Trade shows where suppliers present themselves are very old. The oldest fairs (around 1900) were actually exhibitions where manufacturers showed their machines and other products to the public.
Think of the RAI (the Dutch Bicycle and Automobile Industry Association) where it all started with bicycles on display.
Later a more commercial side was added to the story and so it became not only a meeting place, but also a place where business could be done.
In this way, fairs became THE place to meet, compare and keep abreast of developments.
In short: the medium of trade fairs was an important source of meeting and doing business. Butrr…. We got Covid in our midst: from March 2020 through August 2021, there was NO fair to be held and other ways had to be found to bring people and companies into contact with each other.
Colombus’ egg seemed to have been laid!
No more expensive trade shows, but from one’s own environment, organize trade shows on-line, work on-line, have on-line meetings.
To this day, parts of the Corona trade show and meeting culture are still in use.
Think of:
- Digital fairs: virtual events
- Hybrid: digital and offline mixed
- Working from home
- Remote meetings
According to many, this has made the future of traditional exchanges less relevant. What turns out? When we were allowed to hold trade shows again in September 2021, everyone involved from parking attendants at a trade show hall to booth builders and clients appeared happy. Why happy?
- People had “missed” each other.
Yes also the grumbling about logistics, set-up times and accessibility was suddenly not so annoying now - Meeting “face to face” proved stronger than expected (“together”)
- The “meeting place function” was still present.
- Tasting and holding a real product still feels different from a video on Instagram or Youtube
- Important: the visit was very satisfying and the amount of leads that came from it were also very satisfying
But still! Those who doubt the future of the medium of scholarship point to a number of issues:
- Social media: there is no denying the rise and importance of social media
- Cost of exhibition participation has risen sharply since 2022
- Environmental aspect: fairs cause hefty environmental impact
The post-Corona trend is that trade shows have grown by 8% after Covid.
Beaufair believes in the value of human contact.
That does not have to be physical contact at all costs.
However, the experience of relaunching trade shows after Covid has taught us that meeting on a trade show floor does have benefits.
We can be of service by thinking about cost-effective solutions such as our Stand-Upp booth concept and by putting a lot of emphasis on reusing materials and less environmental impact when building our booths. https://www.standupp.eu/