Live exhibitions have finally returned, and many have welcomed the ability to trade face to face with open arms – but what if that show experience was accessible at all hours, 365 days a year? Jordan Evans, digital content manager at Clarion Retail, introduces Reveal …
As I sit here writing this piece, half of my team are in Harrogate, with the rest of us heading there in the coming days—because events are back! This is a moment that we know visitors and exhibitors of Manchester Furniture Show and Home & Gift have been eagerly awaiting just as much as we have – to see the industry reunited on the show floor is a milestone we’ve been counting down the days to reach.
By the time you’re reading this, though, the shows will have already passed – four days of sourcing, selling, networking and shared learning, gone in a flash – so what’s next? How do we keep the thrill of trade show discovery alive every day of the year?
These are the questions that we at Clarion Retail have been asking ourselves for the past 18 months. At a time when the ability to run live events was removed, we realised that, whilst our shows will always sit at the heart of what we do, ultimately, our job is to provide you in the industry with opportunities for connection – in any and every format that is most useful to you and your business needs. So now, for every day in between our shows, there’s Reveal.
Reveal is our brand-new digital wholesale platform, which brings the UK’s largest network of sought-after buyers and sellers together, all under one roof – yours. From wherever you do your best work, Reveal is the space for buyers to source the products their customers don’t know they need yet, and for sellers to place their designs at eye level for the industry’s most coveted retailers.
With online purchasing continuing to boom, it’s of little surprise that professional buyers are turning to marketplace models at a similar rate consumers are. In fact, a study by Oracle Commerce Cloud and WBR Insights found that 73% of professional buyers are using online channels to source.
But Reveal has been designed to be about so much more than just buying and selling – putting inspiration at the core of the platform. As it continues to evolve, it will be a place where both buyers and sellers across the network can continue to do great business, but also discover fresh designs and new perspectives every day, learn from some of the industry’s most knowledgeable experts and, ultimately, be united in their passion for interior, retail and design.
Capturing everything Reveal is, Stoller’s Lee Stoller summed it up best when taking part in the platform’s development stage, saying: “The best thing about having a marketplace is actually having a proper trade hub. Clarion Retail events epitomise the whole of the industry, and this is 365. I think it’s absolutely essential that we have one. How have we lived without this for so long?”
