ATLANTA/ HIGH POINT, N.C./LAS VEGAS -- In an effort to address business disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, International Market Centers (IMC) and its digital innovation division IMC_di announced today that free subscriptions and transactions will be offered to customers through year-end on ShopZio, its B2B digital platform that facilitates product and resource discovery as well as e-commerce.
"The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted business quickly and significantly. While ensuring the health and safety of our staff and customers is our top priority, we also have been able to start planning for recovery and we will use our virtual market tools to help our customers do the same," said Bob Maricich, the CEO of IMC. "To that end, we are offering gift, home and apparel suppliers virtual market tools -- at no charge through the end of the year -- to help our customers maintain visibility, market available products and transact business digitally as recovery begins."
Recently acquired as part of the IMC_di initiative, ShopZio is a fully-functional B2B platform that facilitates product and resource discovery as well as transactional e-commerce. In support of economic challenges caused by the current disruption, all marketplace fees will be waived for the balance of the year for both new and existing ShopZio customers.
ShopZio's B2B platform will be linkable directly from IMC's market websites -- AmericasMart.com, IMCHightPointMarket.com and LasVegasMarket.com -- enabling robust product discovery and referrals to vendors' e-commerce platforms. IMC's websites currently receive more than three million unique visitors annually. Combined with IMC's attendee marketing, which reaches hundreds of thousands of qualified buyers, the sites will help vendors engage buyers and drive traffic and e-commerce sales.
"As recovery begins and the American public emerges from this difficult period, one thing is certain: People will reach for the things that provide comfort, beauty and solace -- the very things that our industries design, produce and sell," said Maricich. "As retailers reopen for business and begin to restock, these virtual market tools will have established a pipeline to jump-start much needed economic recovery for the gift, home and apparel industries."
IMC_di also is accelerating development of its new digital market experience, which when launched in Fall 2020 will create unparalleled opportunity and streamline digital tools for the industry. By combining IMC's online discovery and e-commerce capabilities with IMC's unparalleled scale, reach and buyer engagement, IMC can accelerate sales across the industry. According to Eric Dean, president of IMC_di, "IMC is committed to bringing buyers and sellers together whenever and however they choose to transact. ShopZio allows us to offer an excellent interim solution to an industry looking for assistance in helping buyers and suppliers get back to business and for leadership in a time of economic hardship."
ShopZio currently has 35,000 active buyers and 100+ vendors and is already conducting millions of dollars per month in online transactions. The IMC_di team is ready to demonstrate the platform to new customers and prepare their product and SKU-level data for upload. New customers will be on-boarded on a first-come, first-served basis. IMC tenants and exhibitors can sign-up now and connect with the IMC_di team at www.imcenters.com/imcdi/shopzio-offer/.
SUMMER MARKET PLANNING CONTINUES
IMC is continuing to plan for summer Markets to be held in High Point, Atlanta and Las Vegas. "We hope to have the opportunity to produce physical Markets this summer -- although we recognize they may look and feel slightly different given the impact of COVID-19. We will continue to monitor the situation and communicate with customers if postponement is deemed necessary," said Maricich.
The current schedule is:
High Point Market: June 12-14
Atlanta Market: July 14-20, at AmericasMart
Las Vegas Market: July 26-30, at World Market Center Las Vegas and the EXPO at World Market Center Las Vegas
About International Market Centers
International Market Centers (IMC) is the world's largest operator of premier showroom space for furniture, gift, home décor, rug, and apparel industries. International Market Centers owns and operates nearly 20 million square feet of world-class exhibition space in High Point, Las Vegas and Atlanta. IMC's mission is to build and operate an innovative, sustainable, profitable and scalable platform for the furniture, gift, home décor, rug, and apparel industries. For more information on IMC, visit http://imcenters.com/.
About IMC_di
IMC Digital Innovations (IMC_di) is a stand-alone division of International Market Centers (IMC), the world's largest operator of premier showroom space for the home furnishings, gift, and apparel industries. Launched in January 2020, IMC_di will build an industry-changing platform including a global B2B e-commerce marketplace, a full suite of integrated marketing and sales automation software and smart showroom tools. With bold people and bold ambitions -- and by investing as much as $100 million -- IMC_di will change and grow the industries IMC serves.