5 reasons retailers are choosing apps over trade shows

The retail struggle is real. More now than ever retailers are counting their expenses and weighing up the cost of doing business. Trade Shows used to be the only way for retailers to discover new brands and connect with their current wholesalers. Now with the rise of apps, like Instagram and Indirectory, retailers are able to connect with wholesalers and do business faster and more easily. Here are our top 5 reasons retailers are choosing apps over trade shows.  

1. Cost - Attending a tradeshow is a huge expense. It takes a bite out of your cash flow, costs you time away from your business and you can spend thousands attending only to come up potentially empty-handed. Apps like Indirectory, provide retailers with an instant easy way to connect with wholesale brands. It’s free and in your pocket.
   

2. Apps provide exposure - Nowadays being visible in a crowded market is complicated. There is a lot of noise. Instagram is a platform that can provide a broad amount of exposure, but the audience is wide and not deep. If you’re a retailer looking for products to stock, sifting through your Insta feed can feel a bit redundant. If you’re a brand, you are reluctant to launch your new season catalog straight to Instagram, because you want to maximize your wholesale orders. Apps like Indirectory are business to business. Targeted directly at the wholesale market. Retailers and wholesalers can connect with the intent of doing business, making connections and doing orders.  Trade Shows, by comparison, are location and traffic bound. You have to make sure that you go to the right tradeshow to find the right brand at the exact right time. It can feel like a needle in a haystack. Like in point 1, if a brand decides not to attend a trade show you could be missing out on the unicorn of your dreams.
   

3.  Stalk without the Awk - At a trade show, you’re not really given an opportunity to discover if you're a match for doing business with a wholesaler or retailer. You can’t say, “Hey just give me a sec to stalk you and see if we match up on brand values”. You have to take each other on face value that each party will deliver what they promise. Apps allow you some space to get to know a brand without the commitment to making an order.
   

4. Better Interest targeting - You can spend hours wandering a trade show and never see a brand that matches your particular business aesthetic. Being able to assign your brand values, your styles and then be shown matching wholesalers who meet your style.    
   

5. Stay up to date! - Being on an app, means that you can get real-time updates on what's happening with wholesalers. You get to be connected to your fave wholesalers 365 days of the year and not just for the small trade show window every 6 months. Being in business is all about building solid relationships and staying in the loop with your wholesalers is critical.
   
   * Covid-19 Update

6. Germs! - Never thought this would be a contributing factor, but these days travelling and attending physical trade shows can potentially endanger your health and the health of the community you return to. Stay safe and do as much as you can online until the restrictions have been fully lifted.
   
   Download our iOS App now, which is like an online tradeshow in your pocket.

Gather Store, Currumbin, Australia