Exhibiting at NY NOW | Tips & An Honest Review

Hello friends! Finally had a chance to catch up on life after NYNOW and ready to share some (hopefully) helpful information about NYNOW!

If you have zero clue what NYNOW is, it is a tradeshow in NYC where brands (large & small) showcase their products (jewelry, gifts, clothes, stationery, etc) to potential buyers of the big retail shops (Whole Foods, Home Goods, Anthropologie, etc) and smaller brick & mortar shops (shops in your local town). This is technically a great idea but there are absolutely pros & cons to a show. I'm going to try my best to share my thoughts on this.

A few things to note is that I'm definitely on the newer side & my category is in the stationery / home space. This does not apply to EVERY category so keep that in mind.

To Exhibit at a Tradeshow or not 

There are a few things to keep in mind if you're "ready" to exhibit at a show or not. Here are some that came up for me: 

• Pros
  • Potential to meet new buyers of both large and small businesses 
  • Potential to meet a sales group (if you are looking to be represented by one)
  • Potential for additional opportunities - ex: licensing 
  • General brand visibility and awareness 
  • General experience on how to pitch yourself and better understanding of what questions people are asking, looking for, etc. 
  • Brand feedback & idea of who your buyer is IRL
  • Potential for brand collaborations (with other brands you meet)
  • Potential to meet new manufacturers 
• Cons 
  • Expensive
  • Not guaranteed to meet the "big" guys
  • No guarantee of making your booth money back 
  • Not guaranteed to make solid leads
  • Foot traffic can absolutely vary each day 
  • Depending on your category you may have to ship your products which adds another cost or if you are traveling 
  • Depending on what package you pick, you will have additional expenses for your booth (signage, shelves - anything you want to make it pop, etc) 
  • Days are long

Tips & Suggestions: Review other brands that have exhibited similar in your category.  Perhaps even reach out to them how it went - some people are super open about this and their insight can be very helpful. 

I think ultimately you have to ask yourself is this the direction you'd want your business to go? Does your product make sense for this? There are a lot of different factors to consider. 

Investment Considerations

I was in the incubator section and that was a little under $4K. If you are a small business, this is a large investment! However, for me it felt like it was "time" to go for it so I did. There is one tier lower but that is still around $3K+. The booth rates increase as they get larger and then you have to set it up afterwards (buy shelving, signage, etc). If you are able to financially do it, I would recommend at least trying one. You can consider this as your marketing and/or advertising budget. 

Making Realistic Expectations 

Making realistic expectations is definitely something I would suggest. I went in with really wanting to meet new buyers & connect with different brands. I did NOT go in expecting to make my booth investment back - it would be a bonus but I had gathered enough information from others that is is not guaranteed to work that way - even for the more seasoned brands that are there each year. A few things to keep in mind: 

• You may or may not make your booth money back. Apparently you should determine if the show is worth it 6-9 months post show after following up and checking in with leads you connected with at the show 
• Will you meet a big box retailer? Can't guarantee that either. You do not get a list of buyers who will be there that week. You do get to see who HAS been there before but there is no list provided on who will be there walking the show. 
• Other opportunities that can happen? Licensing opportunities can happen or perhaps you meet a sales group that would like to represent your brand. 

Managing your expectations is important so that you are realistic! I think I was fairly realistic with mine after speaking with a few others about their experience, and listening to various wholesale related podcasts. 

Pre-Show Prep Work & Booth Prep 

If you have decided to exhibit, I would suggest the things to have handy below to give to buyers and anyone you meet. 

• Marketing Materials: This includes a "cheatsheet" line sheet of your minimums, terms, turnaround times and a QR code to your catalog 
• About You: Details about your business and why you started + QR code to catalog 
• Signage: Your logo / branding 
• Business Cards: People still like business cards! Plus, not everyone wants to takeaway a bunch of paper so something small and to the point is helpful. 
• How much inventory to bring: I only brought 1-2 of each item. I don't think most people offer to sell products on-site to take away but that may be a personal decision. In my opinion, the booths serve as a mini "showroom."
• Email outreach: Reach out beforehand to your existing buyers / retail shops to let them know you'll be at the show! It's always nice to get some IRL interaction with who you are doing business with. 
• Product Display: I only needed shelves and a little rack to hang my tea towels and wrapping paper. If you have more to display, then it really depends on how you want it to look. I referenced Pinterest for ideas and kept it simple! 

Things I wished I did beforehand 

• Prepped my layout a bit more. I kinda winged it day of with a general idea but it probably would've sped up the process if I had more of a plan on placement. 
• Got creative with my booth! There are SO many booths, I wish I experimented with it a bit more and made it pop. Depending on your booth, you are allowed to paint it so I probably would've done that just to stand out a bit more.
• More decals throughout my booth indicating pricing, terms, wholesale minimums, etc. I think this would help with any questions that came up or people walking by that may not have wanted to fully talk but just check it out. 
• A mini takeaway! My booth buddy next to me was giving away stickers for free! This works and she got people to come into her booth space at the same time. I think something small can be a pleasant takeaway while also encouraging some chatter. 

Other Considerations

There are a ton of different tradeshows out there. I recently just learned that there is a pet-specific show that is great for brands that are specific with that category. A few others to consider:

• Shoppe Object 
• NYNOW 
• Atlanta Market
• Las Vegas Market 
• Dallas Market 
• High Point 
• NEM 
• Magic 

My overall experience & would I do it again?

Yes. I do plan to do it again! I will likely apply to a few next summer and see how it goes. I think tradeshows have lots of potential and considering my goals are to continue to build brand visibility, hopefully connect with a sales group and a large retailer down the road.

Is NYNOW the best show for me? I'm not sure - it is the closest one location wise along with Shoppe Object so I am considering that for next year as well.

Overall, I met a bunch of new shops (future leads), received 3x orders on-site, potential licensing opportunities and almost made back my booth fee which is a plus.  

I hope that helps for anyone that is considering a show! If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out. Happy to help where I can - reach out at hello@jjpaperieco.com 

- Johana