Winter 2021 - 116

THE VIRTUAL TRADE SHOW
RETAIL OPERATIONS
THE DIGiTaL
ALTeRNATiVE
How to navigate the newest
sourcing and buying tools
BY KEITH LORIA
Contributing Writer
I
t's been an unprecedented year for the gift shop
industry, as the COVID-19 pandemic has closed
stores, forced trade show cancellations and caused
uncertainty for retailers. But during the holiday season
business picked up again and stores looked to stock up
on the latest and greatest products. For many, that meant
turning to digital platforms.
ONLINE MARKETS
Digital buying platforms, like Faire, have provided
retailers and brands the opportunity to connect directly
with their customers from all over the world.
" Faire is a curated online wholesale marketplace
connecting over 110,000 independent brands and retailers
across the United States and Canada, " a Faire spokesperson
said. " Meeting customers where they are-online-is not
only an important trend in a COVID-19 world, but it's
important to continuously evolve with new needs in an
ever-evolving industry. "
International Market Centers (IMC) has studied sourcing
trends for decades and noticed a real change with the
emergence of the online channel. That's why the company
now employs a three-pronged omnichannel approach to
its strategy.
Eric Dean, president of IMC_di, explained in-person
trade shows and markets are one piece, sales reps are
another and the online marketplace or more traditional
B2B website represents the third. The pandemic created
a larger ratio for the online piece and that pushed many
retailers to throw more weight into their online buying.
IMC offers ShopZio, and online marketplace, and will
launch JuniperMKT in February. According to Dean,
JuniperMKT " will connect buyers and sellers utilizing all
three channels-at market, online and on the road. "
116 WINTER 2021 GIFT SHOP® PLUS
The 2020 rise in virtual shows allowed retailers to
shop for products and still maintain interaction with
manufacturers about new and trending items.
For instance, IndieMe Marketplace, an online marketplace
for handmade American and Canadian artist-madecraft,
held a Virtual Expo in both June and September.
" The IndieMe Marketplace Virtual Expo is a separate
platform which utilizes
the powerful
search engine
capabilities of the IndieMe Marketplace along with our
PCI-compliant, feature-rich checkout system, " said
Jacqueline Adamany, president of IndieMe Marketplace.
On both platforms, retail buyers can place items into
their carts and/or wishlists and then checkout with
each individual artist when they are ready. The online
marketplace is a fee-based platform for artists and no
commissions or listing fees are charged. There was no
charge for retailers to join the IndieMe Marketplace or the
Virtual Expo platform.
Even once things return to normal, Adamany noted
IndieMe will continue to offer the Virtual Expo long after
the trade shows are back in full operation.
In June, Onecoast offered a six-day eShow, a multi-line
virtual trade show featuring dozens of vendors introducing
thousands of new products, many of which were shown in
multi-media videos called " First Look. "
Shoppe Object held its very first Shoppe On virtual trade
show in August, and will continue with a new virtual
experience in February.
Faire developed its first online trade show event,
Faire Summer Market, at a time when retailers were left
scrambling for alternatives for holiday buying ahead of a
critical period for the industry.
In October, Emerald Expositions set up a five-day
NY NOW Digital Market, a discovery, connection, lead
generation and engagement platform, not an ecommerce
platform as the company felt there were already plentiful
ecommerce solutions and did not want to introduce more
complexity for buyers and brands.
" Our focus was to create a platform that was simple,
straight-forward and easy-to-use. We wanted a way for
our community of brands, makers and buyers to connect
at a time when it's not possible to do so in person, "
explained Tim Hart, senior vice president, retail group at
Emerald Expositions.
" Digital is a way to increase reach for everyone - we
can accommodate a far larger community digitally and
more affordably, " Hart said. " We also believe that digital
will feed the in-person event by helping us engage yearround
and develop relationships with a larger number of
brands, makers and retailers. "
Retail's new normal will see a bigger blend of digital and
in-person offerings than ever before.
Learn more about our Gift Shop® Plus contributors on page 10.
Winter 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Winter 2021
