Around 5,409 visitors attended the InternetRetailing Expo (IRX), which was co-located with the eDelivery Expo for the second year at the NEC in Birmingham, UK on 27-28 April.
This year’s event featured key industry leaders, speakers, delegates, strategists and decision makers from leading companies such as B&Q, Dixons Carphone, Google, eBay UK, John Lewis, Topps Tiles, Sainsbury’s, Bonmarche, Adobe and Correos. Many sessions, such as the one with Sarah Stagg from House of Fraser and Walter Blackwood formerly of Mothercare, were packed to the rafters and requiring additional seating.
“This year’s event was bigger and better than ever before and we were proud to witness even greater engagement between exhibitors and visitors,” said Sam North, portfolio director. “It was exciting to see visitors get involved in all aspects of the show, with the Workshops, Marketplaces and Digital Payments Theatres having standing room only, while our social channels saw us trending for two days with more than 4,000 tweets in the week surrounding the event.”
The eDelivery Expo, in its second year, attracted record numbers of visitors and the show floor was filled with demonstrations of the latest products and innovations on show. EiraTech showcased the very latest in robotics, while Macfarlane Packaging put its packaging to the test with its ‘every second counts’ challenge and the UKWA Pavilion displayed new warehousing solutions. The newest innovations in delivery were also on show; iWAD revealed its on-demand delivery service and InPost demoed its fully automated locker banks.
The greater crossover between the two shows makes this event the home of multi-channel success, connecting delivery and logistics professionals with their multi-channel industry peers and the leading suppliers.
“IRX and EDX are well in line with other world-class shows and we found those who attended to be engaging, enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable, we’re already planning for 2017,” said Jessica Thiele, marketing manager at Virtual Logistics.
Retailers from a variety of sectors outlined their ideas of multi-channel retailing, present and future. Ocado’s head of general merchandising Richard Locke discussed deliveries and the potential of click-and-collect services. Dave Crellin head of online operations development at Sainsbury’s and Lana Jackson, head of customer proposition and delivery at New Look, also weighed in with their opinions, speaking in a panel discussion on last mile delivery.
Attendees were able to not only witness the most innovative solutions and technological developments that are coming to market in 2016, but also see what trends and issues they should be aware of to remain at the forefront of the industry.
You can visit www.internetretailingexpo.com and www.edeliveryexpo.com in the coming weeks to re-live the presentations, download the slides and register your interest for the 2017 expos taking place on 5-6 April in Birmingham.
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