Trade shows have become synonymous with industries. For instance, Gitex Shopper with consumer electronics, Cityscape for real estate and Gulfood with the F&B sector.
Most of these events draw immense footfalls from both the business and consumer communities. Dubai with an impressive infrastructure serving a potential market of almost two billion people is an ideal destination to host these.
At the Dubai World Trade Centre, the 2015 calendar has about 100 events. In 2014, it attracted 2.45 million visitors through the year. Whether large or small retailers, trade shows are fundamental.
What is key for retailers is to identify the most appropriate event for the benefit of their industry and, ultimately, the consumers. And for that you need to closely estimate the likely return to weigh against the total cost.
Trade shows are an expensive investment. So the key for a retailer is to identify the most appropriate event based on the brand’s objective, the benefit for the industry that it is in and finally the consumer. Against this should the likely returns against the total cost be estimated.
Setting up at trade shows is no any less demanding than a physical store — in fact only more so. There are the significant marketing and advertising spends plus exorbitant space rental and designing costs. And most importantly, the investment of time and an additional sales force. Given these expenses, does participation at the shows even pay off?
I say that they do. Over and beyond learning new trends, trade shows help businesses sell more and shorten the sales cycle.
In fact, non-participation could actually end up costing more for a retailer. There could be the missed opportunities of partnering new brands, understanding trends and being unable to expand on inventory based on market trends. For instance, retailers who did not participate at trade shows at DWTC last year lost out on the 900,000 foreign attendees.
Trade shows mirror the future across individual industries. One thing is clear — trade shows bring infinite value to retailers. They are indeed a valuable component to a business and should be recognised as a business essential as opposed to a choice.
Include these trade shows in your marketing calendars today — there is no looking back thereafter.
The writer is the CEO of Emax.
