OAK BROOK, Ill. -- CSP Information Group today unveiled the convenience-store industry's first and only year-round, permanent online virtual product exposition, 24-7 Connect.
24-7 Connect (www.csp247.com) provides retailers with one-stop access to contact information for nearly 2,000 industry suppliers, arranged into nearly 100 categories. Vendors in basic-level booths provide contact information, so retailers can call or email for product information.
A number of featured booths [image-nocss] in each category provide an extensive range of detailed product information, downloadable brochures, product images and other category information. A number of booths even include streaming video. A How to Buy section in these booths provides information on how to order the products in the virtual booth.
Visitors to 24-7 Connect can store documents in their own personal virtual briefcase for downloading on their next visit, or they can email documents directly from a booth to a colleague. Through a personalized drop business card function, visitors can also instantly request a followup call. Suppliers can be reviewed by category or through 24-7 Connect's built-in search engine.
Exhibitors with featured booths in 24-7 Connect can easily place product information and details in their virtual booths for access by retailers. CSP provides exhibitors with complete, turnkey booth management services, as well as business-card contacts and other information requests from booth visitors.
Our goal is to create a one-stop information marketplace for retailers and suppliers, said John Callanan, CSP's Internet group publisher. With 24-7 Connect, we have done that and much more, and we look forward to continuing to develop both the depth of information available and the functionality within the virtual expo.
Beginning today, select featured booths in 24-7 Connect will include a direct link to grocery wholesaler McLane Co. Inc.'s website, where visitors can log in and purchase products through Temple, Texas-based McLane's virtual tradeshow, which is running in conjunction with the wholesaler's national tradeshow in Las Vegas this week. Moving forward, CSP expects to continue expanding virtual-booth functionality and loading additional content.
To log into 24-7 Connect, visit www.csp247.comor email vtsinfo@cspnet.com.
Oak Brook, Ill.-based CSP Information Group, publisher of CSP magazine and CSP Independent magazine, is a business-to-business communication company specializing in the convenience and retail petroleum industry. Its other business units include CSP Daily News daily email newsletter, CSPNetwork CyberConferences, CSPTV, CSP Meetings & Conferences, 24-7 Connect Virtual Expo and b2b Solutions LLC Consulting. Visit www.cspnet.com for more information.
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