Dos & Don’ts for Rocking Your Trade Show Display & Maximizing Your Sales
Merchandising at a trade show is much like merchandising a retail store environment; you want to create an attractive space that draws attention and traffic to your booth while showcasing your products for maximizing impact and sales.
Just like the fairy tale Goldilocks, you want you’re merchandising to be just like the porridge – just right! You don’t want your display to be overly cluttered and busy or too boring and sparse.
Try these tips for maximizing your merchandising and rocking your trade show display.
START WITH YOUR TRADE SHOW GOALS IN MIND
Begin by mapping out your goals for your trade show. What is your end goal, to drive brand awareness or simply drive sales? Are you trying to keep attendees inside your booth or have them meander through your exhibit? These all have an effect on booth flow planning and should be considered prior to booth design. Do you have portable products that attendees can purchase and take home with them or do you intend to showcase products that initiate orders that can be fulfilled or placed after the show? Are you targeted direct sales to attendees or focusing on attracting attention from potential buyers or influencers? If you start with your goals in mind, it’ll be easier to plan the type of display you’ll need to create.
TIPS FOR CHOOSING YOUR DISPLAY
Beyond choosing the size of the exhibit you’ll need based on your booth space and location, you’ll definitely benefit from considering where you will display your products. A pop-up fabric display might sound great if you don’t have a lot of products to merchandise, however, a pop-up can be very limiting in terms of merchandising space if you do.
PRO TIP
Traditional slatwall can be a great choice for merchandising and you’ll have the option of using shelving or fixtures. A lightweight, affordable option such as Xylea-Wood can help boost your ROI by saving you money on assembly costs with its DIY, easy installation, and with material handling costs (drayage) and shipping costs.
LEAD WITH YOUR BEST MERCHANDISE
Think quality over quantity. It’s best to choose a broad enough product selection to appeal to larger audiences, but not so broad that you overwhelm trade show attendees. A good rule of thumb is to keep your display simple with plenty of room to move in and out while also being appealing and inviting. If you have a recent product you’ve launched or products that appeal particularly to the trade show crowd, focus on those along with your bestselling items.
TIPS FOR CHOOSING BOOTH DISPLAY MATERIALS
While many factors come in to play regarding booth selection, one of the most important factors involves the safety of your guests and booth staff. You absolutely want to make sure your display is strong and sturdy enough to withstand heavy trade show traffic as well as house your products securely without worries of your display collapsing. With over 30 years’ experience working in the trade show industry, we’ve seen first hand how displays can fall down, putting trade show staff and attendees in harm’s way and leading to losses from product damage.
Choosing a strong and sturdy trade show exhibit system like Xylea-Wood will ensure you avoid any safety issues.
If you’re planning on assembling your booth yourself, you’ll also want to consider using lightweight materials that offer easy set-up, another feature that Xylea-Wood offers.
Also important is planning a booth space floor plan that directs the traffic flow to allow your guests to enter and exit your booth without creating a bottleneck, with easy access to your check-out station.
If you have clothing, you may want to consider adding a dressing room to your booth.
PRODUCT PLACEMENT AND MERCHANDISING
Make all aspects of your booth display reflect your brand look and feel, from your display signage, table covers, draping and lighting. Organize your products in groups, whether by price, best-sellers, color, material, or function.
How merchandise is placed in displays plays a large role in how well it sells. The arrangement of specialty items in Lonestead Range’s 10ft custom booth showcasing their fine leather goods illustrates three very important techniques: depth, overlapping, and height variation. They also do a great job of incorporating the look and feel of their brand into the entire display! Attendees feel like they’ve entered an iconic western boutique, not just a booth at a show.
Lonestead Range’s display demonstrates visual variety in product placement and effectively uses props as accents to help buyers envision product’s benefit and end-use.
Think of your booth as a retail store window, and consider what would compel you, as a shopper, to walk into that particular store. Experiment with your layout and observe how attendees interact with your products.
Also be sure to ad enough selection of products to appeal to different tastes, but keep the display simple, open and inviting. Focus on your bestsellers, newer items, and anything of special interest to that particular show’s theme and attendees. Not sure how to display your speciality items in your corner booth? Rite in the Rain did a great job of showing off their products with slatwall fixtures and hooks in their custom 10 ft. corner booth crafted with Xylea-Wood.
This arrangement makes product selection so much easier for the customer. And when you place informational signage next to the display, it becomes even more effective.
MERCHANDISING MADE EASY WITH XYLEA-WOOD EXHIBITS
Combining style with function, Xylea-Wood offers affordable high-quality do-it-yourself merchandising display solutions for trade shows, events and temporary retail displays.
Do you need help planning your trade show display? We can help! Contact our expert design consultants today to schedule your free design consultation.
Call 909.860.2695