SPINEXPO^TM Shanghai was held at the World Expo Convention & Exhibition Center on 1-2-3 September 2020, after the Centre had cancelled the previous session, and with the uncertainty that the exhibition would actually take place until it was set up.

It was held without the presence of the organising team, who were unable to come to China due to Covid-19, but with the support of the Chinese team who took up the challenge with verve and professionalism, something we would like to highlight and thank them for.

SPINEXPO^TM will have been the only exhibition specialising in spinning and knitting in 2020, both in China and elsewhere in the world, and we consider ourselves fortunate to have been able to organise it, even though the conditions were not ideal. Foreign brands from other countries and regions in Asia such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong were not present, nor were brands from Europe, the United States and other countries outside China. To remedy this situation, which we had anticipated, we adopted two working methods. On the one hand, our team based in China was able to contact all the representative offices of the brands that normally visit the exhibition, thanks to our database which we have been building up for over 20 years; on the other hand, we are organising two post-exhibition showrooms in Paris (France) and Hong Kong, where exhibitors with agents in Europe or Hong Kong have the chance to present their collections to buyers who all wish to have the opportunity to see the real products as well as the colour and product trends of the season.    

If the first initiative proved to be successful, given that 80% of those foreign company representatives contacted came to the exhibition, we have encountered difficulties in the show-room management, being forced to postpone Hong Kong, which will not take place until the end of September 2020, and with a restricted initiative for Paris in mid-September, due to the quarantine set up to fight against Covid-19 in Europe. We have maintained these two initiatives because we believe it is still important to maintain the link with buyers, many of whom are frustrated with not having access to direct information and are not completely satisfied with virtual presentations. We insist on covering the costs of these initiatives, the results of which remain uncertain.

Despite this situation, the reactions of the exhibitors were generally positive. All of them were expecting not to welcome the usual foreign brands, but turned to the domestic market and its potential, as well as to e-commerce buyers. Many took advantage of the exhibition to review their business strategy for the post-Covid period, and companies that had established their export customer network well with the right offices or agents were able to continue communicating with their customers through the foreign offices based in China. In this complicated period, it is important to focus your strategy on service, product availability and fast delivery, not to mention research and development, because while customers are more conservative in terms of quantity, they are not so conservative in their search for new value-added products.

On the other hand, many knitwear manufacturers are in a more complex situation, because of the cancellations they have had to face, or the reduction in quantities ordered. Those who offer a "one stop service" from raw materials to finished products have kept their customers stable, while others need to reconsider their strategy and understand more deeply the new demands of their industry.

As for the Chinese brands, who praised the holding of the exhibition and discovered trends and new products with enthusiasm, the criticism was the lack of new products, which were undoubtedly difficult to develop during a complicated year. Their demand is moving towards safe products, consistent quality, impeccable service and compliance with certifications, which are increasingly questioned by their customers. All of them emphasise the difficulty of working on yarns and knitwear with digital methods, which make it difficult to grasp the quality and originality of the product. Many of these buyers, used to buying from foreign spinners, have taken advantage of the complexity of the moment to discover new suppliers and products in their domestic market. Many, however, point out the difficulty of verifying the certificates of eco-responsible products and certain recycled products.

In terms of exhibition organisation, we have continued to invest considerably in trends and product development, and have also created a new website www.spinexplore.com, which provides live, free-of-charge access to all information on developments, colour trends and exhibitors' products.

We have used the fact that part of our team is off and the new provisions on entry to the exhibition imposed by the Shanghai Municipality as an opportunity to reinforce our control and eliminate "visitors" who are - in fact - suppliers or walkers, or even competing exhibitions. This initiative is not understood by all exhibitors, but we intend to persist in this direction and offer those exhibitors who are loyal to us and who understand our approach a targeted working platform, based on our marketing and not on the number of visitors.

We will study the results of the three SPINEPXO^TM presentations in Shanghai, Paris and Hong Kong with a more in-depth analysis and will get back to you shortly to determine how to plan the next sessions. We still consider digital presentations to be unsatisfactory - although interesting - and consider it increasingly important to connect with our clients, even if this approach needs to evolve.