As per recent reports, over 4.46 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, equal to 58 doses for every 100 people. In India, the cumulative vaccine doses administered crossed the 50.62 crore mark. Being fully vaccinated has become the first priority check for any future events or trade shows.

So, as more and more countries speed up their vaccination drives, the threat of attending public events has started to decline. This will give a chance to many of the business to finally get back on track and revive. Trade shows and events enable brands to showcase their products and grow their client base.

Challenges for physical trade shows
•    Alternative arrangements made by companies for product displays.
•    Virtual Shows arranged by various trade councils for customer engagement.
•    Logistic issues for arranging and displaying sample material due to lockdowns and lack of manpower.
•    Direct to consumer reach by manufacturers/mills resulting in cost cutting exercises.
•    Webinar and online platforms like Zoom for conversations & product selections.

The beauty of physical trade shows
•    1:1 discussions with potential clients.
•    Trend analysis is easy when visiting a physical marketplace.
•    Display options are plenty.
•    Parties, dinners,s or get-togethers are organized for customer engagement and networking.

As cities in the US and Europe start to open up, some of the best-known trade shows have started their post pandemic shows, for e.g., The World Market in Las Vegas happened in April 2021, High Point Furniture Market is scheduled for a physical show in 2nd week June 2021. The other major trade shows like Salone del Mobile are also scheduled to take place in September 2021. All of these major events surely will attract customer sentiment and shall contribute to getting trade back to normal. They have been great examples of how we can now start with physical events while taking all necessary precautions apart from being fully vaccinated. It will slowly become mandatory to be fully vaccinated to be able to enter any event or any public space – we are slowly seeing this trend in many countries around the world. And we can only hope, pray and take precautions in order to have everything be back to normalcy soon.