Not everyone orders at the show. Here's how to catch the ones who don't
Nearly 96,000 people came through the Motorhome and Caravan Show at the NEC last October. Most of them left without placing an order.
That is not a failure. It is how big-ticket buying works. A caravan or motorhome gets slept on, talked over at home, measured against the drive.
The orders you take on the stand are real and worth having. But the bigger prize is the crowd who leave to research and decide later.
Whoever they find online gets the sale. It should be you.
Here is how to make sure it is.
The short version
Most people who visit the Motorhome and Caravan Show go home and research online before they buy. Dealers win those buyers by having their model pages, used stock pages, a show-offer page and a fast enquiry path ready before the doors open.
Three steps to do it:
- Get your pages ready before 13 October: model pages, used stock, a show-offer page, finance.
- Capture details at the show, then send a useful follow-up within days.
- Track which enquiries came from the show, and repeat the whole thing for February.
The show is your buyers’ biggest search spike of the year
Last October, 96,149 people walked the halls at the NEC over six days. That is the busiest week your market has all year.
Search tells the same story. In spring, “caravan show nec” sits at around 500 to 700 searches a month.
Last October it jumped to 9,900. And it does not stop the moment the doors close.
Visitors carry on searching for days and weeks after, looking up the vans they saw and the dealers who sell them. There are two peaks like this every year: October, and again in February.
Miss the window and you wait months for the next one. The dealers who get found in it pick up the buyers. The ones who wait until spring watch them go elsewhere.
Want to see when buyers in your area start searching, not just the national picture? Get your free Search Demand Report.
Plenty order on the stand. Many more go home to think
Let me be clear first. Dealers take real orders at the show, and good ones.
At last year’s event Coachman reported caravan sales up 12% and motorhome sales up 83%. People do buy.
But for every order written on a stand, a far larger group walks away without signing. That is rarely cold feet. It is the size of the decision.
A van at 30 to 70 thousand pounds gets slept on. It gets talked over at the kitchen table, then weighed against the space on the drive.
Those undecided visitors are the opportunity. They are interested, they have seen your stock, and they are about to spend weeks researching online.
One exhibitor put it well after last year’s show. PJ Outdoors noted a high level of people researching their products before buying, and expected that research to turn into sales by the February show.
So the show starts the journey. Your website finishes it, for everyone who does not order on the day.
Not sure what your buyers look for once they leave the hall? The free Search Demand Report shows you.
The six weeks after the show decide your return
The order book on the Sunday night is not the whole story. The real test is the six weeks that follow.
From the close on 18 October to the run-up to Christmas, your buyers are deciding. They look up the exact model they sat in, read the reviews and compare layouts.
They search for a dealer they can trust, often with “near me” on the end. They check what the finance might cost.
Then demand dips over Christmas, as you would expect. In January it comes back hard, running straight into the February show.
Here is the catch. If you are not visible while all that research is happening, the buyer builds a shortlist without you on it.
By the time they are ready to walk back onto a forecourt, the decision is half made. You want to be the dealer they already trust, not the one they never found.
See when demand in your area picks back up after the show. Get your free Search Demand Report.
What your website needs ready before 13 October
This is the practical part. None of it is clever. It is just done properly, before the doors open.
Think of it the way you build a good stand. Everything a visitor needs is where they expect it, nothing is in the way, and it is obvious what to do next.
Your website is the stand they visit at nine o’clock that night, from the sofa. This is what has to be ready.
A “see us at the NEC” page
One page, one web address, for everyone who meets you at the show. Put it on your stand signage, your badges, a card, a QR code.
When a visitor photographs your board and looks you up that evening, they land somewhere built for them. Not your general homepage.
That page can carry your show offers, the models you have on the stand, and an easy way to enquire.
Proper model pages for everything on your stand
If a visitor searches the exact model they liked, your page should be the best one they find. Original words, real photos, honest detail.
Copying the manufacturer’s text is the common mistake. When your page is thin or duplicated, you lose to the brand’s own site and to other dealers.
Write for the buyer comparing two or three layouts at the kitchen table. Answer the questions they actually ask.
Used stock pages that survive the show
Shows shift a lot of stock, new and used. When a unit sells, do not let its page drop into a dead link.
A sold page that returns an error throws away the ranking and traffic you built. Redirect it, or keep it working with a clear “now sold, here is something similar”.
More used stock comes to market after a show. The dealers who treat used pages as proper pages, not throwaways, pick up those searches.
A fast, clear way to enquire, including finance
Most of this research happens on a phone, at night. If enquiring takes more than a moment, you lose them.
One obvious button and a short form. A phone number you can tap with a thumb.
Finance matters here too. Plenty of buyers want the monthly cost before they commit, so a clear finance page earns enquiries that are expensive to buy through ads.
One word of care. Finance is regulated, so keep the page to marketing, give no advice, and get the wording checked against FCA rules before it goes live.
Want to know which of these pages your buyers reach first? The free Search Demand Report shows where you turn up, and where you do not.
After the show: a follow-up that is not a big project
You do not need new software to do this well. You need speed and a little discipline.
Capture the details of everyone who shows real interest, at the stand or through your show page. A name and an email is enough to start.
Then follow up within days, while the visit is fresh. Send something useful, not a hard sell: the spec they asked about, a clear next step, an answer to their question.
A visitor who gets a prompt, helpful reply remembers it. Most dealers go quiet for weeks, and that gap is exactly what you can win.
Then watch which enquiries trace back to the show. That tells you what the week was really worth, and what to do more of next time.
Then do it all again in February
October is not the only spike. The Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show runs 16 to 21 February 2027, again at the NEC.
Search climbs the same way. “Caravan show nec” hit 8,100 last February, close to its October level.
So treat it as a twice-a-year job, not a one-week one. Get October right and February is mostly a repeat, with your pages already earning.
Know what your buyers search for in your area
The national picture is clear. The spike is real, and most of your buyers research before they buy.
But demand is not the same in every county. The timing and the search terms shift depending on where you are.
That is what our free Search Demand Report shows you. When buyers near you start searching, what they look for, and who is catching them now.
It is built from the same data behind this post, broken down to roughly a 50-mile area around your dealership.
Get your free Search Demand Report and see your own patch before the next spike.
The quiet weeks that used to follow the show
Picture late October. The show is packed away, and your phone is still going.
Enquiries are coming from people who sat in your vans at the NEC, went home, searched, and found you waiting. Your used pages are pulling traffic. Your follow-ups are landing.
While other dealers wait for spring, you are booking calls and taking orders through the quiet weeks.
That is what being ready for the Motorhome and Caravan Show looks like.
See your own patch before the next spike. Get your free Search Demand Report.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Motorhome and Caravan Show 2026?
The Motorhome and Caravan Show runs from 13 to 18 October 2026 at the NEC in Birmingham.
Do people really buy after a show rather than at it?
Both happen. Dealers take strong orders on the stand, and a larger group goes home to research and buys in the weeks after. A caravan or motorhome is a big purchase, so many buyers take their time.
What is the most important thing to fix before the show?
Proper model pages for the stock on your stand, and a fast way to enquire. If a buyer searches the van they liked and cannot find a good page or get in touch easily, you lose them.
When is the next show after October?
The Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show runs from 16 to 21 February 2027 at the NEC. Search peaks again around it, so the same preparation applies.