8 Essential Tips for your first trade fair visit
As a buyer I’ve sourced products from trade fairs across the world from the enormous canton fair in Hong Kong to UK trade fair Top drawer finding suppliers & brands for anything from home accessories, Health & Beauty to Footwear. If you’ve not been to a trade fair before it can seem like a daunting experience when you are faced with literally hundreds of stands. Here are my 8 tips so that you make the most out of the experience,
- Getting around the fair
If it’s a big fair there are usually buses direct from the airport to the exhibition centre, each website will have a location guide on the best way to reach your location. At the end of the day the queue for transport back to the airport and taxis can be very long so ensure you leave enough time.
During the fair don’t wander aimlessly around the stands and Halls, you’ll lose track of where you have been and miss out on good stands. I know this sounds quite specific but walk the halls in a grid formation down each aisle then move on to the next aisle and so on.
- Know what you are looking for.
I know this might sound simple, but have a shopping list of what you’re looking for so that you are not too side tracked by all the very shiny objects you’re going to see throughout the day. Focus on those first then you can come back to what catches your eye. If you need to see suppliers find out their stand numbers and hall locations and group them together by location.
3 Use the show app/digital tools
Check out the exhibitors beforehand if you can, So that you can get a feel for what brands/suppliers are on your MUST SEE list, The app for ambiente was fantastic as you could search by keyword for what you were looking for, now, I have to say they are not all as advanced as that. So check out the website and the app of the show to help you make a plan. Also by doing this it means you’re 100% sure the fair is a right fit for you before you go and invest your time & money.
4 Business cards & Contacts
Whilst you are at the fairs you will pick up so many brochures and business cards. By the end of the day you’ll forget who does what and why you have their card in the first place.
To help you with this you can do a few things choose which works for you.
- Write a few points on the business card, their MOQ, (minimum order quantity) what stood out to help jog your memory later on
- Or staple into a notebook with a few notes along side
- Or take a photo of the card in front of the stand and the products
Suppliers will also ask you for your business card. You can get these printed quickly and cheaply at Moo.com or download We Chat and they can scan your details and send you pdf’s and their details.
5 Check out the talks & trend installations
Many of the shows have great talks from industry leaders discussing topics that are really relevant to you at this stage of business. So decide what you want to attend and set a timer on your phone as you may lose track of time and might miss it.
6 Flights and accommodation
This can get really pricey around the time of the big fairs particularly if you are travelling during the week, going on the Sunday (is usually cheaper & quieter) Try and book 3 months in advance to get the best rates on flights etc.
7 Food & Drink & Comfort
The Queues for the cafes & restaurants can be quite long and depending on the fair, not great quality and expensive. So either go outside of peak lunch hours (as you don’t want to spend all your time queuing ) or grab a sandwich on your way to the fair or something from your hotel. You’ll probably do about 15-20,000 steps in the day or more depending on the fair so wear comfy shoes!!!
8 What Questions should you ask Suppliers?
You’ll want to judge fairly quickly if suppliers are the right fit for you, depending if you are sourcing under your own brand or for made to order/private label/white label or you are buying in a brand your questions will differ slightly.
But after introductions here are 3 questions for you to ask.
What is the MOQ (minimum order quantity) this can either be units or value. (this straight away determines if you can work with them) If you are only looking for 50 units and their MOQ is 5000 then there’s no point spending any more time on the stand. You can take their cards and note for next time when you get to that stage. If they can do your quantity then you get to question 2 and 3 below
What are their payment terms
If you are buying a brand this will usually be proforma (up front for the first few orders) some may do on account (credit). If you are creating something made to order expect to pay up to a 50% deposit with balance on shipment.
Who else do they supply (if it’s own brand development ) this gives you an idea of what kind of operation they have.
There are other questions such as lead time and questions around delivery and logistics but they will come later.
Oh and one last one, which didn’t feel like it deserved a point on it’s own but it’s something I generally always forget which is to bring a power bank!
Good luck with your next trip and if you need any more tips to help you in your product business then check out my website here and the start scale succeed podcast here
Nicole
I hope that this post helps you to continue on your journey to success and if you need any extra support then check out my free resources on my website, follow me on Instagram, subscribe to my monthly newsletter or get in touch at nicole@thebuyerandretailcoach.com
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