How are fairs working in China after the pandemic? Or should we say “are fairs working”? Here is a report from one of China’s largest design fairs taking place in Shanghai.
Designfair Interior Lifestyle takes place once per year. This year brought around 200 brands and I heard someone mention that the fair was visited by around 5 000 people.
I will start off by saying that I like this fair and I think it have potential to grow. Let’s dig deeper into this project.
The fair takes place in one of the most impressive places I have been to. A beautiful hall in the center of the city. The place might not look overcrowded but there were people constantly coming and going. And by the look of the crowd, the did really look like proper shopowners.
China and Shanghai is very different from a chain driven country like Sweden. In my home country there are a few major players and some few indepentend shopowners. In Shanghai it is the opposite. I started talking to a visitor who came to hear my keynote on “Future of Retail”. He had two shops in Shanghai and 20 all over China. For a small (!) player like this the fair is important. He doesn’t have time to go to Paris or Frankfurt. This is his place to find new things for his shops all over China.
There are of course moe fairs than this in China. You have the design week in Shanghai and you can read slightly more about it here. Perhaps something at Hing Kong (not sure if it is still running) and of course large sourcing fairs like the huge one in Guangzhou and you can see more here. The latter is of course more focused on production and not brands.
So, as small as it might sound with 200 exhibitors and 5 000 visitors, this is one of the largest in China. Especially for international brands.
Speaking of international brands. The exhibitors here are mainly agents and distributors. Serax is here. Paddywax too. Guzzini, Arabia, etc, etc. A fair amount of my Swedish friends from Klippan, Hinza, Transparend Speaker, Rörstrand, Kockums, etc, etc
I got to talk to one of the exhibitors and he was mildly optimistic. Not too enthusiastic. And he said the fair used to have stronger brands like Meissen etc.
Small, but good. I like the fair. It should be a great opportunity for Chinese buyers to get in contact with brands from oversea.
Besides mentioned European brands you also find local versions. More craft and jewellry.
But! The strangest and therefore most innovative thing was that the fair had invited perhaps 20 local influencers. In a typical forced QVC (tv shop) manor they talk about and promote pieces they find on stands. Enormously interesting. Great opportunity to reach out.
It was not about these people curating or selecting. No, they were selling these obects hard core.
A team would normally consist of two people. One infront of the camera and one behind also catching up questions from the viewers like “what is the red thing in the background? Can you show and explain?”
I am nor sure if they actually sold things… But it had a string commercial feeling. Sell, sell, sell.
Sometimes these influencers were filming on the grounds and sometimes at their own stands.
Just fun and new.
OK. Some snapshots from the grounds now.
Scandinavian design is big in Shanghai and I saw plenty of my Swedish freinds. Here from Kockums.
Transparent speaker.
Klippan
Rörstrand
Of course a bit of Russian design…
And Japanese.
And bamboo work from Taiwan.
But of course also a lot of Chinese design as below.
Me and Ellery who took care of me. I was at the fair officially to do two talks about “Future of Retail”. It was busy and the crowd eager to hear about retail from overseas. For a fair like this it is important to have a speaker’s programme or Academy to educate, inspire and help people in the industry find new ideas. I hope I could be of service.
So, in conclusion. Interior Lifestyle. Pretty small, but still one of the largest in China in it’s field. Atmosphere was good but of course everyone wants MORE people to come. But it felt like a good audience. A lot of people were saying “oh, it’s small because we are just out of the pandemic”. And one mustn’t forget that this is teh SECOND fair after China opened up. I am sure this will grow. Double the size next year??????
I give this a firm 3 out of 5. With a potential to grow, of course.