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Next week, Faire is hosting our first online trade show event, Faire Summer Market. Over the last few weeks, we’ve shared show highlights, new tools, and promotions that we think will help make this event a success for everyone who participates. Before we dive into what will be an exciting two days, I wanted to take a moment to share why our team has put so much effort into building this market for our brands and retailers — and, more notably, why we are heading into the 2020 holiday season with hope for the future.
Facing adversity
In March, when the first stay-at-home orders rolled out, the initial impact on our industry was immediate and devastating. Our team paused on the plans we had laid out for the year ahead — we knew that in order to stay focused on our mission, we had to build new tools and solutions for this moment. Since then, this community’s openness, transparency, and resilience is what has driven and motivated us to enrich our platform to support the needs of our new normal.
Throughout this incredibly challenging time, we’ve been in awe of your strength and willingness to fight for everything that you’ve built. Your ability to remain agile and adapt quickly, combined with an outpouring of community support for small businesses showed us that there was a significant opportunity for our industry to make it through stronger than before. With the majority of retailers investing in online channels and curbside pickup, businesses have rebounded — our retailers report sales are now within 10% of last year and continuing to climb.
Expanding the Faire marketplace with new tools and opportunities
As we head into the holiday season, we know that buying is going to be more complicated in this environment than it has been in previous years. This is why we created Faire Summer Market — through your candid feedback we saw that Faire was in a position to serve a critical need this season and into the future. In our ongoing effort to level the playing field for our customers, we could enrich your experience by increasing:
- Financial flexibility – This year especially, brands and retailers need to find ways to maximize budgets and increase margins. Faire has committed to matching promotions during Faire Summer Market, helping brands offer better deals to retailers without adding pressure to the bottom line.
- Community – The cancellation of trade shows created an immediate need to find ways for retailers and brands to connect, and not just for buying, but to encourage and inspire each other going into the busiest times of the year.
- Safety – With continued health concerns around traveling, it was important to ensure there was a safe option for brands and retailers to prepare for the holiday season without needing to meet in-person.
We have been inspired and motivated through our many conversations, interviews, and following your stories of resilience and entrepreneurship. That’s why we are so excited to kickoff the holiday buying season together with you next week. We’ve seen that when local retailers and small businesses are given the right tools and a level playing field, the entrepreneurial spirit is unstoppable.
Local retail is a vital part of the character of communities across the country. This year, that point of connection is as important as it’s ever been; it’s a reminder of our local identities and bond to our neighbors in a time when we’ve had to keep our distance. We created Faire with the goal of making the path easier for millions of brands and retailers who have taken a chance on their dreams. Despite the significant challenges of this year, we believe local retail is well-positioned to shape the future of retail and remain the hubs of our communities.
I hope you’ll join us at Faire Summer Market as we celebrate the future of retail.
