The second Internet Retailing Expo (IRX) is now already being planned, following the success of this year’s inaugural event.
Next year’s event will again take place at the NEC in Birmingham, on March 21st and 22nd 2012.
Figures now in show that more than 2,600 visitors attended the first IRX, held on March 23 and 24. Of those, 48% were etailers and 22% were multichannel retailers. There was a high level of interest in the speaker programme. More than 900 visitors took part, with standing room only for many of the presentations at the Evolution and Insights as well as the series of workshops and JumpStart briefings from suppliers.
Speakers at the two conferences, one tailored to the needs of large businesses and the other to small retailers, included Julie Meyer from BBC’s Online Dragons Den and chief executive of Ariadne Capital, Nick Wheeler, the founder of Charles Tyrwhitt, Luke Fairless, lead service manager at Tesco, Harriet Williams, strategy and online marketing controller at Debenhams and Roeland Loof, senior manager of Mobile Europe at eBay.
More than 100 exhibitors showcased their work at the event, of whom more than 40% have already rebooked for next year. Among them was Brian Bush, business development manager at Divendo. He said: “At IRX, we gained more leads than we could of anticipated and it was particularly good to meet with retailers from other areas of the country. I would say to anyone who wasn’t there, you were a fool to miss it.”
James Scott, managing director of ChannelAdvisor, said: “We were very pleased with the inaugural Internet Retailing Expo. The quality of attendees was highly impressive; we met with several key decision makers. Overall the event was well organised, the venue great and workshops seemed to be constantly at capacity. We hope this event becomes a regular on the ecommerce calendar.”
And Robert Masson, Managing Director of Micommerce, said: “For Micommerce, with 70% of attendees being either an e-tailer or a multi-channel retailer, the audience was perfect. Likewise was the NEC location, which we prefer over London venues as it means easier parking, hotels and access. The show was both cost-effective and well-attended, meaning we received a significantly greater number and quality of leads than we expected.”
Mark Pigou, Managing Director of Internet Retailing Events, said: “Yet again, the Internet Retailing brand has launched an event that meets the needs of our market. For its first year, IRX exceeded all expectations and we were genuinely overwhelmed by the fantastic feedback from speakers, delegates and exhibitors alike.
“We look forward to developing the event over the next year and hosting another successful Internet Retailing Conference on October 4 in London. Our networking event for exhibitors and speakers on the first day also proved a huge success continuing the buzz of the day well into the early evening.”
Internet Retailing Events, founded in 2009, organizes events including the Internet Retailing conference, to be held on October 4, procurement briefings under the JumpStart brand and industry roundtables. Its media portfolio includes Internet Retailing magazine, InternetRetailing.net and M-Retailing.net.
