Footwear companies or bid farewell to the "support role" dilemma

The four-day 2014 China International Sporting Goods Expo (hereinafter referred to as "Expo") has recently come to a close in Wuhan. Although the number of exhibitors and exhibition areas of the current body expo was a record high, except for Anta and Adidas, other leading sportswear companies, including Li Ning and Nike, were absent, which surprised many people. .

Perhaps this information is of interest to local sporting goods companies: In 2015, the Expo will be held in Fuzhou. This will also be the case after 1998, the Body Expo will return to Fujian Province again after 17 years.

Big-name vacant shoes clothing adult body supporting role

According to the plan, the A1 pavilion of this fair will be a sporting apparel area. In the past, the area was almost the place where the leading companies got together: The world-famous Nike, Adidas, domestic leading Anta, Li Ning, 361, etc. almost all of them will attract various kinds of activities through this event in the region. Audience. However, in stark contrast to this, in this exhibition hall of the current body expo, except for Anta, several major leading companies have not been found.

Not only that, there are only a handful of traditional shoe and clothing companies that can be found in all 12 pavilions of the fair. In stark contrast to this, equipment and fitness equipment products occupy a large body in this session of the Expo.

"Actually, this is a natural law." Peng Xiao, deputy director of the Sports Equipment and Equipment Center of the State Sports General Administration and deputy director of the China Sporting Goods Federation, said in an interview during the Expo. According to Peng Xiao, the body's biggest function at the beginning of the fair was twofold: one was to promote its own brand, and the other was to establish sales channels. At that time, trade visitors would discuss with companies about agency and cooperation after discovering the right brand. However, the current domestic and foreign sportswear and footwear enterprises have correspondingly large-scale distribution channels. There are ordering sessions almost every quarter, and sales outlets throughout the country have also covered thousands of stores. Therefore, in the case of propaganda and channels that are already mature, the proportion of shoe and clothing companies at the Expo is gradually shrinking, and the lack of first-line brands is also reasonable.

Compared with the traditional shoe and clothing enterprises, the first-line brands of bicycles and outdoor sports are absent for another reason. As a professional and strong sport, bicycle and outdoor sports companies need the attention of their professional counterparts, as opposed to the body exposition. The comprehensive exhibitions, professional bicycle exhibitions such as the China International Bicycle Exhibition, and professional outdoor exhibitions such as the Asian International Sportswear and Sports Fashion Expo (ISPO) can become the focus of these enterprises.

This view has also been recognized by many people in the industry. The reporter was informed that taking Anta as an example, Anta currently only participates in two large-scale exhibitions each year across the country: the Body Expo and the China (Jinjiang) International Footwear Fair. At the same time, Anta also displayed its brand image at both exhibitions.

Although shoes and apparel enterprises have become "supportive actors" at this year's Expo, this does not mean that the sports footwear industry has been depressed. On the contrary, after more than two years of continuous adjustment, the big brothers are still very optimistic about the future of the industry.

At the 2014 China Sporting Goods Industry Summit Forum on the theme of "Innovation and Opening the Future" held on May 8, Anta's board of directors and CEO Ding Shizhong believed that the development of China's sports industry has only just begun, and the development space is huge. The sporting goods industry will usher in a "golden new decade."

Supporting this view of Ding Shizhong is the great potential of the Chinese sporting goods industry. The data shows that China's current sports industry accounts for only about 0.5% of GDP, while the United States has reached 4%. Take sports shoes simply, Chinese people are less than 0.5 pairs, while the United States has reached 4 pairs. Coupled with the rapid development of China's economy, rising national income, and sports are more and more people concerned about and love, this series of factors, will bring great opportunities for the Chinese sportswear industry.

Moved to Fuzhou shoes and apparel companies to participate in or pick up

The situation in which a shoe and clothing company becomes a supporting role may change at the 2015 Expo, and one of the most important reasons is that the 2015 Expo will be held in Fuzhou.

Peng Xiao said that since many domestic sporting goods companies are headquartered in Fuzhou, he expects the participation of Fujian enterprises that will be opened on May 8, next year will exceed the previous level.

“We hope that each new exhibition will be better than the previous one, and the exhibition team will spend a long time after the show to conduct research and analysis so as to continuously improve the quality of service and level of the exhibition. But we will not blindly We are pursuing the unlimited expansion of the scale of the exhibition, but we hope to make the exhibition more professional and service content more abundant and more thoughtful, so that our exhibitors and trade visitors, the media to the exhibition can feel more comfortable and more convenient. Many sporting goods companies can expect the 2015 Expo to be more enthusiastically successful than any previous session. Peng Xiao said in an interview with this reporter.

Whether it is held in Wuhan this year or held in Fuzhou next year, this has changed the law of the body expo that has lasted for more than ten years: Since 2001, the body expo has been held in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. . In particular, the Body Expo that began in 2006 was held only in Beijing and Chengdu. This situation has also been criticized by the industry.

“Since the establishment of several physical fairs in the early days of the event, the venues were different and more areas could be radiated; in recent years, they were basically held only in Beijing and Chengdu. The customer resources for the development were similar, and they continued to participate in the Expo. The significance of this is not much." As a frequent visitor to the Expo, Zhang Jiameng, general manager of Fujian Xipandeng Sports Goods Co., Ltd., has a very representative view. After consecutively participating in several body expo sessions, at the Beijing Body Expo last year, hi climbed and no longer participated.

However, Zhang Jiameng also estimated that, with the return of the Expo to the country around the country, the participation of shoe and clothing companies will undoubtedly increase their enthusiasm. "No longer bad, at the same time as participating in the exhibition, companies can also radiate the local surrounding markets through the body fairs held in various places, killing two birds with one stone," said Zhang Jiameng.