infoTECH Feature

March 16, 2018

Aruba, Driven Enable AmericasMart Navigation Services

AmericasMart Atlanta is a global wholesale marketplace selling apparel, area rugs, consumer home, and gift merchandise. Retailers from every U.S. state and more than 70 countries are partners of AmericasMart, where manufacturers, importers and designers from around the world debut their product collections. So it is vital for AmericasMart Atlanta to supply premier experiences for our buyers and sellers.

This includes mobile connectivity, which is why we decided to refresh our wireless network to enable fast, reliable, and more secure connectivity for a great experience across our venue. Using our new network, our AmericasMart app will now harness innovative Wi-Fi beacon technology, along with leading-edge location-based services, for accurate blue-dot navigation and turn-by-turn directions.

New app features will assist our guests with effectively and efficiently navigating our more than 7 million-square-foot campus, which features three interconnected buildings containing more than 1,500 permanent showrooms as well as tradeshow exhibition halls. Its collective 4.2 million square feet of product represents more than 9,000 different brands.

With our improved app, our 61-year-old facility located in the heart of downtown Atlanta will provide state-of-the-art experiences to retail buyers, interior designers, specifiers, fashion stylists, journalists, digital influencers, and global tastemakers who gather in Atlanta for 16 yearly tradeshows including the semiannual Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market and The Atlanta International Area Rug Market, the WORLD OF PROM Market, two VOW | New World of Bridal Markets plus five Atlanta Apparel Markets and multiple seasonal shows. AmericasMart also features an interior design center and immediate resources apparel collection that are open to buyers year-round.

Our enhanced app will save attendees and exhibitors time by providing the most direct and efficient routes through the market center to find what they need. For exhibitors, our upgraded Wi-Fi network enables more secure and reliable sales transactions and access to their networks. All attendees can quickly and easily connect to the network with single service set identifier (SSID). 

Additionally, AmericasMart has been an integral part of Atlanta’s hospitality industry throughout our history. The Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart – the convention and meeting side of our business – has paced the growth of the city and the evolution of the consumer goods industry. It has grown to become a preferred resource for conventions, corporate meetings, tradeshows, and special events with more than 1 million square feet of specially designed space.

Overall, AmericasMart generates an annual Atlanta economic impact of more than $561 million annually and brings more than 560,000 visitors to the city each year.

Our extensive visitor population, combined with steady and strong order writing spread across such vast square footage, demands the consistent enabling of fast, reliable and secure connectivity and an exceptional mobile experience for attendees, no matter where they are on campus. That’s why we chose to partner with Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, for our network renovation, after a thorough evaluation of our needs and available technologies.

Working with our trusted local IT integrator, Driven Technologies, we deployed Aruba’s Mobile First Platform, including Meridian location services and beacons to provide the navigation services in our app, which we originally launched in 2014. The app enables buyers to discover and explore new and existing exhibitors, categories, lines, and products; browse exhibitors by floor map or as a list; record favorite lines and categories; and plan, organize, and manage market details to make the most of their visit. It is available for both Apple and Android devices via the iTunes store and on Google (News - Alert) Play.

Our partner’s platform includes SDKs that can accommodate additional capabilities, such as proximity notifications and asset tracking, enabling us to expand our app’s functionality further to meet the evolving needs of our business and our customers.

Kimberly Rometo is vice president of digital and information systems at  AmericasMart (www.americasmarket.com). 




Edited by Maurice Nagle
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