Wholesale Trade Shows are temporary marketplaces. They usually span over a few days, where manufacturers and wholesalers can interact with retailers all under one roof.

Why they are important:
Searching online to locate wholesale suppliers is easy to do, but how can you be sure that the company is legitimate? You can either purchase access to a service like ours, where we verify and certify wholesale suppliers and manufacturers and place them in our Directory of WBI Certified Wholesalers or you can also visit trade shows.

Having that face to face interaction with a wholesale supplier is still important, especially with the amount of scams that run rampant online. Get to know who is supplying your products! Because with drop shipping, you are placing a lot of trust in your supplier.

Wholesale Trade Shows for the Online Retailer

For an online retailer, going to an industry trade show, is where you can touch and feel the products. This is great for online retailers that want to dropship. You can understand the quality of the products to be able to offer good descriptions for your customers without having to buy the products first.

Another benefit to trade shows, is having hundreds of wholesale suppliers in your industry all under one roof!

How to Get the Most from a Trade Show

First, choose a trade show that will represent the product types that you are interested in selling. There are all sort of trade shows, from jewelry to toys, pet supplies to sporting goods. There are great resources online where you can search trade shows by trade, date and/or location. (we post upcoming ones in our newsletter)

Second, have an objective in mind. You could get caught up in all the bright lights and shiny new products on display. Study the exhibitor directory and map and work up a game plan to get the most out of your visit. It can get expensive going to a show, so with a proper plan, you will be sure to see and talk to the suppliers that you REALLY want to talk to first and then look at all your other options later. Otherwise you really will get caught up and not make it through the entire show floor.

Third, there are quite a few trade shows that also have education segments and guest speakers and sometimes even workshops where you can learn to improve your business in that particular trade. We highly recommend to sign up for these! You will pick up tips and ideas on how to sell those types of products better.

Getting Prepared for a Wholesale Trade Show

Here is a list of some things to make sure to take with you.
1. Comfortable Shoes – it’s a lot of walking!
2. A roomy bag for brochures, samples and business cards. A bag on wheels is great!
3. Business Cards
4. Stapler – after the day is over, stapling the business card to any brochure from the same company helps keep you organized.
5. Ink pen and paper for notes.
(other things I like to stuff in my bag, are hand sanitizer, a bottle of water, a snack bar and I use my phone to take pictures & videos)

Editor Note: I love going to trade shows. Talking with so many different interesting people about their products. Plus also getting to see the new things that haven’t hit the market yet! Some shows will have large displays up front of new products that aren’t available for sale yet and are coming soon. It’s pretty cool to have your finger on the pulse and get an idea of what is coming out that might be highly sought after.