I have been at Paperworld in Frankfurt this week. Paper world is the largest stationery related trade show in the world. To provide perspective, here is a video I shot in the quad panning around the buildings that hold the event.
This was my first time at Paperworld. It was well worthwhile, on many fronts. I saw new trends, new products and plenty of opportunities.
Most important to me was getting a better understanding of the supply chain, the produce products go through from manufacture to our stores.
While the products that make up the evolving department of stationery are changing, the opportunities remain strong for newsagents who change with the opportunities. As with so much in newsagency businesses, traditional is not for the future. Suppliers and retailers who are slow to adapt will miss out.
At this event, you could be sharing the aisles with individual small business owners through to buyers from some of the largest retail chains in the world. I certainly gained a better understanding of stationery related strategy of some of biggest competitors.
I don’t plan to go into detail here about the specifics of what I saw.