Art of Fiber boosted RAI’s repeat exhibitor growth by 30% and slashing support questions by 70%, ensuring peace of mind.
From its inception in 1893 as a bicycle industry association to its current status as an internationally renowned venue, RAI Amsterdam has been a linchpin in the global events sector for over 125 years.
Today, it hosts around 300 events annually, including 70 trade shows with a total of 17.500 exhibitors, generating €118 million in revenue. This success goes beyond financial gain; for every euro spent at RAI, there’s an €8 return to the Amsterdam economy, significantly benefiting local services like hotels, taxis, and restaurants. RAI Amsterdam is a full-service venue that prioritizes making the customer journey as seamless as possible.
Post-COVID, RAI needed to digitise and simplify exhibitor services at scale.
To grow profitably, RAI looked beyond floor space — toward smarter exhibitor journeys.
Art of Fiber enabled RAI Amsterdam to offer their exhibitors a simplified shopping experience in creating, furnishing and ordering stands.
From manually interacting with exhibitors to full digital process management, integrated with the RAI IT systems.
In striving to enhance its position as a distinguished full-service provider, RAI Amsterdam focuses on deepening customer relationships through personalized services. By leveraging mass customization, the venue aims to deliver premium products tailored to individual needs, combined with an accessible shopping experience. This strategy of operational excellence and customer intimacy underscores RAI Amsterdam’s dedication to innovation and adaptability, ensuring its services meet the evolving demands of the global exhibition and event industry.
Transformation innovation in challenging times
Facing the dual challenges of restarting operations post-COVID-19 with a 30% reduction in staff, prevailing uncertainty, and two years without income and scaling existing solutions burdened by manual processes and excessive queries, RAI Amsterdam set an ambitious goal to not only recover but also innovate and improve its service offering. To realize this vision, RAI partnered with Art of Fiber, creating a tailored solution to meet its unique needs.
Bart van der Heijden, Director Events RAI Amsterdam
The collaboration led to the development of a cutting-edge eCommerce platform enabling the creation of any exhibition stand in 3D, along with the addition of any product or shape in a user-friendly editor. This platform sets the stage for an immersive shopping experience, leveraging a 3D product configurator that allows exhibitors to apply any design (graphic) to their stands, enhancing their ability to showcase an unique branding effectively.
”Designing our stands has never been easier. It’s intuitive, user friendly and really fast.”
Bart van der Heijden, Director Events RAI Amsterdam
Addressing the operational challenges, the solution introduced a smart delivery system, establishing an eCommerce marketplace supported by local sourcing. This approach ensures quality assurance, streamlined and automated production and fulfilment processes, and facilitates a full-service model through dedicated customer success management, significantly reducing the need for manual intervention and increasing scalability.
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