For some of the attendees who came to the Exhibit Hall of the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Boston this week, that pretty much said it all.

They were dazed and impressed by the sheer scale of the 170,000 square foot exhibit hall as seen through a mezzanine-level pool-length glass wall, and by the variety and comprehensiveness of 350+ provider booths.

And then they were confused.  Confused as to how to figure out what to do, who to talk to, how to maximize the time they have, how to make sure that this trip results in concrete and productive next steps.

Enter the IRCE Exhibit Hall “Navigation Desk”, powered by FitForCommerce. For the second year, our team managed the IR help desk at the entry of the exhibit hall, helping attendees navigate their way to the providers and solutions that might fit their needs. Our purpose was to give attendees direction and to help ensure that the whole experience is a little less daunting and a lot more rewarding.

“Overwhelmed by eCommerce Decisions and To-Do’s? VENT HERE (seriously)” said one of the signs at the desk. And vent, they did. Sometimes the conversations were about the many wonderful yet overwhelming choices in eCommerce technology. Sometimes, we chatted about the challenges in prioritizing and managing an even tighter budget while still needing to invest in technology. Sometimes, we were just a shoulder to lean on and a sympathetic ear to vent to.

We answered everything from “Where’s the popcorn station?” to “Which providers can help me take my search marketing to a new level?” to “How do I figure out if I need to re-platform?”

Many online and multichannel retailers are indeed confused. They are overwhelmed by the decisions they need to make and the options in front of them. And, they are stressed by the urgency to stay profitable in this challenging economy.

We felt their pain.  The eCommerce industry is growing and morphing so quickly, it is hard to keep up.

One consumer electronics retailer who stopped in was trying to determine which point solutions would give them the biggest bang for the buck; how best to wisely invest his limited budget this year.  Everyone seems to be struggling with how to do more with less.

We also saw some folks who we saw at IRCE in Chicago a year ago.  It was great to see them again.  The problem was that they had yet to make any progress in making decisions for their webstore.  That is not because the right providers were not there for them to ask questions of and to get help from. The real reason was they had a bad case of ‘analysis paralysis’. Too much information and not enough knowledge.  While understandable, sometimes the worst decision is no decision.

All in all, it was a great show. The vendors we spoke to were really pleased with the turnout and felt that they had connected with some great potential clients.  And most of the retailers felt that they had a lot of good choices to consider.   Dazed and confused, yes.  But, in the end, satisfied.