Take your cue from Tendence

WORDS: Annemarie Meintjes

VISI’s Annemarie Meintjes got the chance to see what will be big news in international gift stores this Christmas. Her recent trip to the Tendence trade fair in Frankfurt also made her reflect on how to get it right at expos.

Every year, boutique and gift-store owners flock to Germany to place their Christmas orders from the 2,000-plus exhibitors at the popular fair, which is divided into two sections. While GIVING focuses on gifts, modern crafts, collectables, accessories and jewellery (all those dust collectors!), LIVING features interiors and decoration, outdoor living, tableware and fabulous kitchenware.

The show is small and compact in comparison to Ambiente, but it’s slick and polished. The halls are huge and light, the stands are well merchandised and the passages are wide (I can easily travel down them in my Smart…).

Tendence is sort of a mix between the Homemakers Fair (but without the successful orange broom stands and DIY products), Decorex (bar the prams), and Design Indaba (but without the “cute” factor). This year, I took a good look at what makes the mix work for everybody and have a few pointers for South African exhibitors:

– Never box your stand or have an “upstairs” section. People hate to queue like cattle to get in or go up! Instead, they like to browse at leisure.

– Don’t take your whole shop to the fair. Appoint a professional merchandiser to display your latest items with impact and keep the best sellers in an album. If someone ask you if you still stock the vase she bought from your stand in the 1980s, you’ll have it on file.

– If you have to display your staple merchandise, create a “brag wall” and display one item in each product category in perfect pigeon holes (preferably white).

– Always have something on your stand that makes people smile. It doesn’t matter if it’s expensive or china-cheap, as long as it lifts the world-weary buyers’ spirits and make them feel great!

More information: http://tendence.messefrankfurt.com