B2B eCommerce company, NuORDER, has launched Online Trade Show, a digital B2B marketplace where wholesale buyers can discover new brands, browse digital brand catalogs and place orders on demand anywhere and anytime from any mobile web browser. 

Designed to be a digital continuation of the expo floor that compliments the physical trade show experience, the new platform offers buyers the discovery element experienced at live shows while enabling them to connect and conduct business with brands online both during and after the event. 

Officially unveiled in December, Online Trade Show conducted a test run at the Agenda Show, held Jan. 4-5 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, Calif., and Feb. 12-14 at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas, during which 50 fashion brands and 500 retailers at each show received access to NuORDER’s platform. 

By uploading their catalogs and line sheets to NuORDER’s dedicated online environment, Agenda buyers were able to transact directly with buyers as well as stay connected for a limited time following the show, according to NuORDER officials. 

“We’re excited to provide our Agenda community with a digital extension of our trade shows to enhance their experience both during and after the show,” said Agenda Founder Aaron Levant, prior to the event. 

He continued, “Trade shows are essential tools for brands and buyers to form relationships through product discovery, but we’re always looking for ways to extend and deepen those interactions. NuORDER’s companion solution will merge physical and virtual show floors so they can extend their sales opportunities beyond the two-day show.”

Online Trade Show features include:

• Brand discovery: Allows buyers to browse brands with ease by searching by category, similar brands, tags and high-resolution logos.
• Unique profiles: Brands are given multiple ways to tell their story through customizable visuals and assets, including hero images, digital line sheets or catalogs, Instagram feeds and downloadable assets, such as a credit application and PDFs of look books.
• Preview mode: Brands can curate custom portals for buyers, allowing them to browse top products while hiding competitive information, such as wholesale pricing.
• Mobile friendly: The platform is optimized to be accessed on the go from any mobile web browser.

According to NuORDER officials, brands that participated in the Online Trade Show pilot generated approximately 15,000 new leads, with the top five brands receiving more than 150 leads each. 

The Agenda portal remained open for a couple months following the conference and prior to the pilot’s conclusion, participants had the option to register to become subscription-based NuORDER clients. 

“Just over a month after the Agenda Show, more than 20 retailers reached out to us via the Online Trade Show platform,” said Eveline Morel, owner of Emblem Showroom, a full-service fashion showroom for emerging designers. 

She continued, “This came as a big surprise – we are now expecting relationships from Online Trade Show to drive thousands of dollars in new business. Based on this success, we’ve decided to integrate NuORDER year-round.”

Following the pilot program’s success, NuORDER has decided to make the platform available to all brands and retailers regardless of their affiliation with Agenda Show, according to NuORDER officials.

“While trade shows are an important part of the wholesale buying process, there’s no denying that, with the current shift in the retail landscape, semi-annual trade shows that only span a few days aren’t enough anymore,” explained Heath Wells, CEO and co-founder of NuORDER. 

He continued, “Just as consumers expect to buy almost anything online, at any time, retailers now also expect to place orders from brands 24/7. Buyers are constantly seeking out brands and working to get their customers new products as quickly as possible. We see Online Trade Show as one solution, allowing brands and retailers to collaborate more regularly, both inside and outside of the trade show setting.”

Since the trade show, Chelsay Day, brand manager of Dear John Denim and Another Love Clothing, has been experiencing great success with the NuORDER platform, particularly as a virtual sales tool for sales reps.  

“We experienced a rapid increase of new account application submissions during the show, which was an amazing response that we had not anticipated,” Day said. “It was incredible to be both physically at a show while simultaneously being able to hand over a list of potential new accounts to our sales reps.”

She continued, “Our customers have responded well to the trade show set up as they are able to see our brand message full circle through product, media, imagery – it’s all right there at their fingertips! It’s a great tool for our brand to be able to express our message and educate our retailers on what we believe in.”

To learn more about NuOrder’s Online Trade Show platform, go HERE.