The 2017 Cosmoprof North America (CPNA), an award winning, business-to-business beauty event in North America and meeting point for beauty professionals, industry insiders and brands, was held at Mandalay Bay Convention Center July 9th -11th.

Held annually in Las Vegas, 36,787 attendees, (up 9 % from 2016) engaged with record breaking 1,278 exhibitors (up 9% from  2016), representing 45 countries were able to see and experience several new programs, special areas and unique opportunities to engage and attract. The show floor space covered 293,306 sqf (27,249 sqm) of space with an increase of 4% compared to the previous year.

The event delivers a myriad of opportunities, from domestic and international business development, to providing insights and inspiration through education, to delivering connection to social media influencers and trade / consumer media and ultimately to allowing networking with the industry’s elite movers and shakers.

Igniting the power of online beauty influencers, CPNA increased the span of its popular influencer programs and recruited 17 beauty influencers to engage with exhibitor brands on the show floor. This exposure resulted in 336 posts for an estimated 8 billion impressions and a total 896 million engagements. CPNA also created original content through its own social sites resulting in 146 million impressions with over 21,000 total engagements.

Making a return were curated areas that included Discover Beauty, Discover Beauty Spotlights, Discover Scent, Discover Green, Discover Leaf, Discover Beauty Pro, and Tones of Beauty. Key buyers participate in speed-dating meetings with selected companies and national distributors like ULTA and SalonCentric.

Exhibitors outside of special areas were not left without opportunities to meet with key buyers on their own. International buyers like Murale (Canada) and VIP.com (China), came as part of the International Buyer Program which is open to all exhibitors. Specifically to aid international exhibitors, the Domestic Buyer Program included buyers from leading retailers like Amazon and key national distributors like Armstrong McCall. The exclusive TV Shopping Auditions program took place live on the show floor giving exhibitors the chance to pitch their brands to buyers from domestic channels HSN and QVC and international channels HSE (Germany), QVC (Worldwide), TV Shopping Network (Australia). Before and throughout the event, all participants also had access to the free 1to1BeautyMatchmaking.com, a portal which allows attendees to connect directly with exhibitors of interest seamlessly online.

The Boutique area allowed attendees the opportunity to engage and discover the latest products and curate a unique and reusable beauty box with over $18,426 raised for PBA Foundation (Look Good, Feel Better) — an increase of 30% over 2016. Glamour Me also returned to give attendees the chance to try exhibitor products first-hand while receiving beauty treatments, makeup and styling. Donations were collected on behalf of the PBA Foundation.

New for 2017, CPNA engaged in retail partnerships with Amazon and QVC as well as international shopping networks from around the world. Amazon and QVC were at the show seeking to meet with brands, and some were chosen to have their products featured at a “Discovered at Cosmoprof North America” section on their respective platforms. Beauty buyers for QVC were also available to meet with attendees and exhibitors at their booth.

CPNA also hosts PBA Beauty Week which included the sold-out PBA Business Forum with celebrity keynote Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson and the North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA), where winners were recognized during a live awards ceremony; the Lifetime Achievement Award was given to industry icon Sam Villa.

The next Cosmoprof North America edition will be July 29th through 31st, 2018.