Jul 17, 2012

Vianza Drives the Future of Specialty Retail through Major Sponsorship of Urban Expositions Events

Urban Expositions, the largest gift and souvenir trade show organizer, today announced that Vianza, Inc. has become the exclusive technology sponsor of its trade shows for wholesale business management.

Vianza will make its networked software-as-services (SaaS) platform available to all attendees so that wholesale buyers and sellers are able to conduct business more collaboratively and profitably. Promotional pricing and value-add services, such as online catalog production, will complement joint marketing efforts in order to facilitate adoption of Vianza’s solution by Urban Expositions event attendees.

This sponsorship aims to optimize the experience for Urban Expositions event attendees, eliminating the need for show attendees to carry paper-based catalogs and manually process orders. Urban Expositions’ shows have become the preeminent marketplace standard for establishing connections between independent manufacturers and specialty retailers in its industry. Vianza seeks to complement this experience by facilitating collaboration and transactions between the parties much more quickly and efficiently, reducing the burden and complexity inherent in today’s one-off business transactions.

The parties will begin test marketing the Vianza business platform at the San Francisco International Gift Fair (8/4-8/7) and Seattle Gift Show (8/11-14), with a full program launch planned by Q1 2013. All registered buyers will have online access to available catalogs from participating exhibitors and the ability to purchase from these sellers through Vianza’s marketplace. Registered sellers on Vianza can process orders and collect payments “on the spot”. As part of the broader program launch, Vianza plans to release a new mobile interface for even more convenient, real-time information access and status updates.

“We see this as a huge step forward for the industry. Demand for gift and home goods alone is expected to lead retail sales growth by double-digits in the year ahead. It will be particularly positive for small retailers and independent manufacturers that lack such affordable solutions,” said Tim von Gal, senior vice president and partner at Urban Expositions. “We have been impressed with Vianza as they have addressed this challenge with a robust, pay-as-you-go solution that is specifically designed to meet the collaboration and commerce needs of this sector. We see unprecedented value creation possibilities — connections that are forged through our trade show events and other services can now be fostered through a private, on-demand network that provides powerful infrastructure for these businesses to evolve.”

“Urban Expositions has an impressive track record as a leader and innovator in the giftware marketplace and we’re honored to be included in that portfolio,” said Mita Patnaik, co-founder and CEO at Vianza Inc. “We all recognize that the specialty retail industry must move beyond phone-fax-email in order to manage the complexity and diversity of niche concepts that comes with the explosive growth of innovative brick-and-mortar and online sales channels. Vianza’s mission has been to simplify the daunting tasks faced by these small business owners, and empower them to respond competitively to market demand. Our solution has been built to facilitate a cost-effective, online collaboration, order management, global payment processing and fulfillment services. We are excited to work with Urban Expositions to provide this much-needed support that enables the specialty retail market to conduct and grow their businesses with greater ease and efficiency.”

ABOUT URBAN EXPOSITIONS
Urban Expositions is the largest gift and souvenir trade show organizer in the U.S., hosting a total of 24 shows each year. In January of 1996, Urban Expositions launched the semi-annual Philadelphia Gift Show, which has become one of the largest and most successful regional gift events in the nation. Since then, the company has continued to grow through acquisitions and new show development. Based in Kennesaw, GA, Urban Expositions offers a complete roster of trade show management services, including exhibit sales and marketing, operations, exhibitor/ attendee promotions and services, media relations, seminar and event coordination, database development and management. For more information, visit www.urban-expo.com.

ABOUT VIANZA
Based in San Francisco, CA, Vianza, Inc. launched its beta platform in May 2012. The Vianza platform provides a fully integrated “business-as-a-service” solution targeted to meet the unmet needs of specialty retail. Additional value-add services are offered to support small business buyers and sellers in maximizing their business opportunities through industry leading practices, collaboration and technology. Vianza is recognized as the go-to resource for indie wholesale and has a strong following of style bloggers, designers and retailers. For more information, visit www.vianza.com.