The rage for trade shows have grown by leaps and bounds at present and meeting up with the expectations of the exhibitors and visitors have become an important arena for the show organisers and they are constantly prepping up to offer the best and the better with every show. It is the one place where buyers, agents, exhibitors and suppliers can meet up, see products as they are meant to be displayed and gather information to make an informed buying decision. Every participating brands struggle to get the full sets of samples that every agent or representative from the visitors side will need to see when they visit the exhibition. The costs of producing all these garments is very high and often the return for the investment is not fully appreciated. Attending the shows means that you will see the whole collection rather than the odd piece here and there. But still the enthusiasm for participation and the organisers capabilities to explore more and present an ensemble exhibition is unstoppable and superbly positive. But what about the brands in question? To shut business for a few days and completely pay attention to the fairs to bring up the collection and hard work for the visitors of the exhibition to have a look at, does that sound a profitable idea? Is there any viability or promiscuity that brings the brands closer to business at the trade shows? What do the exhibitors gain out of a successful exhibition? Let’s hear it from them to gauge is it really a good idea to organise and participate in a trade show meant for the Intimate apparel industry.
VIVEK NAGDA Proprietor Bright Line Loungewear
Vivek Nagda (Age 23) have done his masters in Apparel Production and textile designing. His young perception and youthful optimistic approach to life helped him conceptualise and give shape to his own brand Bright Line. He is the owner of brand Bright line, which is under the bigger umbrella of his firm V-Raj creation. He eyes business with a clarity and watches closely on the developments happening within the lingerie industry on a day to day basis. He follows up on the changes and have been into this business since the last
3 years with a focus and aim to expand his brand on the pan India base and provide best quality fashionable product to their customers. He is ready to take the brand higher in the years to come and eventually wishes to become one of the leading nightwear brand in future.
Exhibiting at a trade show can be a great way to advertise to a target market and create brand awareness. That is one side of the focused trade shows that are solely organised to fit in the lingerie industry. But then there are exhibitions that are open to a large and sometimes diverse range of audiences, this provides a Brand with a platform to promote its product or service to a broader group which on the other hand might mean that visitors to these exhibitions may have little or no knowledge of your products and services. Since we all exist within a niche zone as compared to our product, thus it is also important to attract the right crowd. perhaps that helps fit the perfect parts in the jigsaw puzzle.
Being involved in a trade show or exhibition can provide us with opportunities to branch out to business-to-business trading and helps us create a customer database from the visitors visiting our display booth. Where else can you meet such a huge audience for your brand and thereby connect to them on one shot too! According to me there are hardly any disadvantage of participating in a trade show and it there should be more groups and organisers to organise industry specific trade shows on a regular basis. This will not only help us with our business but will also give us a scope to understand where all we are lagging and can improve on, owing to positive criticism and exhibiting next to competitors.
SANJAY MANOCHA
CEO & Director Lace-n-Lingerie
A young entrepreneur, Mr. Sanjay Manocha decided to foray in the field of communication, that too in the field of intimates about which very little was known to the outside world. Not only did he launch the Magazine : Lace-n-Lingerie, but went on to do trade fairs and buyers sellers meet in this niche category and later in 2006 also launched India first Hindi monthly B2B magazine on Intimates.
Lace-n-Lingerie has acquired a cult status in the lingerie Industry and has helped many raw material suppliers get stakes in this industry. Twenty years hence, this entrepreneur has turned his focus on the Accessories and services sector of the Garmenting industry and has come up with a new magazine solely focused on the sourcing segment of the apparel value chain-Creative Source. Being associated with the industry for decades now and successfully organizing exclusive trade events and fairs for the industry, he shares his views on this arena.
Lingerie Trade Shows are a must for every brand that is looking for market expansion and market longevity. We have been organising trade shows in Lingerie for the last 18 years non stop and we have seen several brands grow their business multi-fold by participation in these trade fairs. It is the platform that matters because the trade fairs are like institutions where brands graduate and become players in the market.
Hadn’t it been for the trade shows, none of the brands would have got a platform to showcase their talent in design and marketing. A Lot of brands use the trade platforms quite strategically and have positioned themselves as premium or mid premium brands by occupying certain vantage position in the Trade Fair.
A B2B Trade Fair is basically a show of strength to the trade and to show that the brand has arrived in terms of visibility and performance. It also gives the trade constituents to interact with one another, gain by networking, size up your competition and even look at the competitors products or services. All in all it is how you play in the market determines your brand salience and Trade Fairs are the most important tools.
HARSH SARAF
Brand Head, Supersox, Super Knit Industries
Harsh Saraf dedicated time for learning the ropes of his family business at Super Knit Industries while pursuing management studies from Jai Hind College, Mumbai. He realized the potential of the Indian market and spearheaded the launch of Supersox a vibrant socks brand for men, women and children of all ages in India. His vision is to popularize Supersox and take on a larger chunk of the market share of socks in India. When he is not busy working and strategizing for the growth of the brand he enjoys a game of football or poker to unwind.
Yes, trade fairs are surely very useful. But the average cost of participation and being a part of the fair is very costly. Some trade fairs allow you to sell or take confirmed orders during the event, so the costs are recovered instantly and we are able to immediately determine if the tradeshow was a success or not. Some trade fairs just give you a chance to meet and connect with buyers or customers and we cannot determine the success of the fair, since customers can materialize even after 1 -2 years of meeting them at the fair and there is no confirmation on spot.
If this is the case and we are only able to connect to our potential market and TG, then the next year our suppliers/brands are not sure if it was a successful participation or not so we do not know if we should participate again or not. Sometimes you need to participate at the same fair for many years in a row to create goodwill with customers, who see you over the years and then gain confidence about the supplier/brand.
Tradeshows require a lot of pre-planning and post show follow up with potential customers, which is of course very time consuming. Many customers are not genuine: we develop samples, spend time, money and effort with customers that are not actually looking to place any orders. Therefore fewer footfalls that are genuine are better even for the large format trade shows, so we suppliers or brands can concentrate on the right customers with 100% resources. The tradeshow organizers can achieve this by charging an entry fee, filtering the crowds through a pre-registration process or by having a ‘by invite only’ format. There are too many trade shows all over the world, so it is important to identify which ones are the good ones and only participate in those.
Thus, the Pros: Meet and introduce your company to many customers over a short span of time & Cons: Buyers market – as the trade shows are very large and all the suppliers offer similar products, so the buyers who are interested to buy also get confused or keep pitting you against the competitors and try to squeeze for margins etc. Also it has become a necessity; since all your competitors are participating, so you’ve got to too, otherwise you lose out in the long run.
On the whole it is still a very good platform to meet buyers quickly and introduce your product/brand/company. Just make sure to pick the right ones!
DILIP PATEL
Chairman, Omtex healthwear pvt ltd
With more than 35 years of experience and hands on exposure of the industry Dilip Patel has been pioneering innovation and have been closely looking at the everyday working of brand Omtex, taking the brand to newer heights with every turn of every year. Known as a Pillar of omtex his commitment to quality, customer service and production innovation has made Swee an industry leader. His goal is to treat people with friendly respect that has continued to build a satisfied customer base. Tuned into the pulse of the textile industry through his extensive experience and dealings with leading players, he brings substantial solidity and evident excellence through decades of experience in Manufacturing has made him pioneer in the industry. Omtex founded in 1969 with a mission to produce health wear & accessories of quality standards matching those of the best in the world. Starting with jockstraps & body supporters, the company expanded its product range to include an array of sportswear and accessories. Omtex sportswear is one of the leading cricket wear manufacturer and supplier in India. Omtex has now introduced women’s shapewear under the brand name “SWEE”. Swee is an instant slimming solution for women, a fabulous body shaper that is SEAMLESS.
Tradeshows always give us a concrete platform to showcase products. These fairs are those coveted arenas which kind of bridges the gaps and helps us understand what is the market scenario. From giving us a chance to focus on the trends to bring in our innovation and products to the forefront we also get to see what’s trending in the market.
Meeting other retailers and vendors who you can lean on, learn from and possibly gain business from that you would not have had the chance to meet otherwise had you not attended that trade show becomes an easy task when you participate in the fairs.
Another important facet that makes its way as a concrete benefit in terms of trade shows is that every brand gets to choose this platform and thereby become educated on the industry front, so that we can better support our clients in the long run. We also get to explore and learn what our competition is up to without having to go to great lengths since their business information gets easily accessible. This trade fair ground works like a analysing platform too wherein we can ask ourselves and speculate to understand how do we do as compared to our competition and thereby evaluate our strengths and weaknesses to best support our business.
