When trade show deadlines are looming and there’s no room for error, you face a tough decision: Should you ship your trade show display directly to the show site, or to the advance warehouse?
On the face of it, show-site shipping sounds like the smart choice. Why not get your display to where it needs to be as quickly as possible? It may also be cheaper — at least on paper. But it’s rarely the best choice, and here’s why.
Most marketers picture show-site shipping like this: the truck carrying your display pulls up to the loading dock at the convention center and unloads the case. A brawny installation team whisks it onto the show floor, where you find it perfectly assembled upon your arrival the next day. Voilá.
That’s kind of how it works — but multiply it by a hundred, and you start to see the problem. Your shipper may have to wait for hours in a snaking line of trucks before he can offload your display onto the dock. While you thought you were saving $5 per hundred pounds by choosing show-site shipping, the driver is charging you $50 per hour as he waits. We’ve even seen shippers leave when convention centers get really jammed, because they have other deadlines and they can’t afford to wait. And if your trade show display arrives late, it can take hours to get it assembled on the floor. A lengthy delay, whether due to weather or other hiccups in trade show logistics, means you’ll be standing in a blank space when the show begins.
Advance warehouse shipping, on the other hand, helps the general service contractors keep everything organized. Everything can be stored and staged at the off-site warehouse, then brought over to the convention hall at just the right time.
Why don’t more trade show attendees opt for advance warehouse shipping, then? One word: deadlines. Most large shows have a warehouse deadline that’s one to two weeks before the show. After that, there’s a window when the warehouse still accepts shipments but charges additional fees. In the final accounting, you can save 20 to 30 percent if you get your display created and shipped by the show’s advance deadline — and we can help. Call us today to discuss your trade show display needs, and we’ll talk about how we can expedite the design and approval process so you’re ahead of the game.