GLEE 2019 REVIEW
SUSTAINABILITY AND RETAIL THEATRE DRIVE OPTIMISM FOR THE 2020 SEASON
An atmosphere of optimism resonated throughout the halls of Glee during September’s show. Following a buoyant spring and summer season, with many garden retailers experiencing strong growth in key categories, an upbeat trading atmosphere prevailed, underpinning the garden retail sector’s resilience to economic headwinds in the run-up to Brexit.
I
n a year of mon- umental change for the industry, it has never been more vital for suppliers to forge new
relationships with buyers, and Glee played a pivotal role by providing the ultimate networking platform that enabled the trade to witness the latest in innovation and confidently place orders for the 2020 season. Glee 2019 raised the bar in terms of innovation and creativity – drawing praise for both the quality of visitors and an increasing international contingent, too. To gain a deeper insight into how this year’s show unfolded against a backdrop of seismic industry change, DIY Week reveals key trends that shaped this year’s successful show.
An evolving place to do business
Glee is firmly established as the networking opportunity in the retail calendar and this year’s show was tailored to meet the needs of visitors with demanding schedules. Feedback helps to fine tune Glee and, following consultation with all partners, Glee moved seamlessly into a new Tuesday to Thursday slot this year, a decision taken in response to feedback from retail visitors. This move allowed those in the retail trade to focus on post-weekend trading and stock replenishment on the Monday, ahead of visiting Glee, a move that resulted in an upbeat opening to the show, allowing buyers to focus on networking and
meetings without interruption. Set across five halls, visitors were engaged from the moment they set foot in the NEC, with more than 550 exhibitors set across eight carefully edited show sectors. As an added bonus, the new Glee Connect matchmaking
service helped
exhibitors and visitors to strike meaningful connections with ease. Using AI
technology, the connect
platform was able to give all parties a higher return on time invested in their visit. Elsewhere rebooking for the 2020 event reached 61 per cent during the show, as brands look to secure their investment in the coming seasons. In general the 2019 event saw strong numbers across the board. Including revisits, over 7,800 people visited the show, with visitors coming from over
40 countries. The good news is 40 per cent of visitors were new to Glee, with retail buyers with sole purchasing responsibility seeing an increase of 14 per cent year-on- year. And 22 per cent of all visitors also had a purchasing budget over £1million, meaning orders books were quick to fill and meaningful retail partnership conversation were the order of the day.
10 DIY WEEK 11 OCTOBER 2019
www.diyweek.net
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