Face-to-face events: A driver for dialogue with business customers

Keeping an ear to the ground and ensuring progress by talking to business customers. These are two of the factors that have been driving our company’s success throughout the past 100 years. Despite we are in an age where processes tend to be largely digital and data-driven, there’s an entirely analogue procedure that’s still relevant: attending events in person, such as industry conventions, networking meets and trade fairs.     

Even with an ebbing pandemic still casting its shadows over the world, in Germany, a total 6.8 million people attended trade shows featuring more than 115.000 exhibitors during Q1 and Q2 2023. This comes at no surprise. Because if you want to find out what our industry sector can do to make purchasing easier for business customers and what types of solutions and service upgrades help them progress, you have to interact with them. And that’s what these events are perfect for.   

In terms of attendance, we at Conrad use a multi-targeted approach that aligns with the touchpoints of our everyday business operations. On one hand, we exhibit at globally leading industry-specific trade shows, such as Electronica and Smart Production Solutions. On the other hand, we showcase the added value of our sourcing platform at networking events and industry conventions that attract a well-informed audience. However, we also make a point of attending local and regional trade fairs as, post-COVID, we’ve come to reappreciate their role as additional interfaces that enable close interaction with customers all across Germany. This involves in-depth discussions with users and business partners on-site which creates specific synergies. Being a company deeply rooted in the traditions of our region, with a large proportion of our customers and suppliers also being based around here, this type of networking represents a major asset.   

Over the past months, our team covered a variety of events held all across Germany, including E-commerce Berlin Expo, Didacta, All About Automation and Maintenance Dortmund. As usual, our experts brought back valuable insights and success stories. This doesn’t only refer to getting feedback and consolidating our leading position among the B2B platforms that retail technical supplies. We also learn firsthand to what extent our services help business customers. Which serves as a motivator for tackling the tasks and developments that lie ahead of us.   

All of above makes trade shows a main part of our success, and a staple ingredient of our endeavour to become the leading B2B sourcing platform in Europe. And to be totally honest here, catching up with so many acquaintances is also a helluva fun. Trade fairs are dates in your calendar you really look forward to. 

Yours sincerely

Ralf Bühler