InRetail 2008 comes to a grand conclusion

The event, which took place from 8-10 June at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, ended like it began, with a record number of trade visitors in attendance.

InRetail 2008 played host to over 100 exhibitors, including some of the biggest names in the retail industry from Europe, the USA, the GCC, and India.

The exhibitor profile included the full supply solution to the retail industry, from shopfitting to visual merchandising, retail design to consultancy and supply chain management to technology.

An unexpected number of visitors attended the three day event, and the profile included retailers, mall developers, supermarket management, architects and designers from across the region.

'The response to the show keeps getting better with every passing year' said Ms. Paula Al Chami, Exhibition Director of InRetail.

'But given the rate at which the region's retail market is growing, we cannot afford to sit back on the shows' success to date. The planning for next year's event starts now, and we are sure that InRetail 2009 will be bigger and more successful than its predecessors' she added.

The event received a unanimous thumbs-up from exhibitors and visitors alike.

French Decoration Centre, the custom made design specialists located in both Dubai and Kuwait, participated in InRetail 2008 for the first time, and were impressed by what they achieved.

'We believe that the positive impact of the show will reflect on our sales for the next three months. We are very impressed with the organization, management and publicity drawn around the show,' commented Mr. Elias Assamad, President of FDC.

This positive impression was echoed by a first time visitor to the show: 'I'm coming straight from Taiwan to look for distribution partners. I had a very encouraging response and I'm looking at visiting the show next year for further opportunities' said Mr. Hunter Chen from Joymax Electronics

Day three also saw the conclusion of the highly successful 'Innovations in Retail' seminars.

This tailor-made event was interwoven into the InRetail agenda across all three days, and gave trade visitors and exhibitors a rare insight into the minds of a select panel of retail experts.

Day three saw Dr. Rainer Eckert, Director R & D of Wanzl speaking on retail technology and Centin Baxter, Business Development Manager of Al Futtaim Logistics discussing the finer details of retail supply chain management.

The seminars came to a fitting finale with an interactive session on human factors and what makes a workforce tick, with Nick Pearson of Pearson Consulting.

With exhibitors already showing a keen interest in next year's event, it seems safe to assume that the event's enviable track record of growth in scope and size is a trend that is not going to change very soon.