VISUAL IMPACT NUMBERS UP

The first Visual Impact national wide format show since Covid, held in Sydney in May, saw visitor numbers up on the pre-Covid shows.

Just short of 4000 people attended the show, with 3000 of them from print businesses, while a quarter were with exhibitors.

People from digital print businesses and sign printers made up the largest cohort, each representing 18 per cent of attendees, with six per cent of visitors coming from commercial print businesses, five per cent for large format operations, and five per cent designers.

Some 70 per cent of visitors were either satisfied or very satisfied with the expo, while 72 per cent of visitors said it was as good as the previous Visual Impact with 27 per cent saying it was better.

Printers had their chequebooks out, with exhibitors reporting brisk sales during the show. Visual Impact expo was organised by suppliers’ association Visual Connections. Its CEO Peter Harper said,  “Exhibitors reported good sales off the stands, with high levels of interest. We saw good business being written around the hall.”

Harper noted the different focus on the stand at the first show since 2019, he said, “This show was application focused. Exhibitors focused on what their equipment will do, and showed that clearly on their stands, which created a lot of interest as print businesses saw what can be done.”

Almost half of visitors, 45 per cent, were owners or CEOs, with more than four fifths, 82 per cent, having direct authority or influence on purchasing decisions.

Half of the exhibitors have already indicated they intend to exhibit at the next Visual Impact, to be held in Brisbane next year. Almost a third of exhibitors received in excess of 100 sales leads at the Sydney show, which had Roland DG as its Platinum sponsor, and Epson, Euro Poles, HP, Pozitive, Spicers, Starleaton and Trotec as Gold sponsors.