Why Are Trade Shows Important for Lingerie Retailers

By Ali Cudby

In reflecting on the recent CurveNY show, I’ve spent time thinking about the business side of the amazing product I saw in the booths. As much as I appreciated the product, what really struck me this year was less about the lingerie, loungerie and hosiery and more about the people

It’s not easy for retailers to attend trade shows. For many it’s expensive in both time and money. With today’s technology it’s fair for retailers to ask themselves if coming to trade shows is a worthwhile investment.

In my opinion, the answer is a resounding YES.

Focus:

When you’re in your store – whether you run a bricks-and-mortar or online business – there is a constant barrage of distraction. There’s no way to focus on product in the same way as you can at a trade show. At the show, you have the benefit of seeing a wide array of brands in a short amount of time, so you can reasonably compare apples to apples with much greater attention to the job of buying and planning your sales for the coming season.

Product

Lingerie photography has an impossible task – convey the positioning of the brand, the style or fit of the garment and the specific voice of this season’s collection. As gorgeous as those pictures may be, nothing replaces seeing the details in person – feeling the hand, and analyzing the fine points of what you’re going to be selling if you don’t get that first person experience with the product.

Community:

As lingerie professionals, we engage with our customers and our local communities, but also with each other as part of the lingerie industry. Being in the same room together provides an opportunity to interact that’s impossible from the home front. From the seminars to random conversations at the lunch tables, there’s an energy that comes from being part of a community, and when retailers decide to do their buying remotely, they lose that engagement. Entrepreneurs often report feeling lonely or isolated in their roles in their businesses. Joining other lingerie professionals can create a long-term positive effect on a business by reinforcing that sense of community and belonging.

Walking away from CurveNY this year, I have found myself thinking about the product I saw. But the highlights of my visit were focused on the interpersonal aspects. In my work I engage with lingerie professionals all over the world, but a few times each year, at the shows, I actually get to sit down and have in-person conversations that take those relationships to another level. Without the trade shows, I’d miss out on that sense of community, which would materially affect my emotional engagement with the industry and the very important sense of belonging I get at every show.

For those reasons, technology will never replace trade shows as a valuable tool in running your business.