In the run-up to this year’s Internet Retailing Expo (IRX 2013), we’ll be taking a regular look at some of the highlights of the two-day event, to be held on March 20 and 21 at Birmingham’s NEC.
Today our focus is on the Innovation TV Studio.
Among the key attractions at IRX 2013 will be the Innovation TV Studio. Now in its second year, the studio is a place where suppliers can showcase innovations that could have a marked effect on the industry – and retailers can be among the first to find out what’s coming over the horizon.
Presenters in this year’s Innovation TV studio include Matt Hopkins, founder and managing director of Vertical Leap and Red Rocket Media, speaking on the Convergence of Search, Content and Social, Julian Fisher, chief executive of Bubbles Online Services, on The secret of Bubbles – how to evolve online shopping that benefits consumers whilst keeping retailers in profit, Sean Duffy, principal email marketing consultant at Emailcenter UK on Innovate or Die. Ensure your retail emails don’t fall by the wayside.
Ian Harris, chief executive and founder of Search Laboratory, will address global expansion, considering How to attract more international customers online, Charlie Johnson, business development director at Digital Element will consider Going local: using IP geolocation to improve ecommerce conversion, and Mainline Flatpack sales director Fred Lill will unveil the company’s new Lil box (pictured below).
For Mainline Flatpack’s Fred Lill this is a return to the Innovation studio, after presenting the Lil envelope and Bukwrap products there last year. We asked him how the 2012 experience was – and what had brought him back this year. “Fantastic,” he said, “It was the perfect platform.” He added: “The innovation studio requires a well-rehearsed presentation to engage the excitement of the audience. This organised us to rapidly gather all the market research and USPs ahead of IRX and meant that every employee was clear in presenting the same messages on our stand.
“Post-IRX2012, we were then able to take the film footage taken by the IRX team and broadcast the same messages. I would not say that we took new orders as a direct result of the Innovation Studio in 2012 but I am certain that it was the catalyst to what has been an extremely effective marketing awareness campaign in the UK.”
He said feedback from retailers last year had informed the subject of this year’s presentation, the Lil’ box, which he says is “the 21st century equivalent to the standard brown corrugated box first produced in 1895,” adding: “It’s the best-looking mailing box in the marketplace and a complete bonus that it won’t cost retailers extra.”
Julian Fisher, chief executive of Bubbles Online Services, will be appearing for the first time, launching online marketplace Bubbles, where consumers’ search for products continues even when they’re offline. Explaining his innovation, Fisher said: “Our everyday lives are dominated by the need for convenient, efficient shopping – lifestyles that conventional product search just doesn’t fit into. By making use of the time when consumers are not online and allowing their search to progress, Bubbles dramatically improves the shopping experience, making it incredibly convenient. And for the retailer a new sale is born from what is effectively an offline activity.”
Visitors to the presentation, says Fisher, will be able to benefit from the opportunity to sign up with Bubbles for six months, commission-free. “I’m always excited to meet retailers and add to the great mix of products on Bubbles,” he said. “I’m also looking forward to meeting other ecommerce suppliers and hopefully building some long-lasting business relationships. The presentation will be the launch of lookupbubbles.com and I couldn’t be more pleased to be bringing it to IRX.”
The IRX 2013 Innovation TV Studio and exhibition of more than 150 suppliers sits alongside a conference stream featuring expert speakers across six conferences, and 12 practical, hands-on workshops.
IRX 2013 is held at the NEC in Birmingham on March 20 and 21. Click here to find out more, register for free entry and to book a place in our series of workshops.
Follow our series for regular updates on what’s to come at IRX 2013.
