Our team is has been busy at the Melbourne Gift Fair over the weekend. As we expected, we have seen plenty of gift and homewares shop owners as well as newsagents.  We have also had a good opportunity to catch up with some existing users.

With another three days to go, we are set to write some excellent business at this trade show.  Our experience reinforces the importance not only of trade shows but of this particular event hosted by the GHA.

Our abilities in the gift and homewares software space are on show in the latest issue of Giftrap magazine published this week by the Australian Gift and Homewares Association.  We were pleased to have an opportunity to contribute quality editorial - a two-page spread - to help gift and homewares retailers in their pursuit of good retail management software.  We are also grateful for an opportunity to support the magazine with advertising.  As members of the AGHA this is important to us.

Since mid 2008 we have been able to provide access to the up-to-date stock file for the respected Maxwell and Williams range of homewares for users of our gift and homewares point of sale software.  This stock file and other electronic data initiatives are helping gift and homewares retailers save real time in the operation of their businesses.

We are grateful to the people behind Maxwell and Williams for helping us help our customers in this way.

We have kept this iniative under wraps for six months because we saw no sense in telegraphing it too early.

As we develop a deeper presence in the gift and homewares retail channels, we are working more with small suppliers who do not follow traditional EDI standards. To help these suppliers transact with retailers, we have developed a new approach to importing stock files which provides tremendous flexibility. Now, small gift and homewares suppliers are able to provide files, usually from existing systems, which help their retail partners build accurate stock files and thereby better enjoy the trading relationship.

We are grateful to our gift and homewares retailers and their suppliers for helping us develop this new approach.

The first two days of the Reed Gift Fair in Sydney have been very busy for us - as was the Melbourne Fair a few weeks back.

We have met plenty of gift and homewares shop owners as well as newsagents.  We also met several newsagents with two shops - a newsagency and a gift shop.

The mood of the fair is upbeat.  Suppliers and attendees are talking about good results being achieved in their businesses.

I am glad we made the decision last year to participate in so many gift fairs this year.  They attract quality attendees from several retail channels.  This makes the event efficient for us.  Unlike other trade shows, attendees at gift fairs tend to stay for two or three days and this helps us close business at the event.

The photo shows Tim Batt adn Nathan Morrison, part of the team we had on hand at Gift Fair to asnwer questions and demonstrate our software.

Our gift shop software is proving popular among homewares businesses. This is thanks in part to the supplier support facilities we have developed which enable easy import of supplier invoices and stock files. Stock management can be the achilles heel of any retial business so we have focused considerable attention on making this as easy as possible for homewares businesses as well as their suppliers.

Homewares suppliers are hearing from us this week about the enhanced facilities we have developed to support their business with retailers.