The Floor Report - Issue 07

Hi there,

We are in the middle of Atlanta Market right now. And since we have done this enough times to know what actually moves the needle, and what just feels productive, this issue is our honest take on trade shows. What to do with the days you have left, how to close out a show properly, and what to do in the weeks after that most brands get completely wrong.

First, the good news. A Gifts & Decorative Accessories piece published this week put it plainly: the experts who predicted trade shows would quietly fade after the pandemic were wrong. Attendance is up. Buyer engagement is up. The in-person channel is not just surviving — it is the place where real wholesale relationships get built and orders get written.

Atlanta Market this summer is running earlier than usual — June 9 to 14 — shifted to avoid the FIFA World Cup in the city in July. The earlier timing means some buyers are still in planning mode rather than buying mode. That changes what success looks like at this particular market. An order written today is valuable. A conversation that turns into an order in three weeks is equally valuable. Do not measure this show only by what gets written on the floor.

NY NOW follows August 2 to 4 in New York. That show is your last meaningful in-person buyer touch before Q4 ordering peaks. The two shows serve slightly different buyer profiles — Atlanta skews toward the broader gift, home, and décor market; NY NOW attracts a more design-forward, independent buyer. Savvy brands treat them differently.

If you are at Atlanta right now, here is where to focus your energy for the remaining two days.

Go back to the conversations that felt warm.

Every show has two or three conversations that felt genuinely interested but didn't convert to an order on the spot. Go back. Not with a hard close — with a specific follow-up. "I was thinking about what you said yesterday about your gifting section. I have one product I think is exactly right for it." Specific beats general every time.

Talk to the buyers who haven't placed an order yet.

The buyers still walking the floor on days four and five are often the most deliberate ones. They are not impulse buyers. They take their time, come back twice, and when they order — they reorder. A conversation with a careful buyer on the last day of a show is worth more than three rushed conversations on day one.

Collect everything.

Every business card, every note, every product someone pointed at and said "interesting." The intelligence you gather at a trade show — what buyers are looking for, what they say is missing from their assortment, what they keep coming back to — is as valuable as any order written. Write it down before you leave the floor.

The booth conversation is not the sale. The follow-up is.

Most orders from trade shows are not written on the floor. They are written in the two weeks after. The booth conversation is the beginning of a decision, not the end of one. What you do after the show closes matters more than almost anything you do during it.

This is where most brands lose the show.

Follow up within 48 hours.

Not a mass email. Personalised, specific, referencing something from your actual conversation. "Great meeting you on Tuesday — you mentioned you were looking for something in the $18 to $25 range for your gifting wall. I've pulled three options I think are right for you." That email gets opened. A generic catalogue blast does not.

Send a broader post-show email to your full list within the first week.

Not a pitch. A recap of what you showed, what was new, an invitation to connect if they didn't make it to the show. Buyers who couldn't attend still want to know what you launched.

Do not wait for buyers to come to you.

The brands that follow up fastest close the most business from any given show. Buyers see hundreds of brands in a week. The longer you wait, the further down the memory stack you slide.

Measure the show at 30 and 60 days, not on the last day.

New accounts that took a catalogue and followed up later. Existing accounts that reorder based on what they saw. Relationships that turn into something six months from now. If you write zero orders on the floor and declare the show a failure, you are measuring the wrong thing entirely.

Atlanta Market's temporary exhibit section has been renamed First Finds for Summer 2026 — a deliberate rebranding around the idea of emerging and independent brands. This June, the 17th and 18th floors of Building Two are running hospitality-driven experiences specifically designed to make the discovery experience more memorable for buyers. If you are exhibiting in that section, buyers walking through are explicitly there to find something new. That changes how you pitch, how you display, and what product you lead with.

What works:

Existing relationships first, new relationships second. The brands that write the most orders at trade shows are the ones who use the show to deepen relationships with buyers they already know — not to cold-pitch strangers in the aisle.

One strong hero product facing the aisle. Research on trade show buyer behaviour is consistent: buyers decide whether to enter a booth within three to five seconds based on the first product they can see. One visually clear anchor product facing outward does more sales work than a fully stocked display that requires someone to walk in to understand.

A quieter show is often the most valuable. Buyers who do walk your booth when foot traffic is lower are not being pulled in three directions. They have time to talk. The conversations go deeper.

What doesn't work:

Treating the show as your only sales moment. A trade show is one touchpoint in a relationship, not the whole relationship. Brands that only show up in person and go quiet the rest of the year lose ground to brands that are consistently present in buyers' inboxes between markets.

Measuring the show by orders written on the floor. Already covered above — but worth repeating because almost every brand makes this mistake at least once.

Optimising for foot traffic over conversation quality. More people through your booth is not always better. A booth designed to attract the right buyer and hold them in a real conversation generates fewer interactions and more business.

A round-up of the most relevant news from across the gift, home, and wholesale industry.

Atlanta Market launches "Shop at the Top" this week On June 9, AmericasMart Atlanta launched Shop at the Top on the 18th floor of Building Two — a curated, hospitality-driven trade show event designed to streamline the discovery experience for retailers seeking fresh, trend-forward products. If you are still at the show, this floor is worth a visit today or tomorrow.

AITOMIC launches AI platform built specifically for Faire growth Announced this week, AITOMIC is a new AI company built specifically for the home, gift, and fashion trade. Their platform gives brands a single place to diagnose, build, and manage their Faire growth strategy. Early to tell how good it is — but the fact that someone has built a dedicated AI tool for Faire sellers signals how significant the platform has become for independent brands.

Notes & Queries launches the Fresh Ink Prize for emerging illustrators UK-based Notes & Queries announced the Fresh Ink Prize — a £5,000 annual award launching September 1, 2026 to spotlight and support emerging British artists, illustrators, and greeting card publishers. Worth watching for US brands that collaborate with UK-based illustrators or license artwork internationally.

Trade shows are thriving — officially A Gifts & Decorative Accessories piece published this week closed the post-pandemic trade show debate. In-person wholesale markets are seeing strong attendance and buyer engagement across the board. The relationship built in person still drives more trust and more orders than any digital channel. The experts who said trade shows were dying were wrong.

If you are at Atlanta, come find us. We are showing our newest line Leaf & Loom at Daniel Richards on Building 2, Floor 16 — along with a beautiful collaboration with Seedlings. We would love to see you there.

Until next week,
The Printwagon Team

Wagon Brands Corporation ·  Printwagon.com