Champagne Fairs

The Champagne fairs are an early version of the scheduled marketplace, where buyers and sellers met at known times and places and settled trades on credit. Northern cloth was exchanged for Mediterranean goods such as spices and dyes at two fairs each in Provins and Troyes and one each in Lagny and Bar-sur-Aube, each lasting about six weeks. Merchants used letters promising payment at a later fair, an early form of trade credit. Trade shows, wholesale marketplaces, and payment terms such as net 30 carry the same functions into modern B2B commerce.

• B2B FulfillmentFulfilling orders for retailers and wholesalers
• Purchase OrderPOA buyer's order document to a supplier
• Cash Conversion CycleCCCDays from paying suppliers to getting paid

• Silk Road2nd century BCE to 15th century · Overland trade routes link China with the Mediterranean
• Trans-Saharan Trade8th to 16th century · Camel caravans carry salt south and gold north
• Hanseatic League1356–1669 · German towns dominate Baltic and North Sea trade

1. Champagne britannica.com
2. Champagne fairs en.wikipedia.org
3. Provins, Town of Medieval Fairs whc.unesco.org