The expo is part of EuroShop Dusseldorf, the world’s leading retail fair for all investment needs in the retail sector. Over the last 10 editions, In-Store Asia has drawn tremendous response from all key stakeholders from the retail industry. And this year, the expo marks the biggest ever edition till date, with 50 percent new exhibitors and 35 percent bigger space over the last edition. This year also witnesses the highest participation of about 20 percent, from overseas exhibitors including China, USA, Italy and Taiwan. In-Store Asia 2018 was powered with the In-Store Asia App that put the convenience of information, interaction and networking in the hands of all stakeholders of the show.

Convention

On the sidelines of In-Store Asia 2018 was the two-day power packed convention, held under the theme ‘Re-Imagining the Store’. Attended by over 240 senior professionals like brand owners, retail heads, shopper marketing agencies, retail designers, visual merchandisers, fit-out service providers from the Indian subcontinent, the two-day convention had 20 Indian and international senior industry professionals sharing their concepts and views about various topics in the domain of Digital Enabled Retail Environments, Retail Design, Visual Merchandising, Design Innovations, Retail Research, Shopper Marketing and Retail. Director and Principal Interaction Designer, Experiential Design Lab

VM&RD Retail Design Awards 2018

The 10th edition of the prestigious VM&RD Retail Design Awards rerecognised the best of retail designs and concepts shortlisted from the entries from diverse in-store parameters. This year, the award witnessed a record number of entries of 370, an increase of 30 percent over the last edition. The glittering award ceremony, where gathered the eminent folks of the retail design community, was held on the second day of In-Store Asia 2018. In the contest, Top Retail Design, Visual Merchandising and Manufacturing talents from all over India competed in 12 Store Design Categories and 10 Special Categories. Then a total number of 65 awards gave away.

VM Challenge 2018

VM Challenge 2018, one-of-its-kind live window display contest in India for the visual merchandising community, had 42 Top Visual Merchandisers from more than 15 top brands and companies creating innovative windows in 60 minutes from an on-the-spot brief. An international jury helped pick the winning teams from the hard fought contest.

Exhibitors thrilled

Exhibitors at the show presented products and concepts under diverse categories, such as lighting, fixtures, signage and mannequins, POP displays, shopper marketing, retail technology, signage & digital printer, retail design, VM & props and materials & equipment. Vishal Print, Mumbai-based large-format printing firm, a 3M-certifed graphic manufacturer, with specialisation in LED displays and window graphics setup, presented its innovations for retail store. BenQ’s showcase of ultra-slim LCD systems, bar-type display solutions video walls, 300 inch screen projectors and others for in-store digital signage pulled big crowd. Mahesh Kumar Soni, National Business Manager, Monitors & Digital Signage, BenQ India Gurgaon, said In- Store Asia 2018 a right platform for their products.

GV Display Solutions from New Delhi was yet another crowd puller in the league, showing complete retail designs and POP/ POS solutions. Siddharth Sharma, director, GV Display Solutions Pvt Ltd, said they have been participating in every edition of the expo since 2005 and he was happy with the visitors’ profile of the show. Bengalurubased Squadron Graphics India, with its expertise in CNC and laser-cut display solutions, demonstrated stunning range of POP designs. Santanu Sarkar, General Manager of the company, said the expo is perfect. Vipan Lalla of Signsutra echoed the same: “Every edition of In-Store is turned out to be as good as usual—a good platform to present our innovative products.” The New Delhi-based company demonstrated excellent range of LED box display solutions and channel letters.

With colossal fabric prints and frame systems, sizes up-to 20x20 ft, ILLUMINATI from Mumbai at its stall redefined the dimension and outlook of soft signage. Amit Kanodia of ILLUMINATI commented that In-Store Asia 2018 is a focused exhibition. HG Graphics, New Delhi, whose expertise in in-store projects at airports, showcased 3-D printed systems, fixtures, gondolas, etc, in an alluring way. Complete in-store solutions provider from Gurgaon, Classic Display Systems, showcased a whole gamut of in-store branding solutions. “We regularly participate in In-Store Asia; this year the show right away from day one pulls right visitors, who are focused,” said Raj Nandan, Director, Classic Display Systems Private Limited.

Hyderabad-based Macromedia Diamond Display, whose branches spread across nine cities around the country, showcased its printing prowess, innovations in instore graphics. Ramakrishna P Musunuri of the company said the In-Store Asia 2018 is quite good this year, as the size of the expo has been grown and visitors’ traffic increased. Eye-Candy Visuals demonstrated a gallery full of in-store applications, which they produce in their state-of-the-art facility in New Delhi, where installed HP Latex, EPSON SC printers, laser machine and others. Arjun Nanda, Director, Eye-Candy Visuals, said they produce complete in-store solutions under one roof.

Pragati Offset, a Hyderabad-based big player in the package printing and conversion, showcased some of its key in-store activities. Yugant Yadav from Pragati Offset said their participation in the expo helps them in expanding their network, which stretches across India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

“This is our third participation in the expo. We have had good experience in every edition,” commented Manmohan Singh, MD, Prince Digi Graphics. The Mumbai in-store activities. Yugant Yadav from Pragati Offset said their participation in the expo helps them in expanding their network, which stretches across India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

“This is our third participation in the expo. We have had good experience in every edition,” commented Manmohan Singh, MD, Prince Digi Graphics. The Mumbaibased signage firm showcased high-end printed in-store graphics.

Some companies used In-Store Asia 2018 as launch pad to introduce their new products. Promoflex was among those who launched new products at the expo, as the company introduced backlit LED panel, a free-standing digital signage. Trevision (MMT Digital) also introduced its grandformat printing material, specifically designed for wall graphics. LPFLEX, which operates from Dubai with India branch in Chennai, introduced acrylic materials for malls and in-store. Gautham Kumar, Customer Support Manager of the company said their activities involve in 3D printing too.

Signarium, an Ahemdabad-based provider of aluminium profiles for signage and art, introduced new clip-on frame that accepts (inserts) graphics from top. “The new clipon frame is ideal solution for advertisers who wish frequent changed of graphics,” said Sameer Seth of Signarium. 3M India (Mumbai) introduced a series of special films, 3M Di-NOC, 3M Envision, 3M Fasara, and others, which are green and compatible with UV and latex technologies. Another exhibitor from Mumbai, ADMART showcased a range of LED slim lights, injection and blow moulded, vacuum formed POP/POS and wooden & metal FSUs.

New possibilities in textile for diverse range of promotional display systems were presented by Right Concepts Advertising, Bengaluru. Christopher Robert, Business Development Manager of the company said their overall objective is to offer the most environment-friendly solutions to the industry. Modular signage major COSIGN India at the expo introduced a new alluminium Art-Frame, which is recyclable and light weight and graphics easily changeable. “This is our first participation in In-Store Asia, and our first impression or experience of the expo is quite good. We will regularly participate in this expo where we meet the right customers,” commented Tejasa Purandare, Executive Director, COSIGN India (Pune).

Among the big crowd pullers, VD POP & Display had smitten the visitors with the company’s complete retail solutions shown at the expo. “Our dexterity is the way we produce our end products in our production setup where equipped highend machines with a highly-skilled team of professionals,” said Ravi Pawar, COO, VD POP & Display LLP, Mumbai. Supra Digital from Bengaluru also presented a crowd-pulling centralized LCD systems for in-store applications. Meanwhile, on the other side of the show floor, Mumbai-based Planet-deZign showcased highly innovative modern retail display solutions.

Award-winning POP/POS major Sepectum from Mumbai showcased finest range of in-store products which stood unique amid the crowd. Likewise, GKW Retail Solutions from New Delhi on the other side of the show floor presented their retail solutions and concepts that modern retail stores must adopt. Yet another New Delhi-based retail design firm 02 June also demonstrated what modern retail outlets must look like. Among the companies showing sign making materials and components, Neenjas Technologies presented a string of highly innovative and advanced LEDs and LED-embedded displays.

The next edition of the expo, In-Store Asia 2019 will be held at Greater Noida, Delhi- NCR, on 14-16 March.