Article

Globalshop 2009: The changing face of in-store marketing

Next month's event will focus heavily on new trends in fixtures, screens and the store as media marketplace.

February 8, 2009 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

LAS VEGAS — Attendees to next month's Globalshop are in for much more than just the latest in shelving and mannequins. Exhibits will run the gamut from digital signage to lighting, flooring and fixtures to point of purchase displays, a special emphasis on digital media at-retail.

Doug Hope, group vice president of retail design for Nielsen Business Media, which owns and operates Globalshop, said there is a greatly increased emphasis this year on the retail channel as a media marketplace.

Know before you go

Globalshop 2009

Sands Expo & Convention Center

Las Vegas, Nev.

March 23-25, 2009

"There's a lot of attention on shopper marketing initiatives," he said. "The challenge is for those brands and retailers to figure out the way that they're going to source those solutions for the in-store part of the business that has become a greater focus for them."

Hope pointed to new research from retail consultancy Booz & Company which suggests that 95 percent of brands are maintaining or increasing their spending on in-store marketing in the coming year, while decreasing traditional advertising like television and newspaper.

"You've got companies that are reallocating their resources," he said. "They're taking their funding and their best people and putting them on the in-store channel."

Hope said the other big trend this year is an emphasis on store fixtures that are built with in-store technology in mind, rather than as an afterthought. Just as new homes are increasingly wired for home theater and Internet, retail fixtures are increasingly being designed and built with in-store tech in mind.

"It's really in the past year, that's been revolutionized," he said. "A lot of it is stuff you can't see - things that are completely invisible to the shopper."

As for the show's digs in Sin City, Hope said his show's location is a true blessing this year, especially to would-be attendees with tightened travel budgets. Thanks to the drying up of tourist dollars, Vegas hotels are hungry for business, which has helped the show cut some major package deals.

"Last year, to travel to the show and stay for a few days would have cost me $1,300 to $1,500," he said. "This year I can fly there, stay two nights, and get change back from $500. If we were in any other city, we wouldn't be able to make that claim."

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Area of focus for GlobalShop 09

The GlobalShop floor is divided this year into six themed sections:

- The Store Fixturing Show (sponsored by A.R.E.)
- The Visual Merchandising Show (sponsored by A.R.E.)
- At-Retail Marketplace (sponsored by POPAI)
- Store Design and Operations
- The Digital Store (sponsored by POPAI and A.R.E.)
- Retail Marketing Services (sponsored by NARMS)

The conference schedule is an ambitious one, with topics spread over the three-day event that range from branding to sustainability, from shopper marketing to color trends at retail.

March 24 is Digital Signage Day, sponsored by Digital Signage Today. Topics slated for that day include the possible implications of mobile technology on digital signage, content best practices, how to make ad-based networks work in retail, empowering employees with digital signage content and how to choose a network delivery method.