Europe’s biggest order fair for retail, the International Trade Fair for Retail Promotions and Imports (IAW), will be taking place from 25 to 27 February 2019 in the Cologne Exhibition Halls 10.1 and 10.2. Now in its 29th edition, the IAW will be standing for its usual strengths like internationality, diversity of goods and an accompanying programme of conference-level quality, dedicating itself to new challenges, and continuing its successful cooperation. Once again, a who’s who of the whole industry will be gathering in these three days, and setting the course for retailing for the coming half year. Around 350 exhibitors from all over the world are available to the trade visitors on more than 30,000 square metres, with an outstanding range of products that can be ordered at the best prices.
The IAW will also be offering a large range of lectures at conference level. On all three days, the e-commerce arena of RESTPOSTEN.de will be devoting itself to precisely this subject, with top speakers. Among others, Christian Otto Kelm (Amazon SEO Expert), Mark Steier (Wortfilter.de) and Dr. Georg Wittmann (Mittelstand 4.0) will be speaking and will also be holding a Q and A discussion. The whole range can be called at www.iaw-messe.de/e-commerce-quarter.aspx. In addition to the lectures, some exhibitors explicitly offering services and solutions to do with digital retail will be getting together in the surrounding “e-commerce quarter”.
In the Trendforum, zentrada and the Multichannel Rockstars will be presenting a programme of lectures on corresponding ranges in the multichannel retail trade. These will include, for example, Michael Atug (eCommerce Rockstar), Annemarie Raluca Schuster (SiAura Material), and Tobias Stephan (exoda). All other points in the programme can be found at www.iaw-messe.de/trendforum_de.aspx. Also in the Trendforum, on the first day of the fair, there will be the newly conceptualised IAW TRENDSELLER PRODUCT AWARD, an award presentation premiering the best and most promising trade fair products. Before this, proven retailing experts such as Ralf Kühler, Ulrich Eggert and Jörg Skorpil (the aha Agency for retail marketing) will be presenting the thesis: A Golden Age for Retail Advertising: Acting Instead of Reacting.
With its promise of “maximum variety”, the International Trade Fair for Retail Promotions and Imports will be presenting an outstanding range of lectures and networking opportunities, but also, of course, of goods. All segments of retail are covered. But current developments are also reflected in products and services at the IAW. In front of some fairs, for example, a new exhibition area has been set up for “Private Label / Own Brands”, and this time many exhibitors have already committed themselves to sustainability and are offering solutions that cannot be affected by a ban on plastics. “But our long-standing fair partner Marc Fiedler is another example of our exhibitor’s innovativeness. For the 29th IAW he has developed a new small-area concept for stationary trading: the small DIY market. It is good to see that our visitors are now receiving answers to challenges in the current retail landscape from our exhibitors.”, finds trade fair organiser Kerstin Manke. “And once again we are happy to have a cooperation partner with high synergy potential by our side for dealing with the demands of the present.” Kerstin Manke will also be appearing at the parallel fair Asia-Pacific Sourcing, which can also be visited by all fair visitors. Asia-Pacific Sourcing is the trade fair for tools and home, garden and leisure items from the Asiatic region, with more than 750 exhibitors from China and the Far East. More information on IAW and the registration for free ticket ordering can be found at: www.iaw.messe.de.
