John Kiskipelis: The Next E-commerce Winners Won’t Be the Biggest – They’ll Be the Most Visible
The 9th Regional E-commerce Conference is bringing together the people shaping the future of e-commerce across Southeast Europe—and we’re proud to have John Kiskipelis as our Brand Ambassador for Greece.
As an E-commerce Consultant working closely with online businesses, John has a front-row seat to the challenges and opportunities retailers face today. In this conversation, he shares his perspective on AI-driven commerce, the importance of profitability over vanity metrics, and why he believes the Balkans are entering one of the most exciting periods for cross-border e-commerce.
If you’re looking for practical insights, fresh ideas, and meaningful connections with leading e-commerce professionals from across the region, this interview is just a glimpse of the conversations you’ll experience at the 9th Regional E-commerce Conference.
Read the interview below – and we hope to see you in Skopje this November.
1. What is one e-commerce trend that you believe will significantly shape the industry over the next 12 months?
AI, but not the way most people mean it. Everyone talks about chatbots and content generation — the real shift is happening in how customers find stores. People are starting to ask ChatGPT and Perplexity “which store should I buy from,” and those answers don’t work like Google. Most Balkan eshops are completely invisible in AI answers right now, and they don’t even know it. That’s the trend I’d watch: visibility inside AI, not AI on your website.
2. What is one thing businesses should stop doing in e-commerce – and one thing they should start doing immediately?
Stop copying the biggest player in your category. Their strategy is built for their cost structure, their margins, their scale — copying it with your numbers is how you go broke while looking busy. Start knowing your contribution margin per product, not just revenue. Most owners can tell me their monthly turnover instantly but go silent when I ask which products actually make them money. That silence is the whole problem.
3. What is the biggest opportunity for e-commerce businesses in the Balkans right now?
Three things are converging in the Balkans right now and creating a real cross-border window. First, since July 1st 2026 the EU replaced the €150 duty-free threshold with a flat €3 customs duty per item — and the detail most people miss is that it’s per product category, not per parcel, so a mixed order of three items is €9, not €3. That erodes the price advantage Shein and Temu had over local sellers. Second, Bulgaria joined the eurozone on January 1st, which removes friction for cross-border trade in the region. And third, TikTok Shop soft-launched in Greece in June — a brand-new sales channel before it gets crowded. For a Balkan eshop willing to move fast, that’s a rare alignment.
4. How is AI changing the way you work, and what is one AI tool or use case you believe every e-commerce professional should know about?
The use case nobody’s talking about yet: check how your store appears when someone asks an AI assistant for a recommendation. Open ChatGPT or Perplexity and ask “best online store for [your category] in [your country].” Most owners have never done this — and most discover they’re invisible, while a competitor gets named. Google SEO took fifteen years to mature; AI visibility is wide open right now. That’s where I’d tell every ecommerce professional to look first, because the ones who move now will own it.
5. If you could give one piece of advice to a business that wants to grow in e-commerce, what would it be?
Stop chasing scale. Scaling a business with broken margins just means you lose money faster and more impressively. Growth with healthy, protected margins is what actually survives. I’ve seen eshops proud of doubling revenue while their profit went backwards — they were scaling their problems. Grow deliberately, defend your margins, and let scale be the reward, not the goal.
6. What are you most looking forward to about the upcoming 9th Regional E-commerce Conference, and what would you say to people who are considering attending?
Honestly, the connections. Conferences like this are where you meet the people you end up doing business with for years — that face-to-face moment you can’t replicate online. If you’re on the fence about coming, come. Find me, say hi, and let’s talk shop.