Retailers and Trade Shows Leverage Technology

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Retailers and Trade Shows Leverage Technology

Just as brick-and-mortar retail initially feared the impact of omnichannel retailers, the exhibition industry once worried that face-to-face could be replaced by virtual trade shows. According to Marty McGreevy, a 20-year veteran of the exhibition industry, there’s a parallel between how technology has influenced retail and trade shows. In both cases, the results have been for the better.

In an article for Trade Show News Network (TSNN), McGreevy writes that trade show floors and retail stores are parallel experiences. In fact, he considers the trade show and event floor to be a form of pop-up retail store. Here’s why:

  1. Both require advertising and promotion to get people in the door.
  2. Both depend on skilled people to engage customers to assist, inform and sell products and services.
  3. Both are immersive environments and work most effectively when contained within larger, umbrella structures, like a convention center or open-air shopping center.

In recent years, the perceptions of both the retail and trade show industries have changed. They’ve found that technology can be uses as an integrated tool to strengthen their positions.

Following the downturn in the exhibition industry in 2009, the fear of tech replacing trade shows failed to materialize. When the economy improved, so did the industry. A report issued this year by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research announced the industry’s 15th consecutive year of growth!

Since then, the online expo has become more of a supplement to the traditional exhibition – a place for attendees to plan their visits, register and obtain information. They connect with suppliers via email and social media. Retailers like Walmart are embracing the parallels of in-person engagement and in-store apps.

What shoppers really want is experience and relationship, according to McGreevy. Used effectively, technology can enhance and and deepen these interactions.

Read the full article.