SuperZoo 2023: Attendees Can Save Time With Super Search Exhibitor Visit Planner

Press release: Pet Business Professor

SuperZoo takes place next month in Las Vegas, so it’s just around the corner. And the annual trade show is stronger than ever. With 1,100 exhibitors, 16,000+ expected attendees and 1,000+ new products in the New Product Showcase, plus many more on the show floor, SuperZoo 2023 is literally packed with opportunities.

To help attendees in working this huge show, there are targeted floor sections to better focus their time on the show floor. According to John Gibbons, the Pet Business Professor, one thing is unchanged. There is a huge array of exhibitors in every product category.

Consider these 2023 SuperZoo facts:

• More than 1,100 exhibitors.
• Seven “Targeted” Floor Sections: Natural & Health; Specialty & Lifestyle; Groomers; Aquatics, Birds, Reptiles & Small Animals; Emerging Brands; Farm & Feed; International.
• More than 292,000 square feet of exhibitor booths; Plus, a 32,000-square-foot New Products Showcase.
• SuperZoo Education: Seminars on Retail and Grooming – 84 hours; 62 separate sessions … plus, show floor talks and demonstrations.
• Over 5 miles of aisles – just to walk the exhibit floor.

The show is huge. The show floor is open for 22 hours so, so Gibbons has done the math. If you don’t attend any seminars, visit the New Product Showcase, stop to chat with anyone in the aisles or for food, a drink or to go to the bathroom and maintain a walking speed of 2.5 mph, you can spend one minute and 12 seconds with each exhibitor… so you definitely need a plan.

Gibbons says that, with a higher concentration of pet retailer attendees and a commitment to groomers, there are subtle differences between SuperZoo and Global Pet Expo. However, like Global Pet Expo, SuperZoo has attendees from every major retail channel and attracts a multitude of exhibitors and attendees from around the globe.

Despite the variety of offerings to fill an attendee’s time, SuperZoo is still primarily about pet products. New products are critical to maintaining and growing any business so you must take the time to visit the new product area. Knowledge is power so you should also sign up for any relevant classes. Sometimes it’s not what you know, but who you know that matters most. This makes networking with other industry professionals a priority.

Every business can improve in terms of products. If you are a retailer, what sections of your store are not doing as well as you hoped and need a “facelift” or conversely, what areas are growing and need products to fill additional space? Category managers for distributors and retail chains may only be interested in targeted visits to exhibitors relevant to their categories. Representatives may be looking for new manufacturers in specific product categories. Manufacturers could be looking to find distributors to handle their products or just looking to “check out” the competition. According to Gibbons, there are 533 Exhibitors at SuperZoo 2023 that weren’t at Global Pet Expo 2023.

SuperZoo is a great place to review products but Business Services, everything from Private label to POS, have also become increasingly important. In fact, 1 out of every five exhibitors offers some type of Business Service. Attendees can now “leave no stone unturned” in their quest for business success. SuperZoo is about gathering information and making decisions to improve your business – whether they are made on the spot or put on your must-do list. Your only real limitation is time. How do you make the most effective use of your time on the show floor? Here’s a suggestion.

Use the Super Search Exhibitor Visit Planner to make SuperZoo easier and more productive. Gibbons initially designed it in 2014, and he has updated the data and produced a new version for every Global Pet Expo and SuperZoo since then… including SuperZoo 2023.

What does the Super Search do? It searches for and produces a list of exhibitors by product categories.

• From the simplest: “give me a list that I can look at on my phone or tablet in either booth number order or alphabetically.”
• To the most complex: ”can do a simultaneous search for multiple specific product categories, allowing you to personally narrow down the initial results and see the final alphabetically or by booth number.”

The SuperZoo Super Search Exhibitor Visit Planner does both… and more… and does it quickly.

The SuperZoo 2023 Super Search Exhibitor visit planner is designed to make your time on the show floor more efficient and more productive. With the Super Search you can conduct up to 5 separate and distinct product category searches simultaneously with consolidated results produced in booth # order to facilitate your journey. There are detailed instructions for reference and to help you understand the nuances of the tool.

Here is the Dashboard that Gibbons designed to allow you to set up your searches. ↓

(click to enlarge)

On the dashboard, the first things to note are the numerous category columns. There are seven separate floor sections, 11 different Exhibitor or Animal Types and 33 Dog and/or Cat Product categories. You can search exhibitors for any combination of these.

Let’s take a specific example running three simultaneous searches for several Dog/Cat categories:

• Toys
• Treats
• Catnip & Litter (Must sell both)

Now referring to the Dashboard, let’s take it by the numbers:

• This column is where you activate each search. Type in a “Y” (Cells C3>C7 will auto-capitalize) This search “line” becomes active (cell turns green). In this current example, you are running three searches, so you have three Y’s.
• Now you enter a 1 in the correct column for each search line. Search Line 1: Toys; Search Line 2: Treats.
• In Search Line 3, you want exhibitors that sell both Catnip and Litter, so you put a 1 in both of these columns.
• Now you just “click” the Execute Search Button. The searches are done simultaneously, and the results combined into a single list in alphabetical order.
• If you would like to view the list in Booth # order, just click the Booth # Sort.
• You can switch the list back to an alpha view by clicking the Alpha Sort Button.
• To Clear all your search categories and start a new search, click the Clear Criteria Button. Then click Execute (#4) again to go back to the full list.

Note: Any Search Line with a Y and no 1’s in any column will always deliver the entire list regardless of what is selected in other lines. Change the Y back to an N in unused search lines.

Now a sample of the results:

(click to enlarge)

Company A – Has Toys Only; Company B has Dog Treats Only and is also a “Startup”; Company C is on the list for Treats and also has Catnip, but no Litter. This is not unusual as Catnip is often a Treat; Company D has Treats & Toys. Company E has both Catnip and Litter and in fact, actually has it all.

Note: The Super Search highlights your search categories, so you know why you are there. However, it also shows all categories that are available. Some might “pique” your interest while you are visiting the booth.

You can review the exhibitors alphabetically then put the list in booth number order to make it easier to work for you. The Super Search also allows you to “cut down” the list during your review. To learn more, visit the Pet Business Professor’s Super Search Exhibitor Search Planner.