Fashion trade shows like MAGIC Las Vegas, Coterie New York, Project, WWIN (Womenswear in Nevada), Las Vegas Apparel, Offprice, SOURCING at MAGIC, and Designers & Agents (D&A), are where the fashion industry meets, makes deals, and discovers the next wave of trends. For apparel brands who want to grow their wholesale business, land major accounts, and look polished and prepared to wholesale buyers, this guide covers booth prep, buyer appointments, order taking and the EDI and dropship work that follows a big account.

What’s Covered in This Guide

This guide covers what to do before, during and after MAGIC, Project, Coterie and the shows that overlap them in Las Vegas and New York: which buyers and brands attend, the exhibitor checklist, how to take orders at the booth, and what has to be true in your ERP before a department store will reorder. Dates live on the 2027 U.S. apparel trade show calendar; this page is the playbook.

Why You Need Apparel Wholesale Software & Fashion Industry Software

If you’re scaling up at MAGIC, Project, Coterie, D&A, or WWIN, using the right consumer brands ERP matters more than the booth. AIMS360 gives brands full visibility into what’s in stock, in production, and in work in process (WIP). You can confidently write wholesale orders knowing exactly what you can ship and when. That visibility means you can take larger orders, promise realistic ship dates, eliminate costly overselling, and keep major buyers happy.

AIMS360 also runs EDI natively, omnichannel order management, and sales rep commissions, everything a modern clothing brand needs to streamline wholesale operations, manage growth, and impress retailers.

Fashion Brand Tradeshow Tips

Want to make the most of your investment?

Here are top fashion brand tradeshow tips to stand out and convert:

• Send personal invitations for fashion buyer appointments weeks before the show.
• Use an iPad with your digital line sheet (like AIMS360 RemoteLink) so buyers can write orders on the spot and see real-time inventory.
• Train your team to show live inventory and open to sell on the iPad at the booth; department store and boutique buyers both notice.
• Always follow up with buyers post-show using a professional digital line sheet, and invite them to book showroom appointments year-round.
• Bring up-to-date inventory and WIP reports from AIMS360, buyers want to know what’s shipping now and what’s coming soon.

Get Ready for Market: Essential Prep for Fashion Tradeshow Success

Getting ready for a fashion market week or trade show goes beyond packing samples, it’s about smart planning and using the right tools. With enough preparation and the right tools, you can walk away from market week fulfilled and ready for growth. Here’s how to get market-ready with strategic prep, wholesale tools, and the right software:

• Schedule Buyer Appointments Early: Don’t wait for buyers to come to you, start setting up meetings as soon as possible. Proactively reach out to your key accounts via emails, calls, and digital invites to get on their radar and secure appointments before market week.
• Prepare Digital Line Sheets & Visual Assets: Buyers expect quick, easy access to your product info and brand story. Make sure your wholesale line sheets (organized by season: Spring/Summer, Fall/Winter, Holiday, Resort), lookbooks, and press kits are up-to-date and readily available. Use digital line sheets or a tablet-based catalog to showcase your collection, modern wholesale platforms like AIMS360 RemoteLink, JOOR, NuORDER, Brandboom, or RepSpark can enable direct ordering and minimize paperwork.
• Ensure Apparel ERP & Inventory are Market-Ready: Success at a fashion market starts with having your new products entered in your AIMS360 system and inventory up to date. When your inventory management and wholesale order tools are in sync, order processing is faster and stock visibility is real-time.
• Use Digital Order-Taking Tools: Digital order apps or iPad-based wholesale order tools eliminate manual errors and help you take orders even without Wi-Fi. Using AIMS360 RemoteLink or similar, you can capture every order digitally, take a card deposit through AIMS360 Pay once the iPad is back online, and have the order land in AIMS360 as imported when it reconnects.

By planning appointments ahead, equipping yourself with professional digital assets, and deploying the right tech tools, from ERP integrations to mobile order apps, you set your brand up for a smooth, successful tradeshow.

Which Apparel Brands and Fashion Manufacturers Exhibit at Each Event

BIG BUYER ACCOUNTS TO TARGET AT MAGIC & Coterie

Department Stores:

Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Lord & Taylor, Bergdorf Goodman, Von Maur, Belk, Boscov’s, Stage Stores

National Specialty Chains:

Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Free People, Express, Aritzia, Intermix, Lulus, ModCloth, Francesca’s, Buckle

Online Retailers & Marketplaces:

Amazon Fashion, Walmart.com, SHEIN, ASOS, Revolve, Shopbop, Zappos, Stitch Fix, T.J.Maxx (online), Nordstrom Rack (online)

Off-Price/Value Retailers:

T.J.Maxx, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, Burlington, Saks OFF 5TH, Nordstrom Rack

Contemporary & Trend-Focused Boutiques:

Planet Blue, Fred Segal, Ron Herman, Scoop NYC, Elyse Walker

Flash Sale & Wholesale Platforms:

Gilt, Rue La La, FashionGo, Faire, Verishop

International Retailers:

Selfridges, Galeries Lafayette, El Corte Inglés, Hudson’s Bay, David Jones, Mytheresa

Must-Have Online Assets for Buyers

• Website: Updated with your brand story, current collections, and team bios. Most successful brands use Shopify or a similar e-commerce platform for a polished, easy-to-navigate wholesale and direct-to-consumer site.
• Inventory Management: Brands powered by AIMS360 can showcase real-time available-to-sell inventory, what’s in production, and work in process (WIP), giving buyers instant confidence about what’s ready to ship and when future orders will deliver.
• Social Media: Instagram or TikTok with real customer imagery and influencer content.
• Wholesale portal/digital line sheet: Via JOOR, NuORDER, Brandboom, RepSpark, or AIMS360 RemoteLink, always organized by season with ship windows.

AIMS360 RemoteLink: Next-Level Booth Sales

Your booth tech toolkit should include AIMS360 RemoteLink on iPad:

• Show live catalog, inventory, and customer pricing.
• Write instant orders, including size breaks and barcode scanning.
• Orders land in AIMS360 as imported once the iPad reconnects. No paper, no re-keying.
• Writes orders offline: line sheets, customer pricing and the last downloaded open to sell stay available if the Wi-Fi drops. Stock refresh and order upload resume on reconnect.
• Buyers see in real-time what’s in stock, in production, and in WIP, critical for wholesale confidence.

Why Wholesale & B2B Matter

1. Big orders: Wholesale orders often rival or exceed monthly e-commerce sales.
2. Market reach: Retailers spread your brand geographically and demographically.
3. Consistent revenue: Recurring boutique orders smooth cash flow and production.
4. Credibility boost: Getting into Nordstrom or Anthropologie validates your brand.
5. Customer feedback: Direct insight from store buyers on fit, pricing, and trends.

Why You Need to Be EDI & Dropship Ready

• EDI is mandatory for major retailers, it replaces paperwork with automated transactions. Without it, many buyers, including those from Nordstrom, who run one of the largest dropship programs in U.S. retail, won’t even consider you.
• EDI dropship allows you to ship direct-to-customer for retailers’ endless-aisle programs and omnichannel expansion.
• AIMS360 runs EDI natively for 350+ retailers, including dropship programs, so the compliance work starts the day the department store says yes. See EDI dropship orders.

Fashion Exhibitor Checklist

Before a Fashion Tradeshow

• Register for your booth early to secure a prime location.
• Book accommodations, flights, and plan transportation/parking.
• Research buyer lists and send invitations for buyer appointments.
• Load digital line sheets and wholesale catalogs into your B2B order tools (JOOR, NuORDER, Brandboom, RepSpark, or AIMS360 RemoteLink), organizing by season.
• Set up your wholesale portal, ensuring inventory, pricing, and shipping terms are current.
• Prep inventory: Make sure styles, sizes, and quantities in stock and work in process are accurate in your apparel ERP.
• Schedule demos or training for sales reps using AIMS360 RemoteLink or other order-taking tools.
• Prepare displays, samples, and marketing materials.

At the Clothing Tradeshow

• Arrive early to set up your apparel exhibitor booth with proper signage, samples, and tech.
• Confirm buyer appointments and walk the show floor for new leads.
• Use AIMS360 RemoteLink, JOOR, NuORDER, Brandboom, or RepSpark to take wholesale orders digitally, offline if needed.
• Scan barcodes or use tablets to speed up order writing and minimize errors.
• Showcase real-time inventory, production, and WIP so buyers know ship windows.
• Share digital line sheets for immediate and future orders, highlighting seasonal availability.
• Network with new and existing buyers, collecting business cards and follow-up details.

After an Apparel Tradeshow

• Process and confirm all wholesale orders, refresh your inventory and upload orders to your AIMS360 via RemoteLink (orders arrive as imported once the iPad reconnects), or process/confirm orders in JOOR, NuORDER, RepSpark, or Brandboom.
• Allocate inventory: Review what sales orders were taken at the show, allocate stock or work in process inventory to specific orders, and check what’s left as available stock and work in process for the season.
• Update digital line sheets and wholesale portals with new styles or quantities as needed.
• Follow up with every buyer, send thank you emails, confirmations, and updated linesheets.
• Analyze sales performance, rep activity, and booth traffic to plan improvements for the next show.

FAQ

Q: What is the best ERP apparel software for exhibiting at fashion tradeshows?

A: The best ERP apparel software, like AIMS360, integrates order taking, inventory management, production, and digital line sheets into one platform.

Q: How do I use a buyer meeting scheduler or appointment tool for fashion markets and tradeshows?

A: Use integrated appointment tools like Calendly, HubSpot, or built-in features in wholesale apps (JOOR, NuORDER, Brandboom, RepSpark) to coordinate and confirm buyer appointments.

Q: What are the top B2B order taking tools and wholesale order taking apps for fashion brands?

A: The top tools are AIMS360 RemoteLink, JOOR, NuORDER, Brandboom, and RepSpark.

Q: What’s the best way to prepare my brand for market week or tradeshow season?

A: Update your ERP inventory, prepare seasonal digital line sheets, schedule buyer meetings, train staff on order-taking tools, and organize everything by season.

Q: Which wholesale B2B software tools are most important for apparel and fashion brands at tradeshows?

A: AIMS360, JOOR, NuORDER, Brandboom, and RepSpark are the tools most apparel brands use for B2B order taking and line sheet management.

Q: What’s the advantage of using a digital order writing app for fashion tradeshows?

A: Digital order writing apps like AIMS360 RemoteLink, JOOR, and NuORDER let reps input orders on iPad or tablet, scan barcodes, view open to sell, and sync with the ERP once the iPad reconnects.

Q: How does AIMS360 compare to JOOR, NuORDER, RepSpark, or Brandboom?

A: JOOR, NuORDER, RepSpark, and Brandboom focus mainly on digital line sheets and order capture. AIMS360 is a consumer brands ERP that holds the stock record and runs inventory, production, EDI, omnichannel order management and reporting behind whichever platform the buyer orders in.

Q: What is a digital line sheet, and why is it important for wholesale?

A: A digital line sheet is an online catalog of products, organized by season, that buyers use to place wholesale orders. It should always reflect live inventory, accurate pricing, and available ship windows.

Q: What’s the difference between linesheet apps and full apparel ERP software?

A: Linesheet apps like Brandboom and NuORDER are great for sharing catalogs and capturing orders. A consumer brands ERP like AIMS360 connects your orders, inventory, production, EDI, and accounting, eliminating manual work and keeping everything in sync.

Q: Can I take wholesale orders at a tradeshow without internet?

A: Yes. AIMS360 RemoteLink and similar apps let you take orders offline at market or tradeshow. When you reconnect, orders arrive in AIMS360 as imported.