How to Break Through Competitive Barriers at the Trade Show?

At the recently concluded second phase of the Canton Fair, the author learned an interesting rotation: the Canton Fair has become a "double-edged sword". The reason for the companies that put forward this argument is that in the age of underdeveloped information, exhibitions such as the Canton Fair allow companies to get in touch with the contact information of foreign buyers, which facilitates many transactions and shortens the trade chain. But now the role of matchmaking has already been completed, but it is easy for their competitors to contact overseas customers, posing a challenge to the existing exhibitors.

The author heard from another exhibitor when I attended an exhibition in Hong Kong. The exhibitor complained that U.S. customers in the past were “unthankful” — fussy on the one hand, and quick to turn around on the other. According to him, U.S. customers, after familiarizing themselves with the industry, turned away from the exhibitor who brought them in and hooked up with other lower-priced suppliers.

The industry this exhibitor is in is mobile phone repair. This industry itself is quite mature, and there are basically no technical barriers. In the case of the company's own weak innovation, domestic counterparts also felt the chill of the overall trade environment, and they also participated in the exhibition in a swarm, and fought a price war. As a result, there are more monks and less porridge, and the number of buyers who find them is also a logical result.

The statement of another exhibitor also confirmed the negative impact of insufficient innovation on enterprises from another aspect. She complained that the investment in participating in the exhibition every year is disproportionate to the number of orders received, which is not cost-effective for professional enterprises like them who have been doing it for more than ten years. However, although this exhibitor considers himself a professional manufacturer, judging from the products displayed on his booth, although the variety is complete, the innovation is not strong, and it lacks absolute advantages compared with similar products. As you can imagine.

There is still a way out under the double blow

According to the latest "2019 Trade and Development Report" released by the United Nations, the growth rate of global trade in 2019 will slow down by 0.8 percentage points to 2% . In this environment, it is difficult for China's foreign trade to be immune, and the growth rate is also showing a downward trend. Official data show that in the first three quarters of this year, the total value of China's foreign trade imports and exports increased by 2.8% year-on-year, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points from the first half of the year.

On the one hand, many export companies said that due to the impact of the trade war, the loss of US orders in traditional markets was serious, and they had to increase their efforts to develop emerging markets such as Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. In order to win orders, most companies have not dared to raise prices in the past two years, and some even cut prices in response. On the other hand, buyers have also become more cautious in placing orders, preferring to purchase in batches, and are afraid to take risks easily when the global trade situation is unstable.

Most companies participating in the exhibition have to face double blows from these two aspects, but one exhibitor saw an opportunity instead. He explained that because of the loosening of the original fixed channels due to the trade war, customers may need to find suppliers again due to the problem of insufficient cost or innovation. For export companies with technology, innovation, branding, and good market operation For companies, it is an opportunity. Statistics on China's foreign trade exports also proved his point. In the first three quarters of this year, the export of domestic self-owned brand goods increased by 12.9%. In addition, this year's Canton Fair press conference also claimed that "three-self and three-high" products (ie products with independent intellectual property rights, independent brands, independent marketing, high-tech content, high value-added, and high-efficiency products) are increasing.

The exhibitor further concluded that today's customers are looking for partners who can not only manufacture products, but also "create products". He himself summed up a set of effective innovative ideas, using "scenario thinking", starting from the scene, "using the scene to find technology, using technology to find products".

However, although it sounds simple, to make export enterprises change their thinking, only through the baptism of the market. Even if they know that independent innovation is the only way out in the future, there are still many companies that are unwilling to face it unless it is a last resort. In 2018, the company I work for once conducted a survey to ask exhibitors whether they plan or have begun to develop their own brands, but the first reaction of many interviewed companies was, "You won't only promote brand owners in the future, right? "I am worried that the exhibition will tilt resources to exhibitors with independent brands, which will be detrimental to myself, but ignore the importance of enhancing the added value of products and avoiding risks through independent brands and innovation under the shadow of the upcoming trade environment.

Information is no longer poor, and product uniqueness is the key

In fact, today, export companies have gradually transformed from single OEM OEM production to "ODM + independent brand" overseas The development model has changed from the initial production scale to the quality and appearance based on scale. In other words, the competition is about the attractiveness of the product to customers. At the Hong Kong Mobile Electronics Show in October, some exhibitors used wooden product casings as their selling points, and the novel appearance attracted the attention of many buyers. There are also buyers who start from the highly regarded pet market abroad, and design pet smart feeders for specific scenarios that facilitate the remote interaction of owners, which are very popular with overseas buyers. However, in the long run, such "micro-innovations" in appearance and model are still easy to be imitated by competitors, thus being dragged into the quagmire of price wars again after losing product uniqueness.

Import and export exhibitions such as the Canton Fair provide only a platform for exhibitors and visitors, and all parties can gain certain exposure opportunities. In the past, there was indeed a phenomenon of relying on poor information to allow export companies to easily obtain a large number of customers. But with the passage of time, similar companies compete more and more frequently in the same exhibition. If you can't have the unique value point of overpowering your peers, you will eventually face the bleak end mentioned at the beginning of this article. One exhibitor said bluntly that in order to survive, companies must be prepared for danger in times of peace. The most ideal way out is to cultivate new advantages in foreign trade competition by enhancing the technical gold content and innovating product design. If you can master certain technical patents, you will be in a more favorable position when your peers generally usher in a "cold winter".