7 Reasons Why IWA OutdoorClassics Is Right for Your Brand
Nearly half a century ago, IWA OutdoorClassics made its debut and left its mark in the history of hunting and outdoor activities. The international trade show caters to the needs of hunters, outdoors enthusiasts and campers. It kicks off the year in March with spectacular trends aimed at buyers and professionals in Nuremberg, Germany. IWA OutdoorClassics generates trends, news and fine sales numbers for exhibitors, who want to move products off the shelf.
What establishes this event at the centre of its industry is the wealth of products. Retail buyers and organisations attend IWA OutdoorClassics, because this is the best platform for procuring just about anything. Outdoor clothing, knives, optics, guns and ammunition, guns for official agencies and self defence, shooting sports accessories, hunting accessories, operational equipment are all present and accounted for.
Because IWA OutdoorClassics has such a long history, it’s a trade show with a built-in audience and a continuous growth trajectory. These are enough signs that an exhibition here is a very sound investment. The last pre-pandemic edition in 2020 saw products from more than 1500 exhibitors, while the audience reached 46,000 trade visitors. You can’t argue with the numbers. Of course, the main objective is to do business, right?
As an exhibitor, you always want to find the quickest path between your products and your ideal customer. IWA OutdoorClassics understands this like no other, which is why in 2020 it introduced a zone dedicated to new releases. The platform is called “New Product Center” and in its initial run featured 130 product innovations, which attracted quite a few buyers. The center was a huge hit and guaranteed visibility. Another contributing factor to its success was its location. You’d find the center in the walkway between halls 5 and 6 – an area with natural foot traffic.
Organisers have certainly put in quite a lot of effort into this, because the New Product Center neighbors the New Product Café. The café is meant for relaxations after long hours of going about the exhibition venue and sitting with potential customers and existing partners to enjoy some shop talk and reconnect.
You might not think that digitalization has any place in the outdoor sector, but you’d be surprised how much these processes have infiltrated the sector. There are certainly quite a few groundbreaking advancements made and IWA OutdoorClassics has done its best to highlight them. In 2020, the trade fair even put together the special show Retail 4.0 that had a very hands-on approach. The two zones had several digital point-of-sale applications that visitors could directly interact with. At the same time, you could partake in guided tours and listen to presentations.
IWA OutdoorClassics firmly embraces the future and this has to do with how modern technologies affect the actual hunting and hiking experience. The last physical edition of the show before the pandemic had hunting in the digital era as an overarching theme. What this means varies a great deal. From navigation solutions for phones and tablets to drones to night vision and thermal imaging technology, the outdoor lifestyle is completely reimagined for a more connected future.
As a way to wrap up on a fun note, we want to highlight the more exciting parts of the trade show. IWA OutdoorClassics is all about hunting and nature activities, so it’s not a surprise to learn that there are some practical areas for visitors. One of the most popular areas is the Airsoft Shooting Area, where you not only get to talk to manufacturers about their newest models but also point and shoot. But that’s only one area of many. Do you want to test out paintball guns? There’s a whole area for that. A classic addition of IWA OutdoorClassics is the archery shooting range for bows, arrows, and crossbows.
This concludes our overview of IWA OutdoorClassics! Of course, there’s so much more that you can explore and benefit from as an exhibitor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, you can still get a good value out of the digital events happening right now as organizers are preparing for a re-launch of the international trade show as a physical event back in 2022.
