Glee 2021, taking place this year from September 14th-16th at the NEC, Birmingham, will once again host an invaluable seminar programme from The Stage theatre located in Hall 6. Content will include an inspirational mix of future trend forecasts, research into consumer buying behaviour and crucial business advice, along with a series of prestigious industry awards.
Even before the pandemic struck, all aspects of outdoor living were on an upwards trajectory and this growth has accelerated over the past year and a half, greatly benefitting garden retailers. Kicking off the seminar programme on Tuesday September 14th (11:00am – 12:00pm) will be a session entitled “The changing demographics of garden retail customers”, which will explore how the industry can continue to engage with new consumers and maintain the continuous cycle of growth in years to come.
Online channels have been increasingly crucial to this growth as coronavirus changed the way we do business, driving the shift from face-to-face interactions with customers to phone calls, emails, and social media. Retailers can learn how to adapt their businesses in order to unleash and maximise their online potential on Thursday 16th September (10:30am – 11:30am) with a dedicated session “How garden centres can adapt to a sustainable and successful long-term online strategy”.
Trends are a key driver of sales both on and offline, so retailers won’t want to miss the industry “Trend Update: Outdoor living trends for 2022”, taking place on Wednesday September 15th (3:30pm – 4:45pm). This session will provide attendees with wealth of new product and merchandising inspiration to help guide their buying at Glee this year.
The Great British Growing Awards winners, as voted for by the readers of leading consumer gardening magazine, Grow Your Own, will be announced during the opening day of Glee on September 14th (2:00pm – 2:30pm); the Glee Buyers Power List Awards will be revealed on September 15th (1:00pm – 1:30pm) followed by the Glee New Product Awards later that afternoon (5:00pm – 6:00pm).
New for 2021 – the first in-person edition of Glee for two years – visitors will have the chance to see companies pitching to be recognised for the New Product Awards and answering questions from the judging panels. Series one of The Pitches will take place on the Tuesday from 3:00pm – 5:00pm, with round two taking place the following day from 10:00am – 12:30pm, ahead of the winners’ announcement later that day.
The programme will be rounded off in style on Thursday September 16th from 1:30pm – 2:00pm with Floral Thursday: The Greenfingers Charity Draw. Floral Thursday is a special FUNdraising activity where it is hoped that the thousands of visitors and exhibitors at Glee 2021 will come together to show their flower power in aid of Greenfingers’ ongoing fundraising activities. Anyone wearing an item of floral clothing – be it a hat, dress, suit, socks or shirt – will be invited to purchase a raffle ticket which will enter them into a prize draw.
Glee Event Director, Matthew Mein, said: “One of the many great things about Glee is the fantastic value-added content that is free to all who attend. This is always an important aspect of the show but now more so than ever before as the changes affecting our industry continue to accelerate at what seems like lightning speed. Retailers who want to stay ahead of the curve and ensure they don’t get left behind in the rush to realign will hugely benefit from the business advice and trend information that’s available during the show, so I highly recommend visitors try to catch up with some of this exclusive content while they’re on site with us at the NEC.
“We are also very excited about this year’s Buyers Power List Awards, now in their fourth year, which recognise the incredible efforts and achievements of retail staff up and down the country, from businesses large and small. So many staff have gone above and beyond the call of duty over the past 18 months and their recognition at these awards will be incredibly well deserved, I’m sure. I hope many of you can join us at The Stage on Wednesday September 15th to show your appreciation for our industry stars”.
The full Glee 2021 Seminar Programme can be found here. All content from ‘The Stage’ will be available to live stream via Glee Connect – the exhibition’s dedicated app for smartphones and desktop – as well as on-demand post-show.
