The exhibitions and other events bring together companies of various sizes from all over the world. It is a chance for retail business owners to find partners, see how others do, and get fresh ideas and tricks. If you are striving to develop, proudly striding ahead of competitors, then just running your own business will not be enough. You need to constantly seek out meetings that will bring you something useful. In November we attended 2 events: RetailShow2018 in Poland and Retail Days in Istanbul. Now we want to share with you our impressions. And advise one event, which every self-respecting retailer should attend — EuroShop, the world retail trade show in Germany, Düsseldorf.

November started with RetailShow (Warsaw)...

November was full of events: we were loaded with ideas and inspiration at the shows. On November 14-15, a rather significant retail venue was held in Warsaw — RetailShow 2018. More than 200 companies from all over the world gathered at this exhibition. They came to present their work: trade equipment, cash registers, scales, safety and security systems, refrigerators, lighting and so on. A few thousand visitors came to look at new technologies and interesting ideas.

Every year not only the exhibition is held here, but a Retail Congress conference, open trainings and seminars, awarding of the best innovative products and concepts. In the center of the exposition hall stood out  the Perfect Store, or “The Perfect Grocery Store” with the latest technologies, modern furniture and retail equipment. This arrangement was made by exhibitors altogether. They brought together new trade secrets and techniques, as well as equipment from different manufacturers, so that visitors could compare products face-to-face.

The company Ustor went to the exhibition as a visitor bringing along some photos with samples of our equipment for Trunki, Columbia and so on. We already have contracts for the Polish market, and later we will conclude associate agreements.

Our goal was to look at the new equipment and learn about the developed concepts, to get acquainted with the foreign market. We not only attended the exhibition but walked along shopping centers and streets, studied brands and equipment presented there.

… and ended at Retail Days (Istanbul)

The next venue we went to in November was Retail Days Istanbul (Turkey, Istanbul). On November 28-29, the companies from different countries came to the conference and exhibition to present their services and equipment in the retail sector. The event was held for the 18th year in a row. Its founder has over 35 years of experience in retail and his own consulting company.

Retail Days Istanbul is the most attended event in the region, where during 2 days you can talk with the majority of Turkish retailers, owners of shopping centers and large chains. It is a platform for sharing knowledge and information, gaining experience and just communicating. Everyone here is guaranteed to learn something new.

Among the participants were 2 large companies from Turkey: Kartes (with its own production, delivers turnkey projects) and ÜÇGE (manufactures products using robotic technologies, and is among the top 5 companies manufacturing display racks in Europe). We learnt about these companies on EuroShop 2017, and on Retail Days Istanbul we were invited to visit their factories and look at the operating process.

Ustor recommendations

Our team attends exhibitions of various scope. Some allow us to get to know the market better, get acquainted with the trends in retail, others dictate the rules of work for several years ahead. Once in 3 years we attend Euroshop in Germany. This exhibition attracts experts from all over the world in the following areas: wholesale and retail trade, catering, production and sale of consumer goods, commercial and packaging equipment. The event also attracts architects, interior designers, marketers, owners of exhibition centers. The visitors get a chance not only to attend the exhibition but participate in forums, congresses and listen to the performance of experts from different areas.

In 2017, an area of 103,648 sq. m. was allocated for EuroShop. It is slightly less than the Freedom Square in Kharkov. The exhibition received 2000+ companies from 60+ countries of the world. More than 100 000 guests arrived to have a look at the equipment and products.

Only the best products are brought to this exhibition, and the offered ideas are spread on regional markets. Even without looking at the numbers, we can say that EuroShop is Coco Chanel of the retail world. This exhibition dictates the rules under which all retailers of the world live and work.

Each sector presented at the exhibition in 2017 sent the same message: the consumers no longer buy just the product, they pay for the impressions of its use, for the level of service and so on.

We already wrote about ideas and trends of EuroShop 2017. We will not repeat ourselves, only briefly recall:

• consumer experience now reigns in B2B;
• companies "win" consumers with details, special settings that help to stand out among competitors;
• business owners connect offline and online retail;
• designers and retailers select not just decorations for the premises, but constructions that will increase the sales of the shop. Emphasis is made on ergonomics, environmental friendliness, non-intrusive advertising.

Which exhibition will be next? We have not decided yet, but you will find out first. Follow the news in our group on Facebook and in the blog on the site.