Retail Business Technology Expo (RBTE), Europe’s largest retail solutions show from Reed Exhibitions, will combine with Retail Digital Signage Expo (RDSE) and Retail Design Expo (RDE), the UK’s leading event for innovation in retail design, as one unified show for 2019 to mirror the transformation being seen in the retail industry and better meet the needs of its show audiences. 

Reed’s three retail shows will transform into a single event, RetailEXPO, to bring together over 15,000 retailers, tech exhibitors and retail design businesses to the 2019 show, taking place on 1 - 2 of May at London’s Olympia. 

The move to unify three of Europe’s leading retail trade shows from Reed Exhibitions was based on extensive independent research, talking to over 150 senior retailers and brands that represent the shows’ audiences – from CEOs to sole traders, from multinationals to small independent shops and pureplay and omnichannel businesses*.  The findings revealed greater need for collaboration amongst retail teams, with tech, marketing and design working more closely together to deliver enhanced customer experience and the emergence of customer-specific teams and roles. 

Nicole Mills, Senior Event Director at Reed Exhibitions, explained: “There is a seismic shift going on in UK retail - every day we read about store closures, yet at the same time UK retail sales are actually increasing by 1.9% so far this year.  As the UK’s leading retail event, we had to react, which prompted us to undertake significant research amongst the UK’s most senior retailers – and they all told us the same story.  Retail survival means addressing customer needs holistically, which requires traditionally siloed departments, including technology and design, working together in a unified fashion, whilst also bringing departments, such as Marketing and Customer Experience, into decisions around technology and design.”

Borne out of the research findings, the new RetailEXPO show reflects this changing dynamic for retailers, who recognise the need to put the customer front and centre of their businesses.  By reacting to the changes in the industry and bringing the three shows together, the RetailEXPO show will evolve in the trade event that truly reflects the needs of the UK retail industry.  This will not only enhance the existing audiences’ experiences, but also significantly broadening the show’s visitor base, to deliver a single source of ideas, solutions and enthusiasm, that will help energise retailers now and in the future.

Matt Bradley, Event Director of RetailEXPO, commented: “The consolidation of all three retail shows into the RetailEXPO not only mirrors the changing dynamics of the industry and how retailers are looking to enhance customer experience, but it also allows us to deliver more innovation and inspiration to our show audiences than ever before. Through our extensive research, we’ve listened closely and carefully to what the senior retail community that attend our shows want, validating the show’s new value proposition at every stage of its development, and this is reflective in the shows coming together as a single event, RetailEXPO.” 

“Now, more than ever, retailers are having to reimagine their roles, both online and on the High Street, in order to compete and succeed in the new retail world, and success relies on innovation and collaboration – and this is exactly what the new RetailEXPO is based on,” he concluded.