Tradeshows have long been at the heart of the manufacturer-dealer-specifier relationship in contract furnishings. So it is with some concern that the contract furnishings industry views the recent move of Herman Miller and Knoll out of Chicago's Merchandise Mart (home of the large NeoCon tradeshow) and over to separate buildings on the West side of town.
Make no mistake. Tradeshows like NeoCon allowed corporate specifiers and the A&D community to experience the newest products in one place in just a few days. They were cost-effective for manufacturers who could see all their reps and dealers, and meet new ones, in one go. They also allowed contract furnishings media and industry experts to stay on top of industry trends.
But as technology disintermediates the business, old buying models evolve, and the craving grows for experience over the exchange, tradeshows and showrooms are becoming less important for specific segments of the commercial interiors industry. Some are struggling to stay relevant while others are being discontinued or moved away from "Design Centers" altogether.
While industry-wide data is hard to come by, US attendance numbers, as witnessed by Contract Furnishings News, are showing signs of plateauing in recent years, as designers and specifiers pay less attention to the few remaining large-scale events. Likewise, more than half of the manufacturers that responded to our 2019 survey agree that trade shows had little or no relevance to placing real orders.
One challenge is that new products are not being introduced on any set timetable. While new products are filtering into the marketplace, the costs associated with adding new products keep rising. Further, having to release new products for, say, NeoCon every June, puts a substantial creative and financial burden on manufacturers for whom trade shows are not frequent enough.
Also, digitization has reduced the need for manufacturers and dealers to come together physically. Manufacturers already maintain significant online portals for dealers and reps. While the very nature of furniture design and its tactile properties means that B2B processes may never be completely absorbed by digital — in the same way that online retail still makes up just a fraction of offline retail — there is undoubtedly an impact. This is compounded by design firms becoming more streamlined and thus being more selective about their travel plans as competition with between manufacturers has intensified.
"Are we about to see the complete demise of physical showrooms and tradeshows? No, we're not," says Michael Wolf, founding editor of the Monday Morning Quarterback and an industry observer for over 45 years. "However, the industry is heading towards an omnichannel approach. While insignificant now, I believe in the next five years, 20 percent of B2B business will happen online."
There is a third problem for trade shows today. Due in part to the value of harvesting customer data, manufacturers increasingly prefer selling direct to end-users either online or through their sales force and select key accounts. As their dependency on distribution via a broad population of third-party dealers and reps wanes, so does the need to invest in trade shows.
In response, significant tradeshows like NeoCon have already begun to rethink their purpose and focus more on the attendee experience. Tradeshow organizers are trying to reinvent the concept with new formats, fresh content, and appealing to new audiences.
Major tradeshows around the world have already begun to rethink their purpose and focus more on the attendee experience.
Even in China, where the B2B trade show concept itself is much newer, players are striving to bring more to the table than traditional tradeshows. As China's most significant furniture tradeshow, CIFF hosts panel talks and multi-media installations alongside creative showcases for Chinese brands.
Some trade shows have worked on integrating the digital component to improve the in-person attendee experience, streamline the product discovery process and meaningfully reach buyers that can't attend.
"We are starting to see some technical innovation, but this needs to happen in a deeper way as visitors and exhibitors are becoming frustrated with the old-school system," says Wolf. "Where is the technology that identifies a brand's best buyers when they walk in the door? [Or the technology] that allows you to quickly and effectively place orders Those that don't get the digital component right won't be in business in 5 years."
Alongside these new formats, progressive tradeshow organizers are ensuring the content of their events is as fresh as the product. By focusing on industry issues as well as trends, they give manufacturers and industry customers more reasons to attend.
Perhaps the most significant change some tradeshows are making is to stop being just about the manufacturer-dealer-specifier trade. Opening up to end-consumers is one way to boost attendee numbers and reflects the growing trend for selling direct.
"It's never just communication between the parties [in the sense] of selling a collection of products," says Wolf. "It's about delivering an experience for the end consumer, so there definitely needs to be an attractive consumer experience."
White NeoCon has invited corporate executives to attend for years, B2B remains essential; it is the focus of every manufacturer's business and always their primary concern. But B2C is a real, going forward, opportunity for the manufacturers."
In Europe, textile and fiber trade shows further upstream are innovating too. Exhibitors at Blossom Première Vision, which saw both attendee and exhibitor numbers grow at its 7th edition of the show this year, used the opportunity to highlight their latest innovations, particularly in sustainability.
Even with all this innovation, tradeshows still face enormous challenges. Giving people what they want is not always enough.
"If you have the size and if you have the ideas and if you have the finance available, probably there's a chance for [a few] to survive. [But the showroom of the future] has to be experiential, it has to be curated, it has to be a museum of information. It's certainly not just filled with desks and chairs because that [era] has gone for good," he adds.
In 2020, we expect to continue to see a shift in the role of tradeshows and showrooms. Integrating more sophisticated digital components will be crucial to reach a wider audience and enhance the experience for attendees both during and outside of the show period. More tradeshows will consider tailoring and optimizing their expertise to a targeted audience rather than trying to appeal to everyone, while others will open their doors to end consumers. Those that fail to adapt sufficiently or who misjudge their new ideas may disappear from the altogether. As shows become more targeted, exhibiting brands should become more careful and selective about which ones they join while upgrading their own showrooms and exhibits in a much more engaging and digital way.
Trade shows and showrooms remain relevant for B2B relationships in the contract furnishings industry. However, with the entire model of tradeshows is currently under increased pressure and the A&D community picky about which ones they attend, we would expect a continued decline in overall attendance. Only the most dynamic, exciting industry tradeshows and showrooms that add real value to all parties will likely survive in the long term.