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New program to help buyers get the most out of Home & Giving Fair
[Fri 17/02/2012 10:42:25]
Marketing manager George Lancaster says the fair is the best time for small to medium businesses in the gifts and homewares industry to network especially while going through a tough period.
"We want our buyers to be able to go into the fair with the confidence to know what they are looking for, be sure they are asking the right questions and to be able to follow up with wholesalers after the fair," he says.
"The orientation program will educate our buyers and encourage a healthier relationship with wholesalers, with a focus on real business outcomes."
Retailer Greg Dodge will lead the program. He launched Dandelyon Gifts, an online and bricks and mortar store, with his wife in 2010 following a lengthy experience in retail including four years in management at Kmart and owning music stores. He will share what he has learnt about the gifts and homewares industry since joining AGHA.
"I've had many years in retail but not gift and homewares," he says. "We knew nothing about it in July 2010 and that's the first time we went to the [Home& Giving] show and that was the first time we've ever met anyone from this industry - the reaction when we told them we were doing an online store was quite amazing.
"We realised it was an old industry, not unlike the music industry. There were a lot of people who just were not accepting change and so our adventure is great."
The program is aimed at newcomers to the industry who may benefit from hearing Dodge's observations and lessons learnt during his first 18 months in the sector compared to his previous retail experience.
Topics include shipping, margins, supplier relationships, profitability and knowing your business focus. Dodge hopes his talk will inspire people to change their business for the better.
"We've done a full 12 months now and we know where the business potential is and we're reasonably successful in our first year. Everything we've learnt is only in the last 18 months and we want to share that learning quite openly with other newbies as well," he explains.
"It's how to think about buying and building relationships in the industry and what that takes because I can give examples. Our experience is that relationships in this industry are very few and far between and I was shocked by that to what I'd experienced in another industry, you know where your suppliers are genuinely concerned because for them to grow their business they must be in tune with your business.
"You've got to have some creative collaboration and there's very little of that and we've dealt with over 150 suppliers now in the gifts and homewares industry, so we can say that with some sense of authority in our 18 months experience. We're not out to dag anyone, we're just trying to help change and get the newbies to understand the dynamic of the industry."
The Buyer Orientation Program will be held on Saturday 25 February from 8-9am at the Mezzanine Level of The Dome. To register your interest email George Lancaster at George@agha.com.au < mailto:George@agha.com.au> or phone 1300 441 384. |
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