Here is a brief video of me at the 2011 Canton Fair, located in Guangzhou, China.
This is a massive show with so many things – too many things! It is not a specialty show and I treat it as the fourth or fifth show I’d attend in the flooring industry. The two Domotex shows in Germany and China along with Surfaces in Vegas are far superior for flooring industry.
Guangzhou is not an easy place to navigate, especially during show time. A first-time visitor needs to be prepared. I would not suggest going there if it’s your first trip to China unless you have experienced people with you; just my opinion. It is expensive and sooooooo busy. Stories of waiting an hour for a taxi, and still not getting one, are common. You need to be well organized or be willing to pay huge amounts for hotel accommodation to stay within walking distance of the Fair.
The main difference from this show to others is this is focused on volume. Most booths are very small, and you’ll get far more from a website then you will going to most of these booths.
At Surfaces or Domotex you can see new products, note trends and meet some key people. At Canton Fair you rarely see the key decision-makers in or around the booths, and little is shown in the way of new trends or product offering (the booths are really small). The show has a gadget feel to me.
The flip side is that there is a large volume of companies present and if your goal is to gather hundreds of business cards then this is a good place to start. There are always gems out there, so you could get lucky. But it can be exhausting finding them.
For a company like mine, we tend to use the show for non-flooring related items as you can see so many categories; lighting, siding, decking, kitchen & bath, tools, etc. We have a set agenda on what we want to see and who we need to meet, so it is mostly organized in advance.
If the global economy is economically in the tank, you wouldn’t know it from this show. Thousands and thousands of people are steaming in and out every day. I found this year definitely busier than last year.
As with all shows you plan to attend, have a plan in advance and pre-set meetings beforehand with key decision makers. If that is not your focus, I will leave you with this thought: of all the shows I have ever attended, if someone told me they have absolutely no idea what they want to do or looking for a new business idea and they feel the ‘need to buy from China’, then this is a great show for you. It has gadgets galore.
Remember, many of the booths are agents (not factories) and are companies focusing on that type of buyer. So, keep your wits about you and make good business decisions … and have some fun!
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It could have been a bit more interesting if you staged hardwood floors designs during the fair.
This year is the 111th Canton Fair, we´re so glad to be part of this event for the first time. We´ll be participating with our household electrical appliances http://www.haceb.com