other participants and get to know Prague’s city centre in a relaxed way. The winning team was duly celebrated that evening during the cocktail dinner at St. Norbert’s Brewery, right next to Prague Castle. Naturally, sampling one or two Czech beers was part of the experience. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the weather was somewhat more changeable than during the sunny start, but the days were focused on specialist content and intensive exchange anyway.

In terms of content, everything revolved around the topics currently shaping the retail sector: artificial intelligence, omnichannel strategies and increasing efficiency in order to effectively counter rising costs. The many practical insights and real use cases were particularly interesting. Rather than focusing on pure theory, the emphasis was on concrete examples from everyday retail practice — tangible, easy to understand and directly transferable to real-world applications.

One particular highlight was the presentation of the new Cegid “Super Application”. The idea behind it is a central platform that brings together various retail tools and significantly simplifies everyday work in stores. It was especially exciting that we, as participants, were able to vote on the name ourselves. The result: Cegid Retail One.
In addition, the various experience areas offered numerous insights into current developments and solutions. In the Innovation Store, omnichannel journeys could be experienced live, at “AI in Action”, the focus was on the practical application of artificial intelligence, and the Partner Village provided time for exchange with partners and technology experts.

Alongside the specialist topics, there was also plenty of opportunity for personal exchange. From the workshops and conversations with Cegid experts, customers and industry colleagues, we were able to take away many valuable impulses, new perspectives and concrete ideas for our day-to-day work.

Another highlight was the gala evening in Smetana Hall, a magnificent hall in the famous Art Nouveau building, the Municipal House. The hall was built in the early 20th century and is considered one of Europe’s most beautiful Art Nouveau concert halls. Particularly impressive are its richly decorated ceiling with paintings, the coloured glass windows and the gilded Art Nouveau decorations. In this extraordinary setting, the gala evening took place under the theme “Electro Baroque”. A festive dress code with black tie and long evening gowns, excellent food and well-matched musical accompaniment made for a thoroughly successful evening. There really was a lot on offer — chapeau!

The organisation of the event was also impressive across the board. From arrival and shuttle service to on-site support, everything ran smoothly. A big thank you goes to our partner manager and the entire Cegid event team. It was clearly noticeable how much work, commitment and passion had gone into the whole organisation.

Our Conclusion? A thoroughly successful event! We are already looking forward to the next Cegid Connections and are excited to see which city will host the event in 2028.