Retailers have a spring in their step at UK’s largest retail trade show

My visit to Spring Fair International at the NEC Birmingham last week showed that there is still life in the retail market, certainly in the homewares and gift sectors which are the focus of the Show. Despite the terrible weather conditions during the early part of the week many exhibitors were reporting healthy order levels, in line with expectations and often exceeding those of 2008.

The Spring Fair is a barometer of retail sentiment at the beginning of the year as it is the time when buyers are looking forward and making their decisions about what and how much to purchase.

Online retailing was the theme for the Spring Fair International Online Retailing Theatre and, judging by the size and enthusiasm of the audiences we had for our presentations, there is a great deal of interest among both retailers and the exhibiting suppliers in how to make a success of selling online.

Many retailers have started selling online as an additional channel running alongside their high street stores and many others are looking to start or improve their online-only operations. Online retailing continues to grow at over 15% per year, and is set to be the most buoyant retailing channel in the coming few years.  The online retail market is worth a staggering £43.8 Billion in the UK, 15% of total retail sales. It is clear that retailers who can successfully integrate an online sales channel into their business look set to be the winners in the current changing retail landscape.

Alongside the Seminar Theatre we also ran an ecommerce surgery. Advice was on offer from IMRG, DHL. MetaPack, Royal Mail and Sitemakers, covering all the key aspects of setting up and running an online retailing operation.