Pictured L-R: Thomas Schlitt (CEO Messe Düsseldorf India), Vasante Jante (Founder In-store Asia), Elke Moebius (Global Head Retail & Retail Technolgy Messe Düsseldorf), Hans Werner Reinhard (Managing Director Messe Düsseldorf)
In-store Asia 2018, the largest trade fair with congress especially for the retail sector in India, came to a successful end in Mumbai on February 24. Over the past 10 years, In-store Asia has developed into a “must date” for the top decision makers of the Indian retail scene. Now being held for the eleventh time, this was the first In-store Asia as a member of the international EuroShop family. EuroShop is the world’s leading trade fair for the entire investment needs of the retail sector, and is held every three years in Düsseldorf, Germany.
This year’s In-store Asia was the most successful in its history with 150 exhibitors from six countries participating and around 7,600 attendees to the Bombay Exhibition Centre. The three-day trade fair, with the latest products and solutions aimed specifically at the Indian retail sector, was accompanied by a two-day congress with top-class programming under the heading “Re-imagining the store,” and also by the tenth presentation of the renowned VM&RD Retail Design Awards and the VM Challenge, the top event in the Indian visual marketing scene.
Key facts of In-store Asia 2018:
- 50 percent new exhibitors (as compared to 35 percent last year)
- The key categories in the exhibitor profile included lighting, fixtures, signage and mannequins
- Highest participation, of about 20 percent, from overseas exhibitors including China, USA, Germany, Italy and Taiwan
- Total number of visitors count was 7,600 visitors which was 50 percent up as compared to last year.
- VM&RD Retail Design Awards 2018 witnessed a record number of entries of 370, an increase of 30 percent over last year
- The event was powered with the In-store Asia application that provided the convenience of information, interaction and networking to all the stake holders of the show.
The exhibition was spread over 12,000-plus sqm of exhibit space with over more than 150 exhibitors showcasing their products and services in POP Display, Shopper Marketing, Retail technology, Signage & Digital Printer, Retail Design, VM& Props, Lighting, Fixture, Material & Equipment.
The convention was attended by more than 240 senior professionals including brand owners, retail heads, shopper marketing agencies, retail designers, visual merchandisers, fit-out service provider from the Indian subcontinent. The sessions were represented by around 20 industry professionals, both from the Indian and abroad, who shared their expertise in the domain of Digital Enabled Retail Environments, Retail Design, Visual Merchandising, Design Innovations, Retail Research, Shopper Marketing and Retail Director and Principal Interaction Designer, Experiential Design Lab.
The important part of the event was the glittering award ceremony. The tenth edition of VM&RD Retail Design Awards, the most prestigious platform for the retail design community in India, was held on the second day. The Top Retail Design, Visual Merchandising and Manufacturing Talent from India competed in 12 categories for Store Design and 10 special categories. The contest, this year was received with an all-time submission of 370 entries, which is about 30 percent more than last year. In totality 65 awards was presented to the winners. The award ceremony was well attended by business leaders and the retail design community in India.
The major attraction was the “VM Challenge,” a one-of-a-kind live window display contest in India was organized alongside the event for the visual merchandising community. The contest saw the participation of 42 Top Visual Merchandisers from more than 15 top brands and companies creating innovative windows within a time frame of 60 minutes from an on-the-spot brief. An international jury members awarded the winning teams.
The next In-store Asia will be held at the Indian Exposition Mart in Delhi, India from March 14-16, 2019.
For more info, visit www.instoreasia.org.
