A catalog buyers open at the booth

IHGF Delhi opens on 13 October 2026 (organiser) and Heimtextil on 12 January 2027 (organiser). This guide turns the catalog you already have into a digital booth in seven steps and three weeks, with a last-week checklist.

Three moments the catalog has to survive

A fair catalog is judged three times, and a PDF fails the last two.

1. 1At the stand. The buyer holds a phone, not a binder. They want to tap a finish, see the piece change, and save it before the next stand pulls them away.
2. 2That evening. In the hotel they open what they saved. A link opens; an attachment waits for a laptop. The questions start here: "does it come in matte black", "what is the MOQ".
3. 3A month later. The buying meeting happens without you in the room. The link is forwarded, the options are tapped again, and the quote request lands in your inbox with the lines already chosen.

The digital booth opened on a buyer’s phone: your storefront header, the first products. Real screen, demo tenant.

The seven steps

In order, three weeks before the hall opens. Each step ends with what it becomes in your Poly9 digital booth.

1. 01

   Bring the products in from what you have

   Start with the photos, the price spreadsheet and the website you already run. You do not need a photoshoot to be trade-show ready; you need every product a buyer will see at the stand to exist as a record with a name, a dimension and a material. Name products the way a buyer remembers them, and keep the internal code as a second field.

   In Poly9: Add the catalog from photos, a spreadsheet or your website. Each product becomes a record the storefront, the collections and the quote all read from.

2. 02

   Write the option list for each product

   Metal: brass, antique bronze, matte black. Wood: walnut, natural oak, white-washed. Textiles: colourways, widths, repeat. Sizes where they exist. Write the list per product, because "we can do any finish" cannot be tapped on a phone, and the first question after "I like it" is "what else does it come in".

   

   A product page in the booth: photo, quantity, ask about this product, price on request. Real screen.

   In Poly9: Options sit on the product record. A buyer taps a finish and sees the configured piece, or asks "show me this in matte black" in the chat.

3. 03

   Load the price rules you have approved

   Base cost, finish upcharge, size multiplier, currency. Load only the rules you would sign your name to. Where a rule is missing, the product shows price on request, and that is the honest state for a fair: the buyer sees the piece now and gets the exact number after. A guessed price that moves later costs more than a one-day wait.

   In Poly9: Every quote line shows the rule behind it. A product with no rule returns price on request, never an estimate.

4. 04

   Build two or three fair collections

   One story per buyer type, 8 to 15 products each: "hand-hammered brass for organic modern living rooms", "guest-room linen in five colourways". A collection is what a buyer saves and forwards; the full catalog is what they scroll past. Give each collection a cover note a store manager could repeat.

   

   A collection shared by one link, with the open receipt. Real screen.

   In Poly9: A collection is a shareable link with its own cover note. Building one costs one sales action per product plus one for the cover, from the pricing page.

5. 05

   Open the booth on your own phone

   Do this a week out, on mobile data, not office Wi-Fi. Tap every option on every hero product. Read the price state on each line: certified or price on request, nothing else. Check that the storefront carries your logo and your address, because the buyer bookmarks the brand they see.

   In Poly9: The digital booth lives at your own storefront address with your logo and colours. Poly9 stays out of the buyer’s view.

6. 06

   Print the QR cards

   One card per collection and one for the whole booth, A5 or business-card size, with the story line printed under the code. The card is what you hand over when the aisle is loud and the buyer has thirty seconds. Print more than you think you need; they leave with people.

   In Poly9: Poly9 generates the QR code for every share link. Print it from the share panel.

7. 07

   Write the follow-up before the fair opens

   The email that goes out three days after the fair is written now, with the collection link in it and a blank for the buyer’s name and the piece they asked about. Nobody writes a good email in the hotel on the last night. The link does not change, so the draft does not either.

   In Poly9: The same collection link goes in the email. When the buyer opens it and asks for a quote, the request lands in your Projects inbox.

PDF catalog or digital booth

Keep a PDF for procurement systems that demand one. For the buyer at the stand, the link wins on every row.

The booth the steps build: categories and products, price on request until a rule exists. Real storefront, demo tenant.

The same seven steps, fair by fair

Dates come from the organisers and are linked. What changes between fairs is the option grid, not the method.

The last week

For the same checks against your own fair date, with a score and due dates, use the fair booth readiness checklist. It runs in your browser and sends nothing anywhere.

Keep going

The pages this guide leans on.