§1 General information

1. E-commerce Capitals, the Organizer of the contest, is a Limited Partnership company headquartered at Matejki Street 6/7, 60-766 Poznań, Poland. The company is registered in the Register of Entrepreneurs of the National Court Register under number 0000592712, with registration files maintained by the District Court for Poznań - Nowe Miasto and Wilda, VIII Commercial Division. Its tax identification number (NIP) is 7792439665, and its statistical identification number (REGON) is 36746333. Acting as both the "Administrator" and "Organizer," E-commerce Capitals fulfills its obligations as a personal data administrator under Article 12, Section 1 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ensuring compliance with all applicable laws. This information is shared to maintain transparency for all contest participants.
2. The Administrator has provided the following contact details for communication regarding the processing of personal data: office@ecommercecapitals.com and Matejki Street 6/7, Poznań 60-766, Poland.
3. The Administrator is organizing a contest called "E-commerce Germany Awards" to recognize and reward the best service-providing companies that offer specialized solutions, innovative technologies, and expert guidance to enhance the performance of e-commerce businesses. To ensure transparency of the contest rules and to provide fair information about the Organizer, the rules, terms, and conditions associated with the contest are outlined in the following document.

§2 Definitions

1. Administrator/Organizer - E-commerce Capitals sp. z o.o. sp. k (details as specified in § 1 sec. 1 above).
2. Contest - a multi-stage process intended to recognize the most innovative and forward-thinking entities in each contest category, as determined by both the Jury and Internet users. This process aims to identify entities that have demonstrated exceptional problem-solving skills, introduced groundbreaking solutions, and contributed significantly to advancing the industry, following the criteria defined in the Terms and Conditions.
3. Jury - a group of industry experts appointed by the Organizer who play a critical role in selecting the Contest Winners based on the criteria outlined in the Terms and Conditions.
4. Internet Users - individuals who visit the Contest Website and are not part of the Jury. These users participate in the public voting process by logging in with their LinkedIn accounts, ensuring that the voting remains authentic and credible.
5. Participant - An entrepreneur, whether a natural person, legal entity, or organizational unit with legal capacity, who has entered or been nominated for the Contest and meets the participation requirements outlined in these Terms and Conditions.
6. Nominee - a contest participant chosen as one of the top 10 companies in their respective category, thanks to gathering the highest number of votes in the online public voting, and therefore submitted to the Stage IV - Jury voting.
7. Award - a prize given to the best participant in each category of the E-commerce Germany Awards Contest, which includes a statuette and the title of Winner.
8. Contest Website - the website (https://ecommercegermanyawards.com) specifically created for the purpose of the competition.
9. Terms and Conditions or T&C – this document.

§ 3 Entry into the Contest

1. Only service providers in the e-commerce industry with services currently available in the German market are eligible to participate in the contest.
2. The Organizer reserves the right to request proof that services are available in the German market. Failure to provide proof may result in disqualification.
3. Online shops, retailers, and brands are not eligible to participate.
4. Participants who are also Jury members in their nominated category are not allowed to compete in the Contest, either personally or through any representatives, employees, or affiliates.
5. Entries for the Contest are open from December 2, 2024, to December 20, 2024. To participate, applicants must complete all required fields on the application form available on the Contest website and accept the Terms and Conditions.
6. Once the initial application form has been submitted, the Organizer will provide the Participant with a link to an extended application form within 10 days. The extended form must be fully completed with all required information.
7. By participating in the Contest, Participants consent to the Organizer using their names and trademarks (logos) on the Contest website and in all promotional and advertising materials related to the Contest, both during its duration and for up to five years after its conclusion.

§ 4 Personal Data

1. If a Participant submits personal data, the Organizer will act as the data controller in compliance with applicable data protection laws. This data will be used exclusively for organizing and managing the Contest, as well as for the Organizer's promotional and marketing purposes, subject to the Participant's consent through acceptance of the Terms and Conditions.
2. As the data controller, the Organizer complies with Article 12, section 1 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Regulation (EU) 2016/679, issued by the European Parliament and Council on April 27, 2016, which governs the protection of personal data and the free movement of such data. This information is provided to ensure GDPR compliance and to inform all concerned individuals. By submitting personal data, Participants confirm they have reviewed this information and consent to the described data processing.
3. For more details on the processing of personal data, please refer to link.

§ 5 Contest Timeline

1. The contest will be conducted in the following stages:

• Stage I:
  • December 2nd, 2024 - December 20th, 2024 – entries for the initial submissions are open
  • December 23rd, 2024 - January 6th, 2025 - filling out the profiles' details and verification of the applications by the Organizer
• Stage II (January 7th, 2025 - January 23rd, 2025; 2.59 pm): – Internet User's public voting
• Stage III (January 24th, 2025): – Public Voting Nominees announcement
• Stage IV (February 3rd, 2025 - February 9th, 2025): – Jury voting and determining the results of the Contest - selection of winners
• Stage V (February 19th, 2025): – announcement of the Contest Winners of the E-commerce Germany Awards during the E-commerce Germany Awards Gala and Networking Party.

§ 6 Stage I – Entry into Contest

1. Stage I of the Contest includes entries and submissions to the Contest in the following categories described on the Contest Website:

• Best Sales & Growth Solution
• Best Platform & ERP
• Best Payment Solution
• Best Analytics & BI Solution
• Best Agency Showcase
• Best IT Infrastructure & Cloud Solution
• Best Omnichannel & Integration Solution
• Best Global Expansion Solution
• Best Logistics and Shipments Solution
• Best Fulfillment and Optimization Solution
• Best Customers Experience Solution
• Best Communication & Engagement Solution

2. The Participant can cancel his participation only till January 6th, 2025, 23:59 (11:59 pm), before the online voting starts.
3. The application will be approved by the organizer only in case all the necessary information is provided by the Participant, and the Participant is not disqualified according to the Terms and Conditions.
4. The Organizer is entitled to cancel the application in case the Participant does not meet the requirements for participation mentioned in paragraph 3 of the Terms and Conditions.
5. The Organizer reserves the right to exclude the Participant from the contest if the application is not completed in full before the online voting starts.
6. Participation fees are detailed in paragraph 12 of the Terms and Conditions.
7. The Organizer reserves the right to discontinue the Contest in the given category if the number of entries is less than 10 (ten).
8. Each entrepreneur (including E-commerce Berlin Exhibitors) can enter the Contest in a maximum of 2 categories.
9. Submission to the Contest can be made only by a person who is entitled to act on behalf of the Participant.
10. Companies sponsoring the E-commerce Germany Awards are not eligible to participate in the contest as applicants. If a participating company takes on a sponsoring role at any stage, their application will be canceled.

§ 7 Stage II – Internet User's Public Voting

1. During Stage II of the Contest, Internet Users are invited to cast their votes through the Contest Website. Each Internet User is entitled to cast one vote in each category, with only one vote allowed per IP address.
2. Participants can share information about their participation in the contest and encourage their partners and clients to vote for their solution.
3. The Organizer uses Linkedin as a verification tool to confirm the identity of individuals or companies participating in the voting process. The Contest is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or affiliated with Linkedin.
4. Information obtained from a person's or company's interaction with the call-to-action button will be used for providing the service associated with the call-to-action button as well as for further communication solely connected with E-commerce Germany Awards or E-commerce Berlin Expo. Each vote cast will remain confidential and there is no obligation to share it on a personal or company's timeline.
5. Each Participant is solely responsible for all actions taken on their account, as well as any actions taken by applications associated with their account.
6. The use of automated scripting/services, paid mass services, or any other automatic device, program, algorithm, or technology that performs the same action, as well as any kind of third-party automation in the voting process, is strictly prohibited. Such actions will be thoroughly monitored by the Organizer and will result in the removal of the submission and cancellation of participation in the contest, which will be enforced immediately by the Organizer.
7. Considering that the contest evaluates the achievements of providers on the German market, where EU standards apply, and taking into account cases of unfair practices, the Organizer reserves the right to disregard votes submitted in large volumes and within a short period from IP addresses outside the European region to maintain the integrity of the voting process and ensure compliance with data protection regulations.
8. If such actions are observed, votes submitted from these IP addresses within a short period will be removed, and the participant will be notified. If the situation repeats, the participant will be disqualified from the contest. The Organizer will only consider votes cast by Internet Users until January 23rd, 2025, 14:59 (2:59 pm) in the final summary of the voting.

§ 8 Stage III - Public Voting Nominees announcement

1. The maximum of 10 (ten) Participants with the highest number of votes gained in the Internet Users' public voting will be chosen in each category. These Participants will be announced as the Nominees and proceed to the next stage of the Contest (Jury Voting) given that they meet the formal requirements described in § 2 of these Terms and Conditions.
2. Nominees will be awarded points based on the number of votes received from Internet Users, with points ranging from 10 to 1. The Nominee with the highest number of votes will be awarded 10 points, the second highest will be awarded 9 points, the third highest 8 points, and so on, down to the Nominee with the fewest votes, who will be awarded 1 point.
3. The nominees in each category will be highlighted on the contest's website following the announcement on January 24th, 12 pm. The information on the Nominees will also appear on the E-commerce Germany News website the same day.

§ 9 Stage IV – Voting of the Jury

1. In order to enter the Stage IV of the Contest Participants are obliged to be chosen as the Nominees (check § 8), sign the agreement with the Organizer, and pay the participation fee (check § 12 below).
2. Jurors cast their votes through a special form created for them by the Organizer based on the information provided by the Participants in their application forms. Nominees for the E-commerce Germany Awards will be awarded points ranging from 10 to 1 based on the Jury's votes. The Nominee receiving the highest number of votes from the Jury will be awarded 10 points. Points will then decrease by 1 for each subsequent Nominee, with the Nominee receiving the lowest number of votes awarded 1 point.
3. The Juror is entitled to refrain from voting if they find that the Nominee under evaluation is either their employee, their client, a client of the entity to which the Juror belongs, or a member of the organization.

§ 10 Stage V – Determining the Results of the Contest – Selection of Winners

1. The selection of Contest Winners is carried out once all members of the Jury have completed their voting process.
2. To determine the results of the Contest, the Organizer shall take into account the contest points received by the Nominees in the Internet Users' voting and the Jury voting.

The algorithm looks as follows:

Pr = Piv * 0,3 + Pjv * 0,7 where:

Pr – is the Participant's result,

Piv – is the number of contest points received by the Participant in the Internet Users' voting,

Pjv – is the number of contest points received by the Participant in the Jury voting.

3. Based on the algorithm described above, the three Participants with the highest scores in each category will be awarded as follows: the Participant with the third-highest score will receive 3rd place, the second-highest will receive 2nd place, and the Participant with the highest score will be named the Contest Winner for that category.
4. In the case of an equal score obtained by two or more Participants, the Contest Winner is the one who has received the highest number of points in the Jury voting in that category.
5. The companies that get the 3rd and 2nd places receive the diplomas. The Contest Winner receives a diploma and the Award statuette.
6. If the Participants of the E-commerce Germany Awards, that get 3rd, 2nd, and 1st places happen to be the E-commerce Berlin Expo's exhibitors, they receive both digital and printed stickers distinguishing their booths during the Expo.

§ 11 Stage V - Announcement of the Contest Winners

1. The announcement of the Contest Winners will take place during the E-commerce Germany Awards Gala and Networking Party on February 19th, 2025.

§ 12 Participation fees

a) Non-E-commerce Berlin Expo exhibitors

1. Each entrepreneur applying to the Contest consents to pay a participation fee in case it receives enough votes to be selected as one of the Nominees (TOP10 companies) in its category, thereby advancing to Stages III and IV of the Contest.
2. The Participant is only obliged to pay the participation fee if he is selected as the Nominee (one of the TOP 10 companies).
3. The Participant that advanced to the next round will receive a draft contract and an invoice from the Organizer. The Participant is obliged to send the signed contract and pay the registration fee within 5 working days of receiving the documents.
4. The Participant can’t refuse to enter the next steps of the Contest and pay a fee after the online voting is over and the Nominees are announced.
5. The participation fee consists of:

• 400 EUR for proceeding to the TOP10 in one Contest category (if applicable)
• 250 EUR for proceeding to the TOP10 in the second Contest category.

6. The participation fee includes jury voting and other Contest-related costs.
7. After signing the contract and paying the participation fee, the Participant receives 1 complimentary ticket to the Awards Gala scheduled for 19th of February, 2025 - in case of being in the TOP10 in 1 category, and 2 complimentary tickets in case of being in the TOP10 in 2 categories.

b) Exhibitors of E-commerce Berlin Expo 2025

1. Entering Stage III of the Contest is free only for the exhibitors of the E-commerce Berlin Expo 2025.
2. Tickets to the E-commerce Germany Awards Gala are not included and can be purchased separately through the exhibitor's profile.

§ 13 Contest Communication Channels

1. The Internet is the main medium of communication. All information related to the Contest will be published on the Contest Website.
2. The Organizer has the right to publish information regarding the Contest and its results through various media channels, including but not limited to press, radio, television, and outdoor advertising.
3. The Organizer retains the right to publish the Contest results, primarily on the Contest Website. Additionally, the results may appear on the websites of Contest media patrons and entities sponsoring the Organizer, whose logos are featured on the Contest Website. Participants who willingly participate in the Contest also provide their consent to the activities mentioned above conducted by the Organizer.

§ 14 Filing and Handling Complaints

1. Any complaints regarding the Contest must be submitted via email to awards@ecommercecapitals.com no later than 7 (seven) days from the date of the announcement of the Contest Winners.
2. The complaint should include the name and email address of the complaining party, as well as the description and reason for the complaint.
3. The Organizer will review the complaints within 7 (seven) days of receiving them. The complaining party will be notified of the complaint's outcome via email.

§ 15 Final Provisions

1. These Terms & Conditions are available at the Organizer's premises and the Contest Website.
2. These Terms & Conditions are applicable starting from the moment they appear on the Contest Website.