northwest consumer show trends · 2018. 6. 7. · was active in kitchen and bathroom remodeling as...

2018 Northwest Consumer Show Trends | 2018 Annual Report |

Northwest Consumer Show

Trends

2018 Annual Report

Presented by:

otshows.com | thesportshows.com


For businesses of all sizes consumer shows continue to be a fertile source for generating business. With online retail efforts taking an increasingly bigger bite out of the retail pie, consumer shows are one opportunity to overcome those challenges as they reach thousands, and in some cases, tens of thousands of targeted attendees that often pay an admission to walk the aisles.

Consumer shows are not the only revenue and lead-generating answer available to retailers, service providers and manufacturers but they do deliver, for some businesses, a significant and much-needed retail push. These shows also provide a glimpse of the local, and in several cases, regional market’s temperature. The fact that some of these shows draw people from around the country makes them a useful barometer for understanding the current business climate in a given region.

The majority of consumer shows are held in the first quarter of the year where inclement weather and fewer competitive events optimize attendance. There are a good number of shows held in the fall too but they pale in size, frequency and attendance to their first quarter counterparts.


O’Loughlin Trade Shows produced 10 consumer shows in late 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. In all cases, purchasing at the shows was strong. Several retailers posted their best show sales ever.

These are the consumer shows that O’Loughlin Trade Shows produced:

• Portland Fall RV & Van Show – September 14th – 17th, 2017• Tacoma Fall RV Show – October 5th – 8th, 2017• Portland Fall Home Show – October 12th – 15th, 2017• Portland Boat Show – January 10th – 14th, 2018• Tacoma RV Show – January 18th – 21st, 2018• Washington Sportsmen’s Show – January 24th – 28th, 2018• Tacoma Home and Garden Show – January 25th – 28th, 2018• Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show – February 7th – 11th, 2018• Northwest Flower & Garden Show – February 7th – 11th, 2018• Central Oregon Sportsmen’s Show – March 1st – 4th, 2018

Experian reported that consumer confidence through 2017 had improved by 25% over 2016, which was clearly evident through all of the 2017 and 2018 shows O’Loughlin produced. While credit balances are on the increase, historically low unemployment coupled with pent-up demand opened the purchasing flood gates for higher-end, discretionary purchases through the shows.

Consumer shows in general remained flat or saw modest dips in attendance around the country and in the West in late 2017 and early 2018.

Consumer shows continue to be a key indicator of consumer confidence. The challenge is getting reliable and timely information from these events as this data is generally tightly held by show producers and exhibitors. Consumer shows accurately reflect the relative health of specific industries as these events generally focus on specific themes related to retail purchasing. This report reflects O’Loughlin Trade Shows experience through the fall 2017 and winter 2018 shows they produced. The objective is to provide an analysis of consumer purchasing, any noteworthy trends and general sales that resulted from the O’Loughlin consumer show series.


The Center for Exhibition Industry Research recently published these findings which punctuate the relevance and impact of these shows.

• 83% of the attendees have some kind of buying power. • 85% of decision-makers say attending trade and consumer shows save their

company time and money by bringing vendors together under one roof. • 79% of the attendees say that attending shows helps them decide on what

products to buy. • 91% of attendees say that trade shows impact their buying decisions because the

competition is in one place allowing for comparison shopping in real time.• 85% of an exhibitor’s success lies in the performance of their staff. • Converting a trade show’s lead to a sale costs 39% less than sales calls alone. • Trade show visitors will tell 6 or more people about their experience. • 81% of attendees at a recent show agreed that trade shows help attendees

become aware of new products and services. • 91% of attendees tell us they get the most useful buying info from trade shows

and events.

With RV shows in the Portland and Tacoma markets, several RV dealers reported record sales as compared to previous years’ shows. It’s no secret the RV industry is enjoying considerable success as dealers expand their footprint adding locations, inventory and lines carried. Going into 2018 the chief concern of many RV dealers was having adequate supply of units to meet increasing market demand. One dealer comment summed up the RV show season nicely, “We had our best show ever selling more than 50 units in 4 days!”

Interestingly, not all RV dealers were seeing the customer-mix the same way. Some dealers shared that sales to baby-boomers made-up most (80% or more) of their sales. Other dealers pointed to the noticeable and important role millennials were having on their business. Recent articles, dealer accounts from the shows and traffic through the shows reflects a growing number of younger buyers who seem to be favoring the smaller teardrop and retro-style travel trailers. For sure, the RV industry has introduced a number of new designs with millennials in mind and those designs appear to be gaining traction in the market.


The Portland Boat Show experienced similar RV-show windfalls. Several dealers recorded historic highs even though the show had moved from a 9 day show in 2007 to a 5 day show in 2008 and continues as a five-day show. Anecdotally, the average sale hovered around the $34,000 mark, a significant change from the early 2000’s where that sale price trended closer to $20,000. Unit sales numbers have not recovered from the 2009 recession but the increase in product pricing has made up for the difference. The most dramatic change seen in the Portland Boat Show is the number of welded aluminum boats sold and the dominance of aluminum boats in the Portland market. This show now holds the distinction of having the largest display of welded aluminum boats in the world. The Portland Boat Show is the largest boat show in Oregon and offers an accurate glimpse of the general sales mix that occurs statewide. Fiberglass boat sales slowed substantially after 2008 but dealer attrition has allowed a comeback that’s seen niche boats, like tournament ski boats and wakeboard boats, in particular, holding their own and posting solid sales as the market continues to recover from the sharp 2009 downturn. Fiberglass pleasure boats are seeing modest but continuing sales increases. Once a regional boating leader, fiberglass pleasure boats took the biggest tumble in 2008 and have never recovered. Still, the relatively few dealers that serve this segment of the market continue to post steady gains each year.

Other niche products like classic wood boats, bass boats and small custom fiberglass builders saw upticks in sales through the show season. Very telling was the handful of new welded aluminum boat builders selling factory-direct who took multiple orders at the Portland Boat Show. As one dealer observed, “As one of the area’s large dealerships we’re going to get our sales and so are a couple of our competitors…it’s a given…but to really understand how healthy the welded aluminum boat industry is when you see the small, new builders selling boats right along with us…” The 2018 Portland Boat Show really drove that point home. It was the first time since the recession that so many new boat builders not only attended but did as well as they did.

And while business was the best it’s been in several years at the Portland Boat Show, boat dealers didn’t see nearly as many younger buyers as the RV dealers had through the shows. Anecdotally, it appears those buyers are favoring non-motorized boats over power boats for now.


Home shows in the Seattle market and Portland markets experienced different levels of performance. With home shows in Tacoma in the fall and winter and a large flower and garden show in the winter in Seattle juxtaposed to fall and winter shows in the Portland market there were attendance gains in the 2018 Washington shows that weren’t realized in Portland. Portland’s attendance was level but buying at all the shows ranged from good to very good. A welcome surprise was the attendance numbers from the Tacoma Home and Garden Show. The Northwest Flower and Garden Festival in Seattle also generated its share of unexpected gains as attendance was exceptionally strong all five days of the show with new one-day attendance records set over the weekend. It was no surprise with such strong attendance that purchasing at the show was equally as good.

What O’Loughlin Trade Shows saw in terms of buying, people were putting their money into their current home as opposed to buying or upgrading into a new home. The market was active in kitchen and bathroom remodeling as well as outdoor living and entertaining spaces. Homeowners want to create spaces they can entertain family and friends with both indoor and outdoor options.

There was a heavier retail component at the 2018 Tacoma Home & Garden Show than in previous years. Attendee purchases keyed on home decor, artwork, kitchen-gadgets, cleaning products and plants.

The Northwest Flower & Garden Festival had a banner year for exhibit sales. This is the second-largest show of its kind in the country. The show sold out of display space and had several companies on a waiting list in case space became available. Attendance was generally flat over last year, with a positive indicator of seeing an influx of younger people and millennials coming to the show for the first time over the weekend.

The buying at The Northwest Flower & Garden Festival was record breaking. Several nurseries, artists, garden tool manufacturers and outdoor furniture companies reported all-time sales highs.


The Sport Shows, a series of three shows that occur in Oregon and Washington are the largest and best attended shows in O’Loughlin’s show portfolio. The Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show, held in Portland, Oregon, is the largest sportsmen’s show west of the Mississippi with only one larger show in the country, The Great American Outdoor Show, held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The size and productivity of these shows are strong indicators of regional consumer confidence in the hunting and fishing categories from year-to-year.

These shows primarily target fishing and hunting audiences and saw attendance remain level or down slightly. It appeared there were more younger-buyers across all the shows. Large retailers either hit new sales revenue highs or were very close to previous records. Fishing rods were hot sellers but large ticket items, like fishing boat packages, sold well too. A number of guides/outfitters and resort/lodges reported brisk sales with trip deposits taken and dates secured at the shows. O’Loughlin Trade Shows did hear through several boat and RV dealers that “sale fails” related to credit worthiness were not as big an issue this year as it had been in previous years. That means more of the deals struck at the shows resulted in completed sales.

An important side note is that even though the outlook region-wide for salmon and steelhead fishing was somewhat bleak with early season closures and abbreviated seasons for some of the region’s top salmon and steelhead fisheries, retail sales were brisk, and the lion’s share of fishing-related sales were for salmon and steelhead gear. This would indicate that even though significant challenges to access and catch these fish were expected, sales still remained strong at the shows. Following the shows fishing tackle sales have slowed through the regular retail channels.

One large retailer shared they had sold in excess of $500,000 of gear over one of the 5 day shows. “That’s a lot of hooks, tackle boxes and rods to sell…”, they continued, as long lines that wound around their booth reflected the buying frenzy that was underway. This retailer however was not the exception, several had done “very well” or “the best” they had ever recorded at this show series. Some of these retailers had been exhibiting at these shows for over 30 years.


ConclusionAcross the northwest, consumer confidence in the business categories O’Loughlin Trade Shows caters to appears to be strong, in fact, the strongest seen in recent years. Several economists confirmed strong 4th quarter sales, especially holiday sales, with a cautionary note that 2018 would very likely see a slowdown. At least at these various northwest consumer shows that slowdown did not occur. With an 18 year low in unemployment numbers coupled with low interest rates there are more consumers with income in the market and the market environment is conducive to continuing high consumer confidence.

Additionally, the Seattle, Portland and Central Oregon markets are all positioned for continued economic growth and expansion which will undoubtedly benefit retailers of all stripes if you adhere to the premise that economic vitality is linked to consumerism. Significant high-tech investment is being made across the region by a number of

companies. Demand has outpaced inventory for housing in Portland and Seattle with a long-range forecast of several hundred thousand new homes needed over the next 20 years. Unfortunately, wages have not increased appreciably which may hold back some spending. Still, it’s clear the market’s appetite to spend has been strong and sustained through the fall of 2017 into the spring of 2018 across a range of consumer shows and demographic profiles. Given this experience and the current economic and market

landscape there is every reason to believe this wave will continue into the fall of 2018 and winter of 2019.

“...it was clear last fall that strong spending was the trend with every show exceeding performance expectations.”

northwest consumer show trends · 2018. 6. 7. · was active in kitchen and bathroom remodeling as...

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