Our Top 5 Exhibition Stand Trends for 2025

Attending a live event this year? It’s important to stay up-to-date on the current Exhibition Stand industry trends to truly grab the attention of your target audience, create memorable experiences and stay on top of competitors!

In our predictions for 2024, we saw Modular Exhibition Stands VS Bespoke Exhibition Stands becoming a key topic of discussion, in addition to the rise of immersive and interactive stand features, and the growing benefits of lightbox displays.

In this blogpost, Paul Runacres, Sales and Marketing Director at Clip UK, reflects on last year’s exhibition stand predictions, and delves into the ways we can expect these trends to look this year.

Interactive Exhibition Stand Features

As we discussed previously in last year’s 2024 exhibition stand predictions blogpost, interactive exhibition stands are also set to increase throughout 2025 and beyond. As new technology continues to emerge and evolve, we hope to eventually gain access to a greater number of interactive tools that we can take advantage of within our exhibition.

As predicted last year, technology such as AR, VR and Holograms still haven’t really taken off in the exhibition world, and while you may see them at some exhibitions, they still remain fairly rare. One reason in particular for this is the fact that VR headsets are not really a very hygienic object to be sharing with strangers and the hangover from the COVID-19 pandemic makes people much more aware of this kind of risk to hygiene.

Additionally, whilst people might feel comfortable with such engagement pieces in the comfort of their own home, the majority of people would not necessarily feel as comfortable to use VR on an exhibition stand in public, due to a fear of making themselves look silly.

Instead, what we did see with a number of our clients in 2024, was engagement created using some old school items, such as pinball machines, Pacman games and even the old favourite – racing simulators! These quick and punchy activities are a great hook to get people onto your stand as they are fun, easy to take part in and create a good competitive buzz. Sometimes, old school is the best!

With this in mind, it’s increasingly unlikely that interactive technology, such as VR and Holograms will boom at exhibition stands throughout 2025, and this may instead be something that we can anticipate to experience more of in the long run, rather than short.

Lightbox Exhibition Stand Trends

Lights, camera, action! As previously predicted, the presence of lightboxes at exhibitions and conferences grew significantly in 2024. The original PixlipGo lightbox that was launched in 2018 is now just one of numerous other lightbox products available on the market.

Lightboxes include a range of attractive benefits, providing buyers with the ability to store, transport, build and disassemble themselves. Plus, not only do they deliver a fantastic impact at an event, getting you noticed in a busy hall, but there is also no on-cost for using them at future events once you’ve made the initial investment.

As always in the display stands and exhibition stands market, the range of options is vast. However, it’s important to remember that, if are going to invest in a lightbox this year, to make sure you don’t fall for a low-cost, low-quality units – as the saying goes, buy cheap, buy twice!

Instead, ensure that you buy a system that has a good guarantee on the product. For example, PixlipGo by Clip is of such a fantastic quality that it carries a lifetime guarantee and will be replaced or repaired immediately, at no extra cost should something go wrong. For more, discover Clip UK’s range of LED Lightboxes.

Essentially, lightboxes are the new pop-up display stand and the market for them is only expected to grow in 2025 and beyond.

Modular Marvels

As discussed within our predictions over the last few years, Modular Exhibition Stands continued to be the go-to for the majority of exhibitors in 2024, vs Bespoke Exhibition Stands.

A Modular Exhibition Stand offers a range of benefits, the main one being it’s cost effectiveness as you can hire the structure for a fraction of the price of getting a bespoke stand made for you. In fact, some exhibition companies will even hire you the stand structure at no fee! This allows your budget to widen for engagement pieces on the stand, or a bigger stand plot altogether.

Another factor we saw increase throughout 2024 was a push towards sustainability, and this is only expected to increase further over the coming years. This may consequently result in bespoke stands having a shorter life-expectancy, as a growing number of exhibitions are now awarding stands for their sustainability benefits. The stands that have won these awards recently are modular, rather then bespoke, such as a recent client of ours at Pharmapack in Paris.

Increased Use of Video Walls

As expected, video walls were another big hit in 2024 and are set to become increasingly more popular in 2025, as the technology is improving and pricing is becoming more affordable. While video walls are still, and always will be, more expensive than flat printed graphics, they offer movement that catches the eye in an exhibition hall and enable you to deliver many more messages through the digital aspect rather than a single printed message. 

Focus on Sustainable Materials

How sustainable is your exhibition stand set-up?

As society begins to increase its focus towards a more sustainable planet, it’s important for every industry to consider how they can help to contribute towards a greener future.

Throughout 2025, we can expect to see the demand for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Exhibition Stands increase significantly, as exhibitor’s attention is drawn towards recyclable and reusable materials, eco-friendly lighting and low-emission transport.

As previously discussed, there is greater recognition for the sustainability benefits of Modular Exhibition Stands in particular, which are now receiving awards. While this push towards eco-friendly exhibition stands could result in a harsh impact to the lifespan of some products, we will also see it increasing the popularity of others.

Conclusion

The evolution of exhibition stands over the past few years has been remarkable, with advances in technology enabling greater interactivity and visual appeal. Lightbox exhibition stands, like the popular PixlipGo by Clip, have become increasingly sought after, transforming the way businesses showcase their products. Sustainability has also taken centre stage in the industry, leading to a shift towards Modular Exhibition Stands over Bespoke Exhibition Stands.

Looking ahead, it is likely that these trends will continue to shape the exhibition landscape and as technology continues to evolve and sustainability remains a key focus, the way we design and operate exhibition stands is set to become even more innovative.

At Clip, we take the stress away from exhibiting! As a leading exhibition stand supplier, connecting you with your audience is in our DNA – it’s what we love to do. Get in touch with our team of professionals today to find out how we can transform your exhibition with our growing range of high quality-products.

Let us know your thoughts on the trends you believe will dominate the industry in 2025, as we look forward to seeing how the exhibition stand market continues to evolve!