exclusively review Strong industry support at Exclusively
by more show visitors than ever before. It was brilliant that multiple exhibitors were using trend colours that had been forecasted in previous years by Scarlet Opus. In other words the industry is starting to coordinate and recognise the value of forecasting in practical terms. The outputs demonstrated that on-trend colours, textures and styles can be used to give complementary products a co-ordinated on-trend look, making buying decisions easier for retailers and buyers.
T
his year’s Exclusively Show saw footfall 28% up on last year and ahead of many pre-pandemic shows, with
enthusiastic feedback from exhibitors, retail buyers and media visitors. Taking place at The Business Design Centre in Islington on 14 and 15 June, Exclusively 2022 was largely agreed by visitors and exhibitors alike to have a great energy and excitement throughout. Coming on the back of a tough two years,
the show demonstrated clearly the value of face-to-face contact and networking for the electricals, tabletop and housewares sectors. The Exclusively team delivered its busiest-
ever international Meet the Buyer event on Monday evening, with retailers coming from all over the globe including USA and South Africa. The trend areas had more retailers booked
on Trend Tours and Trend Talks than ever before and enjoyed very high levels of engagement. The brand showcase played host to hundreds of media visitors and influencers and included a very well-attended product launch by Swan, working with top ‘cleanfluencer’ Lynsey Crombie, the ‘Queen of Clean’.
The Launchpad area for break-through suppliers, meanwhile, also had some excellent feedback from exhibitors, while new show features such as the wine tastings with Olly Smith and Jeremy Pang’s video creation proved very popular.
Bryony Andrews, editor of Housewares, took the opportunity for an exclusive – please excuse the pun – Q&A with Will Jones, chair of Exclusively and chief operating officer of show owner BHETA. BA: What were the key trends that stood for you at the show? WJ: Trend forecasting agency Scarlet Opus set out three key trends in a trends area visited
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HousewaresLive.net
What makes the BDC and London your venue of choice? The size, location and the atmosphere mean the hall is the perfect location for the show. Restricting the size means the show is easy to navigate over two days, and no one exhibitor can dominate. As the trade association running the show, we want all our exhibitors, big or small, to have a good representation, and as equal a space as possible. The BDC is easy to get to with great public transport links and taxi availability; it has lots of hotels, restaurants and nightlife. London in June is also very attractive to our international visitors. The building itself has a great design ethos and an inspirational atmosphere.
Do you think this show demonstrated that there’s no alternative to face-to-face, or is there a future in doing business online? There is a real future in retailing online which will continue to grow but is still only about 20% of transactions. B2B is about individuals working together. We believe that face-to- face is very important in developing supplier and retailer relationships in the housewares industry. This is for a number of reasons. Products have considerable design-led attributes and are tactile – meaning being able to handle products is key to building a range. Also, face to face is particularly important for new buyers. The churn in industry roles over the last few years mean there are many new buyers and new account managers. Historically, this has always been a very friendly industry with genuine warmth in the interactions between exhibitors and retailers.
Looking ahead to next year’s show, what are you most looking forward to and do you anticipate any particular challenges? We are most looking forward to a repeat of this year in terms of activities, participation and popularity. We are always looking at ways to develop and add to content alongside the features of proven popularity. We will aim to build visitor numbers still further as confidence continues to return and further growth of international buyer numbers over and above this year’s record levels. The only challenges for the industry would be a further pandemic
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twitter.com/Housewaresnews July/August 2022
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