The Ispo Shanghai show celebrated a relatively successful premiere on July 2-4, welcoming a total of nearly 19,000 visitors. The fair was bigger than originally planned, with 354 exhibitors offering 473 brands to retailers in the Asia-Pacific region in general and in China in particular.
Many visitors appreciated the variety of segments, which was by far less outdoor-oriented than at Ispo's older winter fair in Beijing, partly because of changing priorities in the market. The outdoor category is a major component of the overall sporting goods market in China, but its growth is slowing down, and retailers are looking for other types of products.
As described in the market research report that we put out earlier this year, there are still relatively few sporting goods retailers specializing in other categories such as running or fitness. On the other hand, the more developed outdoor retail sector has been quick to adopt categories like running to fill the gap.
In fact, the outdoor sector is not suffering as much from a slowdown in demand in China, as from an overkill of the offer. Thus, some industry executives are steering their thoughts in the direction of the broader sporting goods sector.
For example, Pacsafe, the American marketer of backpacks and other travel gear, said it had decided to show at Ispo Shanghai rather than at the upcoming Asia Outdoor fair in Nanjing later this month because outdoor/travel retailing is less developed in China than in North America and Europe. In China, there is more room for its products in corporate retail, shopping malls and department stores, requiring a broader approach to distribution to penetrate the Chinese market.
Many exhibitors also felt that the dates of Ispo Shanghai are better than those of Asia Outdoor because they are closer to those of their international sales meetings and because Shanghai is a bigger and better venue than Nanjing. However, Chinese businessmen are used to traveling widely.
The atmosphere was upbeat in the three halls of the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) - for various reasons. In part because of the highly professional set-up of the show, but also because of the noise produced by some of the exhibitors. The noisy animation kept some company officials from working the way they are used to in Salt Lake City, Munich and other relevant places when doing business at a trade show.
