Virtual sessions will promote industry connectivity, accelerate long-term business strategies, address opportunities for growth and vision for 2022
By Debbie Teschke
ROSEMONT, IL — Leading retail industry trade associations Global Market Development Center (GMDC)|Retail Tomorrow and International Housewares Association (IHA) have partnered to facilitate GMDC|Retail Tomorrow’s 2021 Fall Strategic Meetings, a three-week series of virtual events tailored for top retail and wholesale companies, and their supplier and service companies, to participate in collaborative trading partner sessions.
Following the associations’ joint event in the spring, the fall strategic meetings will take place from September 28 – October 15 to continue promoting connectivity across retail associations, accelerate long-term business growth and identify, prioritize and address new business opportunities in the industry.
Focused on self-care, general merchandise (GM) and housewares, event attendees, including both GMDC|Retail Tomorrow and IHA members, will have the opportunity to collaborate with members from each association and discuss the industry’s most pressing issues within these categories as they relate to merchandising, marketing, e-commerce, consumer and shopper insights, omnichannel agility, sales trends and strategies.
“Through more frequent, category-specific events this year, GMDC|Retail Tomorrow continues to identify opportunities for more meaningful connections among existing industry partners and the discovery of new and unexpected partnerships,” said Patrick Spear, president & CEO of GMDC|Retail Tomorrow. “We have seen the self-care, general merchandise and housewares landscape evolve at a rapid pace throughout the past year, and as this trajectory continues, this event series is an opportunity to address these changes and prepare for more as we approach the latter half of 2021.”
The timing of the event series offers retail partners the opportunity to build on their current plans and make thoughtful adjustments for 2022. The goal is to reimagine the way in which retail trade members conduct and grow their businesses beyond the pandemic and innovate for the future.
In an effort to provide attendees with the most flexible virtual event format, meetings are specifically curated to support both retailer and supplier needs, and the fall meetings will be segmented across self-care, GM and housewares categories throughout the three-week period:
- September 28 – October 1: Session 1 – Selfcare Categories
- October 5 – 8: Session 2 – GM Categories
- October 12 – 15: Session 3 – Housewares Categories
“IHA’s mission is to bring buyers and sellers together regardless of format, and we are excited to work again with GMDC|Retail Tomorrow to connect our supplier members with their buyer members during this virtual event,” said Derek Miller, IHA president. “Non-foods is an important and profitable category for grocery retailers, and until the industry gathers again in-person next March at The Inspired Home Show, this type of opportunity delivers the kind of new product and supplier discovery that retailers are craving.”
Designed much like the successful joint spring event with IHA, the agenda provides attendees the opportunity to schedule strategic meetings of their choice with the opportunity to take part in 45-minute meetings via the GMDC*Connect video conferencing platform (powered by Zoom), scheduled at the top of every hour from 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m. ET. The meetings will be mutually matched, with GMDC|Retail Tomorrow building all meeting schedules to accommodate participants’ schedules and availability.
Buyers will indicate their interest in meeting with specific sellers by way of a ranking system to express high interest/some interest/low interest/no interest, while sellers will indicate their interest in any meetings with buyers with a yes/no qualification. Participating companies are not limited in the number of colleagues they’re able to bring to each meeting.
There is no registration fee for the event. Participating suppliers will be invoiced for each meeting scheduled and accepted during the event, but will also have the opportunity to register for all virtual events and meetings that will take place during the three-week period.
“As doors begin to reopen and our business climate evolves, we wanted to continue to create a seamless and accessible event for all, one that provides convenience and collaboration,” added Spear. “Our spring event with IHA delivered a new kind of product and supplier discovery, and at the fall event, we look forward to ushering our attendees into a new era of retail with fresh perspectives on how to do business.”
The event registration deadline for the self-care and GM categories is August 6, and the deadline for housewares categories is August 20. For more information and to register for the GMDC|Retail Tomorrow and IHA’s Fall Strategic Meetings.
About GMDC|Retail Tomorrow
Since 1970, Global Market Development Center (GMDC)|Retail Tomorrow connects people and companies to opportunities for growth through events, networking and insights that inspire innovation. GMDC|Retail Tomorrow is the leading nonprofit trade association fostering discovery, continuous learning and uncommon partnerships focused on enhancing the shopper experience. Today it represents more than 125,000 retail outlets. For more information, visit gmdc.org.
About the International Housewares Association
The International Housewares Association is the 83-year-old voice of the housewares industry. The not-for-profit, full-service association sponsors the world’s premier exposition of products for the home, The Inspired Home Show, IHA’s Global Home + Housewares Market (TheInspiredHomeShow.com), and offers its 1,400 member companies a wide range of services, including industry and government advocacy, export assistance, industry and consumer trends through the IHA Market Watch Report, executive management peer groups, a B2B community at www.housewares.org, group buying discounts on business solutions services, direct-to-consumer engagement through TheInspiredHome.com and a B2B news platform HomePageNews.com.
