Hong Kong Trade Show Blog Series – Sharing exhibitors experience

If you are interested in trade and want to know what is going on in the market, trade fairs are definitely a place for you to gain a lot of insights.
As an international commercial center, Hong Kong is a microcosm of global trade. It is where many well-known trade fairs are held, such as Global Source’s China Sourcing Fair and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council Exhibition, which act as a platform to link suppliers and buyers.
Exhibitors’ target: Find more buyers – get more orders
At the trade fairs, most exhibitors are expected to expose their products to new clients and gain more orders from buyers, increasing their B2B sales volume and revenue.
“It’s the first time I am participating in this trade fair and I am piloting the effect of it,” said Mohd Shahnwaz, marketing manager of Creative International Exports.
The supplier from India manufactures bells, handmade Christmas hearts and wind chimes.
“I target to find 25-30 buyers and have 15 orders from those buyers,” he said. “Our company’s sales target for this year is to increase by 20 percent in revenue, compared to last year. We try to reach the target by expanding our presence in international trade shows.”

Yiwu Styler Cultural and Creative, a Halloween wig and eyelash manufacturer from mainland China, has been participating in the Hong Kong China Sourcing Fair since 2012.
“Our company has found around 20 buyers through the fairs over the past three years,” said Ivy Ji, sales supervisor of Yiwu Styler Cutural and Creative. “We continue to join this fair to find more buyers and orders with the sales target for this year of 20 percent increase, compared to the last year.”
Trends- products and colors

“For wigs, I think the color trend this year is the basic colors like black, brown and red,” Ji from Yiwu Styler said.
“For bottle cooler and ice pack items, the product trend is hot and cold outdoor use,” said Emily from Yishun.
“For metal key chain and phone case, normally, we base on Pantone colors to design the colors for our products,” said May Xiao, Sales Executive for Dongguan Boxiang Plastic Products.
“For Christmas hearts, I think the product trend will be hand-painted items with intricate details,” said Ammar from Creative International Exports Company. “European and American buyers prefer hand-made items with unique designs.”
“For men’s footwear formal shoes, brogue shoe with gimping and punching design is in the trend nowadays,” said Kenneth Ngai from Dome International Footwear Limited.
For fashion accessories from India, scarves and stoles along with metallic jewelry is seen as in-demand from the buyers.

Understanding exhibitors’ needs by getting in their shoes
Suppliers attending the China Sourcing Fair at Asia World Expo expect more buyers throughout the exposition as they prepare the best for this year’s fashion accessories, home decor and home products show.
Jun Xing Knitting Commodity Co. Ltd., a supplier of mosquito compelling net, has displayed a variety of their colorful mosquito nets.
They expect to get more buyers compared to last year and said, “Hope the sales would be great. Not many buyers are coming as yet,” said the responsible person from the company on the first day of the exposition. The company has decorated their products similarly to last year and expect to have a minimum order quantity of 500 pieces.
A company that produces lanterns, Ningbo Xuanheng Import and Export Co. Ltd. was eager to get more buyers by the end of the exposition. With orders of about 1,000 pieces, the company expects more orders will come from Western countries.
“We hope that the exposition is near to the city and I think the buyers are not very active this time,” said the staff stationed at the booth.
They expect more buyers would inquire in the coming days. The company also expected to get more inquiries and orders in the days to come.

Hinrich Foundation Export Consultant Juliet with the supervisor of Ningbo Xuanheng Import & Export Co. Ltd. discussing exhibitor’s observations.
Aroma Trade produces decorated products like fake waterfalls of different sizes. With a minimum order quantity of about 500 and a price as cheap as $2.5, they also expect to get sales similar to last year.
In the End
According to the China Sourcing Fair Management Office, there were 1,390 total booths in the China Sourcing Fair from April 27-30, 70 percent representing companies from Mainland China, with the remaining hailing from other Asian countries including the Philippines, India, Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand.
Several companies come to the show for the sake of keeping ties fresh with familiar buyers or existing buyers. They may already be at full-capacity with orders but want to keep their buyer exposure consistent, reminding them that “I am still here, everything is still good.”
“We have been participating in the China Sourcing Fairs for the past decade and are able to get orders in every season,” said Mahadevan.P, CEO of Travancore Cocotuft Ltd. from India. “It’s a good platform to meet new clients and to show our new developments to all the buyers who we are dealing with for years”.
One thing is very clear (as observed from the exhibitors interviewed); that to attract buyers’ attention, you have to work hard. You cannot just take part in the fair and automatically get orders. One really needs to have a sense of product trends, should offer new and exclusive ranges of products and take advantage of booth display as a vital method in attracting buyers’ attention. Last, but most importantly, exhibitors should always be proactive when trying to bring in buyers.
About the Author – Sunil Bishnoi
About the Author – Ly Ha Nguyen
About the Author – Juliet Shwe Gaung
About the Author – Mai Nguyen