Distribution praises Rome event

As the final day of Retail Vision 2008 draws to a close, distributors have been quick to praise the show for its small, focussed nature and sheer amount of business that is able to be achieved.

A far cry form the gltz and glamour of something like Cebit or CES, the uncluttered, stripped down format of Retail Vision has proven popular with distributors looking to sign up new vendors.

Dean Van-Velsen, technology and product development director at Gem told PC Retail: "We always go to Retail Vision, it’s one of the best events to meet and network with the right people. Its tightly targeted focus is defiantly one of its strengths."

Jon Atherton, commercial group vice president of Entatech, has signed up numerous new firms during past shows. "I see retail Vision as a great opportunity to see up and coming vendors that want to target the UK, and over the last three or four years Enta has appointed a number of companies at the show, such as Antec. Which are now very well known in the UK for their gaming products. That was a very successful appointment from Retail Vision for us. We also appointed Kaspersky and Serif from here, so it’s been great to have them in Enta’s portfolio."

Elsewhere, Ingram Micro’s senior US project manager said Patrice Sklencar claimed that the recent purchase by Everything Channel will give the show a further boost. "I think it will be a new drive. This was a good opportunity for Everything Channel to get into retail, and they’re interested in pushing it to the next level. It’s a good thing for the event.

"A lot of trade shows are simply booths, this is a lot more personable, there’s a lot more networking, with the board rooms you’ve got guaranteed audience within your product category.

"And then you’ve got time to network with them in the afternoon as they walk by your booth. It’s a smaller, more focussed event. I have about nine or ten vendors here with me, they seem to be happy with the turnout. I think they’ve done a pretty good job with this one."