By Ray Smith, Exhibit City News
LED technology omnipresent on today’s tradeshow floors has fueled growth for Popshap, a New Jersey-based digital kiosk company that exploded onto the scene since being founded in 2017.
The brilliant, 1,500-tile display welcoming attendees to ShopTalk 2024 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center was created by Popshap, along with LED archways above session stages and various wayfinding signs. They attract attention like a puppy in a kindergarten class.
About 65 percent of Popshap’s business comes from tradeshows, CEO Eitan Magid says. His mission: enhance attendees’ experience.
“Being a manufacturer, we don’t follow trends, we set the trends,” Magid asserts at Popshap’s exhibit booth. “We listen to our clients. We partner with brands like ShopTalk. When you partner with industries, they’re asking you to come up with new ideas.”
With locations in Hackensack, N.J., Las Vegas, and Almonte Springs, Fla., Popshap manufactures interactive technology ranging from touch tables to video walls, touchscreen and outdoor kiosks, and digital signage. The company is an end-to-end service provider, improving efficiency and adding quality, Magid says.
“Even before COVID, you saw an appetite for LED technology,” he notes. “There were a lot of companies that couldn’t give you a final solution. They had one aspect … software, hardware, labor. We came up with a complete solution.”
Popshap exhibits at 20 to 25 shows a year, setting up an LED screen, touch table and digital kiosk in a 10-foot-by-20-foot booth built by Think 360 of Las Vegas. “Just like we set technology trends, we build a brand,” the CEO boasts. “Our name is known in the industry. We’ve invested our growth back into the tradeshow industry.”
(Eitan Magid, Popshap CEO)
ATTENDANCE REBOUND
Since its inaugural spring 2016 show in Las Vegas, ShopTalk has grown from 2,000 retail and e-commerce professionals to a flagship show with more than 10,000 in attendance. It covers the latest technologies, trends and business models in the retail industry, as well as the rapid transformation of how consumers shop, what they’re looking for and what they’re buying.
Tedd Rodman, director of analyst relations, public relations and field marketing at Waltham, Mass.-based Yottaa, finds attendance is on the upswing at ShopTalk. He’s been coming since the beginning.
“I definitely feel like it’s higher. I’d say there’s more exhibitors. You look at the other side of the hall, there’s a whole lot of booths. That was not always the case,” he says. “The first year after the pandemic was a little tough. The pandemic factor is gone.”
Yottaa, a mobile optimization company that speeds up e-commerce sites, skipped the National Retail Federation show in New York, but couldn’t pass up ShopTalk in Las Vegas. NRF wasn’t a “strategic” fit, plus it was 15 degrees in New York in January, Rodman adds.
Exhibiting in Las Vegas is certainly more expensive across the board than in past years, but it’s not confined to Las Vegas, in terms of inflation for hotels and restaurants, he says. “The attraction of Las Vegas is just the sheer number of hotel rooms, restaurants and things to do.”
STRONG PRESENCE
Maddie Zingeser, senior director of marketing for New York-based Wunderkind, stresses the importance of attending tradeshows such as ShopTalk in Las Vegas and eTail West, held in February in Palm Springs, Calif.
“We like to have a strong tradeshow presence in quarter one, so we tend to go to both shows and have a big presence and have client entertainment in the evening,” she says. That’s a decisive advantage for Las Vegas.
Zingeser scheduled 30 one-on-one meetings with clients, prospects and partners at the bustling Meet-Up Lounge, where business was conducted in 15-minute intervals. She’s pumping Wunderkind’s performance marketing solutions for retailers with a minimum of $4 million online revenue. The company identifies anonymous traffic on a website, people who visit, but leave undetected.
“This is a mainstay for us,” says Pat Walsh of Global-e Online, an Israeli company that provides payment and shipping methods and creates local experiences for international customers.
“We’re consistently here. A lot of brands that we work with are here, and it’s a way to meet new brands. And there’s just a lot of our partners here,” Walsh adds.
SHOPTALK AGENDA
Educational sessions at ShopTalk offered insights into the ever-evolving landscape of the retail ecosystem, addressing pressing challenges head-on and showcasing innovative strategies.
Among the topics:
- Artificial Intelligence. Generative AI has the potential to add $4.4 trillion in value to the global economy annually. Despite the buzz, questions remain on how to navigate its risks and shortcomings. What applications of AI will have the greatest transformational power, and how will they affect business?
- Brand Power: In an era of heightened sensitivity and microscopic focus on missteps, brands must be crystal clear on what they stand for, the purpose of their brand and products, and who their customers are, with little margin for error.
- Store Openings: As customers continue to embrace unified shopping experiences, companies need to think carefully about the role of brick-and-mortar stores, which markets and areas they should prioritize for locations, and how to deliver a stellar in-store experience amid challenges with labor and shrink.
