Retailing News

Whilst there are retailers and wholesalers already struggling to get through a tougher year in 2009 and concerned about the selling season ahead. The switched on core of the industry will be concentrating on being better focused and better organised to fine tune their efforts and their retail sales results. 

Retailers, if you’re thinking about planning your summer 2009 gifts and homewares products retail sales, it’s always better to start early. 

Those serious retailers, particularly that huge slab of Australia’s retailers that are just a day trip to Homebush, will be already planning their trip to the inaugural July Home & Giving trade Fair at The Sydney Showgrounds in Homebush NSW. 

Retailers know that the better performing Importers and wholesalers who are again bringing in new products for the 2009 summer season, those wholesalers that always have new stock that sells well, will be among those exhibiting at Sydney’s July Home & Giving Trade Fair. They will be changing with the right strategy and exhibiting in Sydney, the biggest Australian retailing hub, instead of backing off with old stock and low confidence or sticking with a provincial fair in Brisbane that continues to shrink. 

February Home and Giving Fair surprised a lot of participants who expected a bigger slowdown, when in reality we still have high employment in this country. The RBA and the IMF are already saying recovery will be better and/or sooner than initially expected. 

Retailers that don’t plan and get among those ordering that new stock which is in the pipeline, may be among those forced to buy more of that older, slower, stock that some wholesalers have plenty off. 

Whilst quite times mean big ticket items are on hold for many consumers, small luxuries and nick knacks are far too much of a temptation for many to resist, particularly whilst times are not that bad and predicted to get better. So stick to the low price point items, stick to what you know and to well established wholesalers who know what sells and above all, keep plenty of fresh new stock in front of your customers. Give them a good reason to make the plunge, a purchase that they can’t resist.

Following their great February gift fair GHA  has announced planns for bigger and better things for their inaugural July Home & Giving Fair at the Sydney Showground that helps make it a very attractive event for Australian retailers.

• A soft opening on Friday exclusively reserved for the exhibitor’s invited top buyers – providing a full afternoon of stress-free customer attention, ending with music, cocktails and canapés.
• Free demonstrations by renowned artists:
  • Alex Perry on Saturday – Fashion-conscious Interiors
  • Jamie Durie on Sunday – Outdoor Living
  • Donna Hay on Monday – Cooking
• Daily Visual Merchandising presentations and free one-on-one customised Visual Merchandising analyses by the masters at AUSVM.
• Hourly, topical, and free seminars conducted by retail experts on key business areas aimed to help you succeed.  (with more details to follow on that).
• Expanded Chill-Out Zones for buyers’ rest, relaxation and refreshment.

Serious exhibitors have already commmitted to the July Sydney fair long term ( at discounted rates) because they know that Sydney July is the right timing in the right location. The sheer population within driving distance from Sydney makes it easily Australias biggest market place. 

Well established exhibitors know that retailers in Australias biggest market are going to enjoy getting first look at new designs for the season with the surety of getting stocks of even the most popular new designs. (Because after July, exhibtors can still get stock manufactured in time for Christmas, whilst you can’t do that after the August Fair when it is simply too late). 

Exhibitors at GHA’S recent Home & Giving February Fair have reported between 20 and 80 per cent increases in onsite sales despite industry concerns of decreases in discretional retail spending.  The Effect of Economic Recessions on Exhibitions, published in January by the Centre for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), reports that whilst the number of visitors to a show might be lower during down turns, the quality of attendees is high and every person who attends represents a business opportunity for exhibitors that their absent competition do not have.  Despite numbers for the annual February Fair being down 12.3 per cent over the four days, testimonials from exhibitors supported claims made in the report and revealed that though there were less people on the floor, more people were buying, and they were buying more.  “The success of an exhibition is always critiqued according to the number of people that spill through the doors. The method is outdated and does not offer a true indication of the success of the fair or its individual exhibitors. As demonstrated at our February Fair, and supported in the CEIR’s report, the number of visitors does not directly correlate with sales achieved onsite,” said Alby Taylor, Director, GHA.     According to GHA, essential to the success of a national trade fair is the quality of exhibitors, products and displays. For the February Fair, GHA initiated a Key Exhibitor initiative and positioned industry-leading companies in key locations for maximum impact and to attract quality buyers to the floor.  Designer jewellery exhibitor NanJing Road has reported that the February Gift Fair proved successful for them once again and met the company’s high level of expectation.  “My perception was that the standard of presentation and quality of exhibitors at the February 09 Home & Giving Gift Fair was of the highest order, in fact the best ever,” said David Gay, NanJing Road. “More importantly, the general consensus from retailers indicated that they enjoyed the ambience of the fair and the high standard of exhibitors with quality products made the experience very conducive to doing business,” he concluded.  Renowned worldwide for its beautiful gifts and everyday luxuries, Crabtree & Evelyn also laid praise to the fair, attributing its success to professional management, new layout and high quality of exhibitor and visitor services.  “The ambience created by the layout and the quality of stands was relaxed and professional. Our customers appeared more relaxed and unhurried. They revelled in our new larger installation, stayed longer and were able to discuss all aspects of their Crabtree & Evelyn business in a peaceful and private environment,” said Lyndie Randall, Crabtree & Evelyn.  Innovative homewares company Zimba Designs was thrilled with the whole experience of the February Fair from operational logistics associated with move in and move out, to representation of their buyer base. “After nine years we decided to move to the Home & Giving Fair this year – I can’t overstate how pleased we are with the move! Most importantly, speaking as a kitchen supplier, we welcomed a far better representation of our buyer base than at our previous exhibition site,” said Stephen Loughlin, Zimba Designs Ltd.  “The Home & Giving Fair clearly has the edge in terms of showcasing market-leading kitchen suppliers and it only makes sense to be a part of that mix,” he said.  Long term Home & Giving exhibitor, Baden P Morris, commented that the fair was ‘surprisingly good’ considering the current plethora of negative press surrounding the ‘economic doom and gloom’.  “Our sales were slightly up on last year and comments from retailers were also positive. We had strong interest in our new range of Coyote Painted Glassware and range extensions from our key brands were also well received,” said Dean Osmond, Director, Baden P Morris.  According to Osmond, it is important that people maintain some positivity in an attempt to cope with the current state of the economy.  “Whilst we head into March and the second quarter with nervous anticipation, we are of the belief that maintaining a positive approach is the best way to survive and even prosper in what are interesting times,” Osmond said.

GHA’s February Home and Giving Trade Fair certainly picked a winner with their guest presenter, colour expert Leatrice Eiseman.
 
Leatrice’s incitefull free presentations in to colour and its impact were well attended throughout the trade fair event. Leatrice also presented a heads up into forthcoming trends in colour pallets for the season to come.

After a brief question time at the end, retailers were able to take away a handout with a range of eight forecasted colour combination pallets to suit different situations and marketing strategies. A nice addition to an import gift fair.

Leatrice is a colour specialist often referred to as “America’s colour guru.” Eiseman’s colour expertise is recognised globally, especially as a key consultant to Pantone, Inc.

She runs the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training and is also executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and edits their magazine on the Pantone website. Leatrice is also the author of six published books about colours.

Leatrice has helped many companies as a colour consultant, from start-ups to large companies to make an educated choice of colour for their product development, logos and branding, internet sites, packaging, point of purchase, and interior/exterior design and other applications where colour choice is important to the overall success of the undertaking.