EuroShop: The Stuff of Which Repeat Visits Are Made?

So that’s it for another three years. The shopfitting and store equipment bun-fight that is EuroShop has come and gone, and the faithful won’t be back in Düsseldorf until 2017. In many locations, the majority of overseas visitors may extend their trip to soak up a little of a city’s culture or perhaps to tour the hinterland, but the Dorf isn’t that kind of place.

Instead, last week was about a concentration on what the industry has to offer to make stores and shops look better and for retailers to assess whether what they have in place measures up. In truth, there was quite a lot that was new, especially when it comes to things digital and a resurgent mannequin sector, but there was also a fair amount that looked remarkably similar to 2011.

The abiding question that is always asked when shows of this kind become a memory is: Was it worthwhile? Well, do the math (as you tend to say in the U.S.). A plane ticket, a hotel room that will cost north of $200 a night and subsistence for two or three days adds up to a fair amount of money. And that’s even before you pay the entrance fee that allows you to tour the halls.

Logic might say that this does not stack up. You can get all the inspiration you need from the many suppliers who pick up the phone to call you or by a little judicious surfing of the net. Perhaps, but the point about EuroShop is that it’s the cumulative effect of seeing everything there is, all at one go, that perhaps makes this a must-visit. When it comes to assessing the effect of an ad campaign, ad men are fond of asking how business might have been if you hadn’t advertised.

The same could perhaps be said of EuroShop. A year or two hence may be the point at which this shop-fest’s influence becomes apparent. Refrain, therefore, from rushing to judgement. EuroShop is a slow burn and you won’t know if it’s worth a return visit for a year or two, at least.

John Ryan is a journalist covering the retail sector, a role he has fulfilled for more than a decade. As well as being the European Editor of VMSD magazine, he writes for a broad range of publications in the U.K., the U.S. and Germany with a focus on in-store marketing, display and layout, as well as the business of store architecture and design. In a previous life, he was a buyer for C&A based in London and then Dusseldorf. He lives and works in London.