The rain outside couldn’t dampen the mood at the ICC Sydney, with buyers eager to check out the latest products and trends on display at Reed Gift Fairs.
Coast to Coast Home national sales manager, Tamara Siekman, says she has been pleasantly surprised by the amount of people on the stand.
“People have been here to buy and we have been happy with the number of orders we received,” she says. “Buyers still want to see it and feel it before they buy it.
“We have over 4,000 SKUs on the stand spread over more than 200 square metres of floorspace across our four core brands Coast to Coast Home, alfresco and outdoor dining sub-brand Life Botanics as well as the soft launch of new brands, Assemble—our tabletop brand—and Elemental, our candle brand.”
Despite not having high expectations, Siekman still believes in the relevance of trade fairs where everyone gets out and connects with one another.
“Trade fairs are always important to come to as a member of the industry—it is great to see new brands and meet new people. We have seen quite a few new customers and that is traditionally what we normally pick up at the fair—the customers we don’t get into the showroom we get to see at the trade fair.
“Not all stores have the opportunity to leave their business and visit showrooms, which is why it’s important we attend fairs to ensure we are connecting with all our customers.”
Indeed, Alcoholder founder, James Boardman, doesn’t think there is a replacement for these events as people still want to be able to see, touch and feel the products they are buying.
“We are getting feedback from buyers that no matter how good something looks online, they want to feel the tactility of something or see the shade of a colour or the size of a product in perspective,” he explains.
“This is definitely something that you cannot duplicate without face-to-face interaction. I believe there has been an increase in new business and new retailers for us at this show, but we have also continued to forge consistent relationships with our existing customers.”
Boardman admits leading up to Reed Gift Fairs there was an element of apprehension, possibly due to the fact that the exhibition had been pushed back.
“I was unsure how motivated buyers would be and whether they would attend this event. We noticed more people have come to us as a destination at this event. Buyers are committed to honing in on what is going to work well for them.
“Previously business owners may have been more liberal with their spend in terms of trial and error, and let the customer decide what is going to work and not going to work for them. I think a lot of buyers are looking inwards and looking at the data in their business before purchasing.”
