May 26, 2020

Faire expands marketplace with new digital trade show tools

This summer Faire, the online wholesale platform, will release new tools to address the impact of trade show cancellations. Since early March, the coronavirus has forced the cancellation and postponement of trade shows across the country.

Faire announced it has a new set of tools, already in development, intended to seamlessly build upon its online marketplace to bring the sense of community and connection of trade shows online, all year round.

Faire states that for both brands and retailers one of the biggest values of trade shows is the ability to establish contacts and relationships within the industry. However, traveling and convening for crowded events raise new concerns about health risks, and both brands and retailers have reported having tighter budgets than in previous years. Brands and retailers in the retail community are already considering how to connect with each other remotely this year, highlighting the need for simple and reliable digital alternatives. These new tools and online events will work to bring the community together to connect and create a regular tempo of buying and selling opportunities outside of traditional trade show seasons.

Faire’s background and tech experience uniquely positions itself to bring the sense of community and connection felt at trade shows to a digital space to empower their customers. Since launching in 2017, Faire has built a curated online wholesale platform supporting more than 10,000 brands and 80,000 retailers, and now their engineering, design, and product teams are expanding their products to help foster personal connection among the wholesale community.

Set to be released this summer, Faire will enhance the platform to bring new ways for brands to merchandise products and for retailers to discover their next best sellers.

Starting in July, Faire brands and retailers can look forward to having year-round access to:

Virtual brand page showrooms

Retailers will be able to view entire catalogs in a virtual showroom—including collections, pre-orders, pre-packs, and pre-recorded video. Brands will be able to customize their pages to showcase new products, best-sellers, and merchandising tips for retailers.

Live streaming

Brands can host livestream video to hundreds of retailers to debut new products and launch new collections. Retailers can ask questions through live chat and checkout directly.

1:1 appointments and collaborative cart building features

Brands can invite retailers to live video appointments to walk through products and merchandising options. During the appointment, brands and buyers can easily create orders together with collaborative order building. Preview notes can be provided beforehand to set up each call for success.