The 101st edition of Expo Riva Schuh & Gardabags, held in Riva del Garda from 15 to 18 June 2024 served as the perfect channel for gaining insights on industry trends, the most stimulating markets to approach, and the most exciting innovations specific to raising businesses to new heights.
More than 9,000 people attended the fair, marking significant growth compared to January 2024 and last year’s June edition. The return of several countries to Riva del Garda following the pandemic was also notable, such as Uzbekistan, Rwanda, Falkland Island, Eritrea, and Suriname, completing an ever-widening global representation.
“Over the past few days, we have seen widespread and overall satisfaction," said Roberto Pellegrini, President of Riva del Garda Fierecongressi.
“In particular, I think it is important to highlight the increase in visitors from Latin America and Europe, especially the significant return of buyers from Germany and Italy, up from June 2023.”
The Gardabags area, dedicated to bags, luggage, and accessories, was hosted by 47 companies from Bangladesh, China, Germany, India, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey.
There were announcements of the new collections for the upcoming Spring Summer 2025 season and 19 events across the four-day fairs.
“The enthusiastic participation in all the events we offered at this edition has validated our vision: to innovate the trade fair format and provide an event that enhances business opportunities well beyond the traditional stand space,” said Alessandra Albarelli, the General Manager of Riva del Garda Fierecongressi.
“We recognised the importance of going beyond the ‘mere’ organisation of a trade fair and the value of encouraging strong relationships among industry players. We are already seeing the results of these efforts with the emergence of a genuine community that conducts business at Riva del Garda in a unique atmosphere and style.’
There was also a high focus on innovation dedicated to distribution, thanks to the presence of 10 startups from 7 countries. The renewed interest in Innovation Village Retail further underscored the invaluable role of innovation in the fashion industry.
A presentation by Tymely, which integrated process mining, automation tools, AI, and LLM to model customer service processes in the retail sector, caught the attention of the 18 jurors tasked with selecting the winner of the Startup Competition.
While existing “chatbot” solutions mainly addressed FAQs, Tymely also dealt with requests requiring deep system access, with ticket coverage reaching 80 percent, including partial order exchanges, changed shipping addresses, and returns.
Tymely and the other two finalist startups (Fibble and YouAddict) will accompany the fair organisers to Copenhagen during the next stage of Expo Riva Schuh & Gardabags Around the World.
The Expo Riva Schuh & Gardabags Around the World project will head to China, India, and Turkey in the coming months, seeking to expand the diversity of collections available at the next edition from the 11th to the 14th of January 2025.
