NRF reflections part 2: exhibitor experiences were mixed

NRF reflections part 2: exhibitor experiences were mixed – but location mattered

Welcome to NRF video 2 – What these exhibitors say about the show this year.

‍

Obviously, I spend my time talking to clients a lot of the time. I probably had 40 or 50 conversations with people who were exhibiting.

‍

First things first, I thought generally speaking, the people in the basement (and for those of you who don’t know NRF, there’s a sort of hierarchy to exhibiting, the basement is where you start), the basement exhibitors were generally less happy. I think their traffic flow was lower. The Wi-Fi didn’t work particularly well, and some of them felt that they were really hard to find. I know the British Contingent thought that they were quite hard to find, definitely for sure.

‍

The first-floor exhibitors were generally very happy. I had a lot of conversations with eCom platform clients who had a fantastic show. I mean, a couple of them were over the moon with the leads and the opportunities that they think that they’ve got from them. Massive value, and they are planning to double the size of the stand they buy next year.

‍

So, that’s interesting.

Blog

The peer-led buyer: why trust trumps pitch

Buyers don’t want your pitch—they want proof. Today’s retail tech decision-makers are self-educating, peer-influenced, and allergic to outdated sales tactics. Over 80% of their journey happens before they speak to a vendor. So if you’re not showing up in the places they trust—content, conversations, and events—you’re not in the running. In this article, we explore how B2B buyers research, why peer-led content and events outperform traditional marketing, and what vendors can do to build trust before the sales cycle even starts.