News Focus
Selling
365
EN talks to Brenda Hobday
about her new product
Showshoppa, which creates a
long-term buying platform for
event visitors
T
he idea of creating a marketplace
where exhibitors sell to visitors
long after the show has closed
seems an obvious one, but bizarrely
ShowShoppa is one of a few dedicated
platforms that does just that.
It couldn’t come at a better time,
when many organisers are looking
for intuitive ways to support their
customers’ needs in the absence of
events. The platform allows exhibitors
to upload images, as well as other key
information about the products they
want sell.
It’s a powerful platform that
compliments selling space by bringing
exhibitors closer to buyers, and
locking your exhibitors firmly into
your brands.
ShowShoppa also helps encourage
exhibitors to sign up early and attracts
new exhibitors hungry to generate
additional revenues.
It also, to some extent, negates the
issue around lead generation because
the software can be linked to the
event. This ensures visitors that want
to buy 3-6 months after the event can
still do so. It also opens up the door to
new buyers who may not have visited
your event, but still want to buy from
your exhibitors.
Exhibitors can ‘test the market’ with
new products. Smaller exhibitors with
no online presence have the ability to
create their own online shop within
the event shop, creating more unique
interest and driving more peripheral
traffic. Organisers can even include
links in ‘Show Tweets’ to their event
Show Shop.
Hobday, who has 30 years of
experience in the event industry and
currently owns Boss Events, said: “We
are hugely excited about the launch
of the new ShowShoppa platform.
With my exhibition background we
have been able to design this system
specifically to meet the needs of event
organisers. Steve Olesansky, our CTO,
has the technical knowledge and the
team to put these requirements into
the system.
“Not surprisingly interest in
ShowShoppa has multiplied tenfold
since the Covid-19 crisis - it’s an ideal
time to launch your own Show Shop.
As event people we are all in this
together and need to find ways to
strengthen and sustain our industry.
We’ve changed the business model
to make it easier for event organisers
to launch their own Show Shop, with
a free to set up model that can then
build as more exhibitors come on
board.”
“Not surprisingly interest in ShowShoppa has
multiplied tenfold since the Covid-19 crisis”
16 — May
Hobday has worked on a raft of B2C/
B2B events, including: RHS Flower
Show Chelsea, BBC Good Food
Shows, The Game Fair, The Boat
Show, Automechanika, Haymarket
and Diageo. She also launched Natural
Product UK Expo, The Garden Show
and Money Matters.
Hobday added: “ShowShoppa is a
marketplace platform for organisers
to extend their ownership of their
market sector. ShowShoppa creates a
new, year-round revenue stream whilst
increasing exhibitor engagement
and expanding the visitor database.
Created by experienced event
professionals and developed by our
in-house technical team, ShowShoppa
has been designed specifically for
event organisers to leverage their
event brand whilst retaining overall
control.”
The product also has a handy
analytics tool to help organisers and
exhibitors track sales and monitor
traffic.
Hobday explains that Showstoppa
can help with rebooks further down
the line because the organiser can
demonstrate the success of the
application.
The company is currently in talks
with a number of leading exhibition
organisers that are keen to generate
new revenue streams for their
customers and bring them closer to
their events.