Online retail sales are at a record level – this year in Germany, they crossed the 40b Euro mark for the first time and the proportion of total retail sales is apparently set to grow to over 9 percent. "The issue is one of increasing importance for the home textiles sector too. With the 'Webchance Academy', Heimtextil aims to provide a stimulus for the high-street retail trade and to point the way towards new sales opportunities for our visitors," says Meike Kern, director of Heimtextil at Messe Frankfurt.

The Lecture Square in Galleria 1 will provide valuable information both for newcomers to the world of e-commerce and to interior furnishings experts and retail traders with previous knowledge and experience of the subject. From 11am to 5pm, the programme will provide both basic knowledge and more advanced topics. The lecture series will put the spotlight on various e-commerce solutions, the basic principles of modern online marketing, potential legal stumbling blocks and the success stories of established retailers who make use of the web.

Wieland Junge, MD of Maritimia, will be providing a report on a specific practical example in his talk on 'The introduction and establishment of an online shop – from idea to implementation'. In it, he will devote some time to the choice of products, as well as questions of marketing, technology and the costs involved, particularly in terms of time and effort. Olaf Kolbrück, editor-in-chief of etailment.de, from the specialist publishing house, Deutscher Fachverlag, will speak on 'The online market as a factor of success' and will give helpful advice on successful advertising via the internet – using e-mail, social media, mobile phones and the like. Mobile applications also fall within the purview of the lecture to be given by Florian Gmeinwieser, head of Mobile at the Plan.net Group. He will provide an introduction to the concept of 'Beacons - the new and very promising way forward offered by the use of smartphones'.

All lectures will be translated into English and will be targeted at both national and international visitors to the show.