Wholesalers concerned about the health of Trade Shows in 2009′
Trade shows for business to businesses (B2B) used to be the places for exposing new products and solutions to the market.
It had become an exciting place for meeting with customers and finding new interested leads. At the same time a vendor, an importer, a distributor or manufacturer could get a birds eye view of new offerings on the market by casually making their way through the halls around his booth as businesses with similar products were grouped together. Even those outside the B2B marketplace came to visit trade shows in order to learn more about the wholesale industry. Many with hopes of finding that unique angle or niche in which they could squeeze in and prosper as well.
The Trend-
Decline in buyer attendance at trade shows is a fact that cannot be ignored. Just ask any veteran wholesaler and they will tell you, trade shows are EXPENSIVE. The costs of booth space coupled with shipping and travel expenses grows easily into the thousands, not to mention all that promotional material you will need. After all the upfront costs and the finest promotional materials you still need the buyers, no buyer traffic= no sales. Many suppliers face this with a stiff upper lip, most want their competitors to know they are still standing, their very presence at the show being a testament to their continued and growing success.
However times have changed:
Competitors who assume their rivals have gone under simply because they are not being presented at the various trade shows could be making a BIG mistake. Looking good and losing is no longer fashionable, wholesalers have caught on. Your competitor might have decided to invest his money, time and diligence elsewhere.
Trade Shows can still serve a purpose however consider these interesting points.
- New products are first announced on the Internet
- Vendors and manufacturers do their competitive analysis on the Internet
- Potential buyers or existing customers gather information over the Internet.
- And Sales people are spoiling their time on booths, waiting for a visitor to pass along.
The extinction of Trade shows by the Search Engines
It would be unfair to simply blame the Internet for the tragic decline of trade shows. Search engines specifically make it possible to find products and services 24/7 in a very easy and convenient way. The entire Internet with all it’s websites, have become the biggest trade show with no visible end to it’s reach. To place a final nail in the trade show coffin many sites have cultivated a wholesale specific population of suppliers, they are in every way shape and form an online trade show that never closes its doors. There are no admission fees, plane tickets to purchase and certainly no booths to set up. Potential buyers can search for any product simply by clicking a product category or typing in a specific product keyword.
Thus now instead of getting visitors at your booth, your company gets visitors on its website. Not solely during a specific time lap, but any moment of any day of the year.
Final Thought:
Wholesale buyers attend trade shows to replenish their depleted inventories and to seek out new and exciting products. In a slower economy less buying takes place, common sense would dictate that if your not selling your certainly not going to need to replenish. Grabbing up new products might be tempting but the fear of being unable to move them quickly in an uncertain economy would make such decisions unlikely. You don’t need years of experience selling or buying products to understand this, although some would like you to think so, it’s just simple logic. Don’t be fooled by “professionals” spewing fancy industry terms, explaining the deep and extremely complicated world of wholesale. They need to make sure they can still book those ego inflating speaking engagements, long winded speeches that will amaze and thrill the naive business owner. These engagements usually pack the same punch as a box of wet corn flakes. There is usually a good reason why they are using smoke and mirrors to deliver a message and it’s never good.
Buyers in today’s market are still buying however they are digging deeper to find that special deal, this means finding as many qualified suppliers as possible. The Internet offers limitless opportunity with an open 24/7 attitude.
Just keep it simple and use good common sense. Having upfront and honest information allows you to make better decisions.
Let’s face it, would you spend the extra thousand on a balcony suite if you knew it was going to rain all week?….probably not.