CHICAGO — Freeman released its latest Trends Report, titled “Unpacking XLNC: The Future of Commerce for Trade Shows and Conferences,” which reveals that commerce is the most valued part of an event for attendees.
The report takes a deep dive into Commerce as part of Freeman’s XLNC Framework, which stands for Experience, Learning, Networking and Commerce, and represents the top four reasons people attend and exhibit at live events.
“This research comes at a pivotal moment for the events industry, showing that commerce now drives attendee decisions more than ever. Our findings offer actionable insights to create hands-on, expert-led experiences that deliver real business impact in today’s selective marketplace,” said Ken Holsinger, Senior Vice President of Strategy at Freeman.
Commerce is King
According to the report, the shift to commerce as the No. 1 reason for attending an event is being driven by the Now Generation (those aged 22-44 years old), who are expecting authenticity, relevance, transparency and experiences that are aligned with their priorities and values — and who happen to be more selective when it comes to commerce. Overall, more attendees are planning on attending fewer events over the next 12 months than was reported last year.
The focus on commerce isn’t surprising when taking into account that discovering new products and solutions is a top priority for professionals’ work and careers, and that discovering new products and solutions was the top ranked commercial objective for those attending a business event last year.
And in-person events serve as an opportune place for this discovery, with 74% of respondents saying face-to-face events are a top source for product and service discovery. Company websites and professional and trade organizations were the second and third top sources respectively with 56% and 55% saying they use them for discovery.
Hands-On Experiences Help Achieve Commercial Objectives
Attendees have shown that they value hands-on interactions and tactile experiences in order to evaluate products and reach commercial objectives. Without hands-on interactions, attendees are more likely to direct their attention to other vendors.
It’s important for show organizers to encourage exhibitors to create hands-on experiences for their booths in order to maximize their ROI. Demonstrating this is that 96% of respondents said hands-on experiences made it easier for them to advocate for the purchase of an offering, 95% said they made it easier to determine if an offering was a good fit for their organizations and 93% said it helped to improve their awareness of or evaluate an offering.
When it comes to evaluating the event overall, the inclusion of hands-on experiences is important to the perception of the show. According to the report, events that featured hands-on experiences were likely to be described as well-structured, thoughtfully designed and effective in helping them reach goals. On the flipside, events that did not have hands-on experiences made attendees feel it was less likely that the event was organized with their objectives in mind.
Related. 2025 Freeman Trust Report: Live Events and Trade Shows Drive Trust in Brands
Experts Make a Difference in Discovery
Eighty-four percent of attendees said they find connecting with a subject matter expert is extremely or very important to their event experience, which is aligned with the Now Generation’s focus on trust, transparency and clarity.
According to the report, 93% of attendees say capable booth staff is extremely important, but only 78% feel that exhibitors deliver on that front. And while 58% of attendees said speaking with subject matter experts would improve the interactions they have at a booth, only 26% of exhibitors agreed.
Insights to Improve Attendee and Exhibitor Value
According to the report, attendees believe that exhibitors are more responsible for experiences at events than organizers are, putting organizers in a powerful position to help support exhibitors in ways that generate better outcomes at the events.
The report states that the following are the most useful pre-event offerings for attendee evaluation and discovery:
- Map that allows attendee to plan a path for what vendors to visit (61%)
- Online listing on exhibitors’ products and services (57%)
- Understanding how vendors on the show floor are segmented (24%)
- Emails and other communications from exhibitors about their new products and solutions (21%)
- Tool that allows attendees to set up meetings with exhibitors/vendors in advance (20%)
It’s also important to note that exhibitors have reported a gap between what they expect to accomplish at an event and the effectiveness of organizers in helping them to reach those objectives. Thirty-two percent of exhibitors said at the most important event for their organization the event organizer has rules and regulations in place that prevented them from reaching their commercial objectives.
Exhibitors shared that they want more high-value networking, brand visibility and quality lead generation, and Freeman suggests a more exhibitor-centric approach to event structure.
Expectations for All-Inclusive Packages
Freeman also detailed what exhibitors expect when it comes to all-inclusive packages, which were WiFi access (74%), badges (68%), booth space (63%), booth elements like carpeting and furniture (56%), lead retrieval (50%) and contact information of attendees (50%).
Action Items from the Report
Given the report’s findings, Freeman suggested the following action items for show organizers and exhibitors to take to better meet attendee expectations and demands.
- Expand your thinking by looking outside of your industry for inspiration and innovation.
- Highlight and incentivize interactive opportunities by designing a show floor that supports hands-on experiences and demos.
- Provide attendees with pre-event tools to help them plan with a purpose.
- When designing your show floor, group communities of exhibitors together so attendees are able to easily see and compare exhibitors offering similar products and services.
- Help exhibitors arrive at the show more prepared by offering some regional snapshots and attendee demographics ahead of the show.
- Host an “exhibitor excellence” webinar that targets every exhibitor by featuring attendee insights, hands-on best practices, smart-goal setting and floor strategy tips.
View and download the full report here.
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