The Hybrid Trade Show: Connecting Buyers, Orders, and Follow-Up

A trade show creates highly valuable buyer conversations, but these need to be nurtured before the event, during the show, and even after the booth closes to maximize the chance of wholesale success. To do this, brands need to leverage digital platforms to complement their physical presence. 

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In-person interactions create product engagement and establish relationship value, while wholesale tools such as virtual showrooms, digital linesheets, tablet order capture, and shared order data preserve access and order continuity, and ensure follow-up can be swift and personalized. 

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The Trade Show Is One Stage of the Wholesale Journey 

Trade shows are a crucial part of fashion wholesale as they allow brands and buyers to come together in person to review products physically, facilitate fittings, discuss collections, and build relationships. However, these events alone cannot provide continuous access to collections, a complete assortment view, easy order changes, or a structured post-show process. 

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Digital wholesale infrastructure gives brands an operating model that makes the physical event more useful. Digital tools are not a replacement for in-person selling but can instead help to enhance it and provide practical support in areas that in-person interactions can’t reach. 

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Digital Preparation Gives Buyers a Better Starting Point

Digital wholesale tools like virtual showrooms and interactive linesheets allow buyers the opportunity to review collections, product details, pricing, and delivery information before a showroom appointment or trade show.

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By giving buyers the ability to digitally prepare before an in-person meeting, brands can ensure that in-person conversations are more focused on product decisions, assortment building, and relationship strengthening. 

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Digital wholesale platforms like JOOR even have buyer-specific previews so that selected retailers you are looking to focus on can gain access to view collections before anyone else. This type of digital support pre-trade show helps to make the event itself more successful.

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Digital showrooms and linesheets aren’t a replacement for in-person conversations, but they are an excellent way to enhance them and move retailers along the buyer journey. 

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The Show Floor Should Capture the Order While the Conversation Is Fresh

Paper forms, scattered notes, and manual processes can make capturing orders at a trade show messy. Limited physical samples can also cause friction as buyers struggle to decide if a product is right for them, which can result in a loss of sales. To bolster in-person selling, brands can use digital tools on the floor to create a much more seamless wholesale workflow.

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By offering buyers the opportunity to browse through an entire collection in a virtual showroom via a tablet, they can immediately access product size, color, and pricing information all in one place and immediately ask a brand representative any questions as they think of them. 

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Sales representatives can then also use these conversations to secure order capture. The order can then be reviewed and edited by both brand and buyer later on if changes need to be made using the digital platform, without having to restart the entire process. 

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A platform like JOOR, which offers an app specifically for trade show tablets, allows sales representatives to spend more time building relationships with buyers and answering queries during a trade show and less time reconstructing orders later. 

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Offline Access Keeps Selling Moving When Connectivity Fails 

WiFi at trade shows can often be patchy and unreliable. Digital wholesale tools with offline sync, such as the JOOR trade show app, ensure the order process is not compromised by a less-than-perfect internet connection, and saves data, and automatically resyncs it as soon as possible.

When looking for a trade show app to support a hybrid trade show approach, offline selling should be a crucial factor in choosing a platform. This ensures you can keep sales moving at all times during the event and have complete peace of mind that no matter if a brand has to leave the venue or there’s a weather-related emergency like a power outage, order capture data is safe. 

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Post-Show Management Turns Conversation Into Confirmed Work

After a trade show, brands can use digital platforms and wholesale order management tools to review captured orders and apply buyer edits and approvals.

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Product quantities, pricing, and delivery details can be confirmed in just a few clicks and then automatically sent on to the relevant inventory, production, finance, and fulfillment workflows.

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Platforms with messaging capabilities built in, like JOOR, can then be used to send confirmation of the order to the buyer and continue conversations to maintain a strong working relationship. This is not just admin to be completed after the event, but is a crucial part of the selling experience. 

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Digital Access Keeps the Collection Available After the Event 

Virtual showrooms and linesheets let buyers revisit collections after a trade show has ended. They can take as long as they like to browse styles at a time that best suits them, which is particularly useful for buyers who need an additional review before ordering.

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Digital tools like this also make it possible for buyers who could not attend the trade show, who work in different time zones, or who were not able to make it to the booth in time to see a collection. 

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24/7 access to a collection virtually makes confirming details, placing a reorder, and continuing a sales conversation much easier for both brand and buyer. 

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Measure the Trade Show Journey Beyond Same-Day Orders

Digital tools create a connected workflow that captures a wealth of useful information that brands can use to see what happened after the trade show booth closed, not just what was written on the day. 

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Metrics to measure to truly assess trade show ROI include qualified buyer conversations, orders captured, order value, follow-up completion, number of edits or approvals, time from event to confirmed order, and number of reorders.

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The Hybrid Trade Show Continues After the Booth Closes

After preparing the buyers digitally ahead of the show and then selling in-person with a connected trade show app, the wholesale process continues after the show with digital follow-up. 

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Building on the strong in-person relationships cemented at the show, digital tools make it possible for partnerships to continue to grow in a way that is most convenient for the buyer. 

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To learn more about how a digital B2B platform like JOOR can support your brand through the hybrid trade show process and after, request a demo today.

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FAQ

How do digital platforms complement trade shows?

Digital platforms complement trade shows by enhancing the buying journey.

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Virtual showrooms make it possible for buyers to browse collections online before they see them in person, so they can prepare any questions they might have for sales representatives or bookmark any products they are most interested in examining in more detail. 

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During the event, buyers can use trade-show order apps in a self-service manner to build their assortments and place orders without the need for assistance, saving them time and allowing them the chance to customize an order to their needs.

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After a trade show, a digital B2B wholesale platform like JOOR makes it easy for buyers to check in on the status of their order and speak directly to the brand using the in-platform messaging service. This allows the brand-buyer relationship to continue to grow long after the event. 

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What should a fashion brand look for in a trade-show order app?

When searching for the best trade-show order app, fashion brands should look for offline sync, virtual showroom, and customizable linesheet capabilities to maximize their chance of sales.

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These functionalities not only make the wholesale selling process more efficient but also provide peace of mind should a buyer be unable to attend an event or should an issue like a power outage occur at a trade show.  

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Can sales representatives capture wholesale orders without WiFi?

If a brand is using a digital wholesale platform that offers a trade show app with offline sync capabilities, then yes, it is possible for sales representatives to capture orders without the need for WiFi. Order data will be saved locally and automatically updated in the system as soon as a connection is found. 

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What happens to wholesale orders after a trade show?

After a trade show, wholesale orders placed on the trade show app are automatically synced to the wider JOOR platform. Sales representatives can then log in to JOOR to edit and approve orders. Once an order has been approved, digital confirmation is immediately sent to the buyer. The sales representative can then continue to build the business relationship using the platform’s messaging service. 

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Do digital showrooms replace physical trade shows? 

No, digital showrooms are not a replacement for physical trade shows, as they cannot replicate the in-person experience and relationship building that takes place at those kinds of events. 

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They should, however, be seen as a useful tool that brands can use in conjunction with attendance at a trade show. Having a digital showroom available to buyers before the event allows them to preview the collection and helps to foster interest. 

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A digital showroom is also useful for buyers who cannot attend a trade event in person or who were unable to make it to your booth in time on the day of the show. 

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