Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM DECEMBER 2020 36 When all was said and done, the three-day show, which ran October 27-29, saw more than 3,200 attendees from nearly 1,300 companies engage with the Virtual PrimeTime platform an astounding 51,000 times. That included more than 15,000 educational sessions attended and more than 35,000 vendor booth visits. With 110 participating vendor companies, that equates to roughly 320 booth visits per vendor. "Our members have been on the front lines of this pandemic since early March, adjusting their businesses on the fly and adapting to every challenge thrown their way," said Melissa Stenson, Nationwide's vice president of member experience. "We simply followed their lead and fought to find a way to bring this resilient community together. Virtual PrimeTime was only a success because of the tremendous efforts and commitment of our member and vendor communities and their willingness to adapt with us." For appliance brands at the show, Virtual PrimeTime brought some of the most diverse and engaging new dealer signups that Nationwide has ever seen. In addition, there were numerous new product introductions from major vendor partners including GE, Whirlpool, Electrolux, Samsung, LG, Element and more. And for Element, which made its PrimeTime debut during this show, the brand was able to offer its first-ever special purchase allowance program, which represented an incredible margin enhancement opportunity for Nationwide's Members. The heart of any conference, though, is the networking opportunities — something that's been hard to come by in other virtual events that have unfolded during the past eight months. While a digital experience can't replace the vibrancy of a packed convention center, Virtual PrimeTime did prove that networking can happen when attendees are provided with a platform that's conducive to the online experience. Virtual attendees posted more than 23,500 chat messages across the platform during the three- day show, including more than 1,100 in the main Attendee Lounge. Virtual PrimeTime also encompassed many of the same components that attendees have come to expect from a Nationwide Marketing Group business and educational conference. Members who attended Virtual PrimeTime were able to capitalize on countless show specials and Cash Back opportunities made available by Nationwide's exhibiting vendor partners. That included an entire afternoon of Palooza deals, which featured limited-time and limited-quantity offers from dozens of vendors. There was a big push during virtual PrimeTime around digital and data-driven services available through Nationwide. At this show, Nationwide announced updates to the PriMetrix platform that simplify members' ability to receive their market analysis data on-demand, whenever they want or need it. The new digital interface, available through MemberNet, allows access to that data and the entire suite of PriMetrix offerings. That includes the Assortment Rationalization Tool (A.R.T.), which made its PrimeTime debut during a keynote on the Main Stage. There, Nationwide's Director of Retail Merchandising Mike Collier presented the tool and explained how appliance dealers are leveraging A.R.T. to make data-driven decisions to optimize their product mix and improve their margin potential. On the digital side, retailers continue to find ways to serve their communities safely during the ongoing pandemic. Back in March, as states began to enter extended periods of lockdown, Nationwide dealers reached out in droves to Retailer Web Services and Site on Time in order to amp up their digital offerings. And retailers' efforts around digital — including expanded website features, adding chat, turning on online shopping carts and more — have paid off tremendously. During the height of the lockdown in May, members saw their website traffic up more than 300 percent year- over-year, and that number continues to average around 150 to 200 percent today. In other areas, more consumer electronics brands participated in Virtual PrimeTime than any other show in the group's history, and CE dealers realized record-setting Cash Back payouts per member during the show. Furniture and bedding dealers were active as well, placing over 20,000 bedding orders in just two days while gaining access to inventory that vendors held specifically for Nationwide's dealers. Giving back was also a major component during Virtual PrimeTime. Despite not being able to gather in person and physically pack meals for No Child Hungry, the second day of the virtual expo was dedicated to helping provide meals to kids in need in the Las Vegas community — where the Nationwide family would've gathered for this show. Nationwide committed to donating one meal for every time a member visited a vendor's booth on Thursday. In total, there were 10,875 booth visits on the final day of the show. "Thinking back to where we were as an industry when we left Houston in February, 2020 hasn't played out like we all anticipated it would. But given what the country, the economy and our industry have been through, we're also in a lot better shape than many would have predicted a short eight months ago," says Hickman. "Some major hurdles were thrown at our members, but so many of them turned those challenges into opportunities for their businesses. Together, our dealers have fundamentally changed the face of American retail." RO VIRTUAL PRIMETIME

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