Traditional Pop-Ups and Stretch Fabric Displays: The Veteran Goes Toe-to-Toe with the Challenger

We’ve been beating the textile drum for a couple of years now, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. Textile displays are vibrant (thanks to our state-of-the-art dye-sublimation printing equipment!), lightweight, don’t crease or damage during transportation, and can be reused and refreshed time and time again. What’s not to love?

Now, we know we might sound a little biased, but this isn’t just a ‘we love fabric’ situation, we promise. We’re seeing a continued uptick in demand from our customers too. The textile shift is real, and it’s showing no signs of slowing. There’s more on that in our last blog.

As a trade-only supplier, we know when juggling product options for your own customers and outsourcing production to us that understanding the finer details, from install time to transport logistics, isn’t always straightforward…So to make things easier, we’re putting two exhibition favourites head to head - the traditional pop-up display and the stretch fabric display.

The trusty traditional pop-up display. A familiar sight at exhibitions, conferences and indoor events for years. Available in curved or straight formats and in five sizes up to 3m wide, these displays deliver that classic exhibition stand presence. 

These displays offer a dependable, professional look and for many businesses they’ve been the go-to-display solution for years - and for good reason. You could say they are the exhibition equivalent of a reliable family car.

Here’s how they work: 

• The system consists of a collapsible frame, panels of graphics, and LED lights which fix to the top for illumination  
• Graphics are printed across five bespoke, semi-rigid, anti-scratch panels which attach to the frame via magnetic bars 
• The display is transported in a moulded wheeled case (which cleverly doubles as a counter with a wooden topper!) and replacement graphics are available 

Now, enter a newer opponent, the stretch fabric display.

At first glance, it’s a similar solution. Straight or curved, designed for indoor exhibitions and events, transportable and reusable. But there are some key differences: 

• Rather than being made up of five separate panels, stretch fabric displays are printed onto a single graphic using dye-sublimation printing, giving you that vibrant and modern look.
• The graphic is then pulled onto the frame and zipped shut, creating a tensioned and seamless, crease-free graphics and the installer doesn’t need to mess about with aligning panels as the graphic is already one seamless design. 
• As well as being more vibrant, stretch fabric displays also offer added flexibility as they are available both single-sided and double-sided as well as in up to eight sizes from 1m to 6m wide.

Now those features alone are big advantages but the benefits don’t stop there. Here are four other areas where stretch fabric displays keep Traditional Pop-Up Displays on their toes.

We know, as regular exhibitors of trade shows ourselves, that when you’re at an event, time is everything. The last thing you want to be doing is spending ages installing exhibition stands. 

With traditional pop-up displays, the frame is expanded, the magnetic bars are attached, the panels are carefully aligned, the lighting is added, and this all often requires two people and can take up to 30 minutes. With stretch fabric displays, the lightweight tubular frame is simple to assemble, the graphic is pulled over the frame and zipped shut, taking only one person and a third of the time.

Now, this is a clear area where stretch fabric displays have the advantage. Traditional pop-up displays weigh around 35kg. Stretch fabric displays on the other hand weigh less than half that at 11kg. And with our newer lightweight tubular aluminium frames, they’re even easier to handle. 

Lighter weight means easier transport, reduced courier costs, simpler storage, and less strain during set-up and take-down. When regularly attending events, these differences quickly add up, both financially and physically. 

Stretch fabric displays cost less for a brand-new system and are also cheaper to replace too. This comes down to the cost of substrates and the fact that there is a lot more processing involved in the traditional pop-up material to achieve the semi-rigid state required, plus the use cases are more limited. There are also additional costs associated with traditional pop-up displays in the fixings that enable the graphics to hang onto the frame. Colour-matching issues are also much more straightforward to address when replacing the entire graphic of a fabric display compared to replacing a single panel on a traditional pop-up.

Traditional pop-up displays still hold value, especially for customers who prefer the structured panel aesthetic, but from a cost-efficiency perspective, stretch fabric displays are an increasingly attractive choice.

As well as cost and logistics benefits, textile displays also offer a number of environmental benefits too. Because they are made from polyester fabric, they are washable, foldable, reusable without creasing, and can be replaced easily without the need to replace the frame. They are also recyclable at the end of life - something that is key with branding often ordered for short-term events and updated regularly for seasonal or promotional campaigns.

The lightweight nature of fabric displays also mean less carbon emissions are transmitted during transport too. As sustainability continues to influence buying decisions, offering textile alternatives allows your customers to make environmentally conscious choices.

This is certainly not a straightforward ‘KO’...Traditional pop-up displays still have their place, but we are definitely seeing a shift. 

For businesses who have historically offered traditional pop-up displays, stretch fabric displays open up a new opportunity. It’s not about replacing one with the other, it’s about expanding your product offering and giving your customers informed choices - just like we are aiming to do with our blogs! 

Our job isn’t just to produce the graphics, our goal is to give you the knowledge to confidently sell them to your customers. Whether your customers favour the seasoned veteran or the up-and-coming challenger, we’re here to help you deliver a title-winning performance.