CHICAGO — After nearly a decade of building and scaling a digital ecosystem within the performance and racing industry, EPARTRADE is launching its Industry Platform Licensing Program to empower organizations across industries to operate B2B platforms using the EPARTRADE Infrastructure.
The launch of the program is an extension of EPARTRADE’s platform that was originally developed to help connect the global racing industry. But since then, it’s grown into a year-round ecosystem, and now serves more than 36,000 businesses across 125-plus countries.
Built for Year-Round Connection and Opportunity
With 20-plus years of experience at trade shows, the team behind the platform understood that companies still needed to launch products, generate leads, educate customers and stay connected with buyers year-round — not just during a show’s official dates. That led them to support the business’s evolution from an online sourcing platform into a year-round ecosystem that houses product directories, technical webinars, industry news, video content, job postings and more resources and tools to keep an industry connected 24/7/365.
“One of the biggest impacts has been extending industry engagement beyond traditional trade shows. Instead of interacting only during show week, companies can connect, promote products and build relationships every day of the year, worldwide,” said Francisque Savinien, President of EPARTRADE. “As EPARTRADE grew, we realized that the challenges facing the racing industry are not unique. Many industries have strong trade shows, but they often lack a centralized platform that keeps everyone connected year-round.”
EPARTRADE’s goal for its platform in the trade show industry is to serve as the connection point for audiences to turn to outside of the few days a year when a trade show or event takes place.
“Let’s be clear: We don’t view the platform as a replacement for trade shows. In fact, we believe trade shows remain more valuable than ever. And our goal is to complement and strengthen what organizers already do,” Savinien said. “Depending on the organization, the platform can serve as the digital extension of a trade show, the central hub for an association, or the foundation that connects suppliers, buyers, members, sponsors, media, etc., together.
“Trade shows create concentrated activity for a few days each year. The platform keeps the community engaged during the other 50 weeks of the year. Rather than replacing exhibitions, the platform amplifies them by providing year-round exhibitor visibility, continuous content, sourcing for buyers and new revenue opportunities.”
Providing Support and Revenue Streams
The new program includes platform deployment, training and support, strategic advisory services and infrastructure management to ensure users are supported and able to leverage the platform’s offerings to the fullest extent.
Aside from serving as a digital platform for your sector, the program also has features that serve as revenue engines for event organizers, including subscriber subscription upgrades, advertising and sponsorship opportunities, sponsorable content and enhanced listings and advanced exposure tools.
According to Savinien, the most important features for trade show organizers to know about and leverage are:
- Year-Round Exhibitor Visibility
Exhibitors are no longer limited to a three- or four-day event. They can showcase products, videos, catalogs, promotions, and company information continuously.
- Additional Revenue Streams
The platform supports subscription models, advertising, sponsorships, webinars, newsletters, and other recurring revenue opportunities.
- Greater Value for Buyers
Instead of delivering value only during event week, organizers provide buyers with ongoing sourcing opportunities throughout the year.
- Content and Education
Technical articles, webinars, videos, interviews, and industry news keep the audience engaged and strengthen the organizer’s position as an industry leader.
- Ownership of Industry Data
Perhaps most importantly, organizations maintain control over their own audience, relationships, and data rather than relying entirely on third-party social platforms.
- Faster Deployment
Building a platform from scratch can require years of development and significant investment. Because EPARTRADE’s infrastructure has already been tested and refined at scale, organizations can launch much faster, with significantly less risk and multiple revenue opportunities from day one.
“In summary, we spent eight years building and refining a platform for our own industry. Today, we are making that proven infrastructure available to organizations looking to accelerate their digital transformation without having to start from scratch. We are not licensing software. We are licensing years of experience operating a real industry platform,” Savinien said. “Trade shows bring industries together for a few days each year. We built EPARTRADE for the other 50 weeks.”
For more information and to request a demo, please visit: www.epartrade-infrastructure.com
