Gift Focus inc Attire Accessories - Page number 17 - November/December 2021

On with the show Trade show updates from home and abroad  BCTF Online delivers for makers BCTF Online 2021, which ran from 27 June – 1 July, welcomed close to a thousand verified retail trade buyers to the five-day digital event, plus hours of content from an expert line-up of speakers. Participants in the show, where categories ranged from jewellery and fashion accessories through to ceramics, glass, woodwork, fine art and paper products, were lavished with attention from exclusive retail buyers in search of the best British handmade products. The event attracted 888 buyers in total, who viewed thousands of catalogue pages and images, watched hundreds of videos and created hundreds of favourites during the show. This resulted in an extremely busy show with exhibitors receiving instant alerts whenever an action was taken by visitors to their profile page. The BCTF Awards tradition was kept alive with the 2021 winners announced on the final day of the online exhibition. With exhibitors able to link all their images directly back to their own ecommerce sites, BCTF Online delivered exceptional SEO benefits in an age where companies need to use every possible tactic to drive traffic to their websites and generate vital online sales. The event also featured a valuable content programme, with speakers from The Giftware Association, National Association of Jewellers, ACID, Design Trust and Design Nation sharing their expertise throughout the event. Many exhibitors reported that trade orders were placed during the show, which was a welcome boon to everyone, but especially to those who’d experienced a worrying slow-down in trade over the lockdown period. The next edition of the British Craft Trade Fair will be a live show taking place at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate from 10-12 April 2022. For more information and to register for BCTF 2022 visit the website: www.bctf.co.uk AUTUMN FAIR & MODA DELIVER RECORD ORDERS Millions of pounds worth of business was generated during the last four days at the UK’s leading home, gift and fashion trade show, Autumn Fair co-located with Moda, reigniting, and refuelling the retail industry. Retailers from across the UK, including Harrods, Anthropologie, Dunelm, Walt Disney Company, Graham & Green, Tesco, Hobbycraft, La Redoute, Lakeland, Next, Paperchase, Pets at Home, and Sainsbury’s, flocked in their thousands to attend the first major retail trade show since lockdown in March 2020. The desire to refresh stock levels, inject newness and discover exciting new products for their stores, and experience product in person, created a very confident mood and many exhibiting suppliers secured record numbers and quality of orders. Lucy Lee, Founder, Scream Pretty, said; “The best show we’ve ever had at Autumn Fair, and we’ve signed up for the next two shows. We’re delighted and it’s exceeded our expectations. We like the new format for Spring Fair being four days instead of five, which we’ve wanted for some time so we’re very happy to be listened to and look forward to being there.” TomWillday, Founder of Willsow said; “This is our first big show and for us to be able to place more of our books in small gifts shops, medium sized businesses, and huge retailers such as WH Smiths, Bloom & Wild, Thortful, and so many more companies that have been here, is amazing. They have been really interested in us which is overwhelming. We are that excited we will be booking Spring and Autumn Fair for next year. The organisers have all been great.” Creativity, innovation, inspiration, and inventiveness were in abundance throughout the four key show destinations: Home, Gift, Fashion and Design & Source. Overall, feedback from exhibitors has centred on the amount of pent-up demand there is for face-to-face trading again. Many, including Little Bird Told Me, Hippychick, Asmodee, Inside Out Toys, Keel Toys, My Doris, Jess & Lou, Isles & Stars, The Travelling Craft Room, Fountasia, Lesser & Pavey, Richard Lang & Son/Lang’s, Sass & Belle, Kikkerland and Lesser & Pavey, have had their busiest shows ever, opened lots of new accounts, and seen a fantastic range of buyers. According to many other exhibitors, the shows delivered above expectations with a large number already rebooking for Spring and Autumn Fair 2022. Feedback on Spring Fair’s change of dates to a four-day show have also continued to be positive. www.autumnfair.com 17 NEWS & EVENTS