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Tag: UBM

  • Cool Kids Fashion featuring 70 brands

    Cool Kids Fashion featuring 70 brands

    Today’s Chinese kids are increasingly being dressed to a fashion.

    “The demand for the children’s wear in China has shifted from fulfilling basic needs to pursuing fashion and style,” says marketing director Aber of Shenzhen Perseus Brand Management, an exhibitor at Cool Kids Fashion Shanghai this week.

    “Nowadays, Chinese kids want to look ‘cool’ and ‘chic’, so we have incorporated these elements into our products.”

    Differentiation by style, branding and marketing has become more important as demand rises, says Kidswant Children Products product centre director Pinky Lu. “Low prices are no longer effective in securing market share; conversely, the ability to suit personal taste differences is becoming more important.”

    More than 70 global fashion brands will be showcasing their latest product at the third edition of Cool Kids Fashion Shanghai, being held concurrently with CBME China from July 20 to 22.

    Fierce competition

    With fierce competition in the children’s fashion market in China, brands are constantly pushing out new products, says Baodaxiang Shopping for Kids Group procurement manager Yanjing Wang. “The new generation of consumers is more interested in style, brands and value for money.”

    Among the brands at Cool Kids Fashion will be B. Duck (Hong Kong), CCILU (Japan), Cocolico (France), Lab by Baby (Korea), Metro Kids Company (Portugal), Mim-Pi (Netherlands), Overkids (Italy), RIA (Spain), Shadez (Switzerland) and Tip Toey Joey (Brazil). The event will bring together distributors, department stores and property developers, franchisees and fashion buyers.

    There will also be events highlighting trends, creativity, innovation and talent.

    Trend forum speakers include WGSN creative director Zhang Yiling and H&M visual merchandising manager Raj.

    Twenty shortlisted aspiring designers out of 1035 contestants will have their designs and creations displayed at the Kids Design Contest Gallery, followed by a runway showcase.

    Brands featuring in the fashion shows include Angel’s Face (UK), BabyBol (Spain), Blaa (Finland), Maya (US), PennyScallan (Australia) and Teddy Doctor (China).

    Meanwhile, CBME China will showcase baby, child and maternity products. The two shows will cover 223,305 sqm, featuring 3673 brands from 2366 suppliers, at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) in Shanghai.

    Design is one of the most important factors when parents buy children’s clothing, according to the UBM China Baby Products Market Consumer Research Report 2015.

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  • Alibaba and UBM to create O2O trade buying experience

    Alibaba and UBM to create O2O trade buying experience

    Alibaba’s B2B business unit, including Alibaba.com and 1688.com, has teamed with trade exhibition organiser UBM Plc to “unite the online and offline trade buying experience” initially in Asia.

    The two companies have begun exploring opportunities to link the B2B online and face-to-face trading worlds by leveraging their combined strengths, technologies and relationships. The alliance will begin with pilot programs introducing Alibaba B2B business unit’s online secure transactional platforms and business portals for companies participating in select UBM Asia trade fairs.

    Cross promotional marketing, match-making services and audience development of the two company’s brands and networks will be another key aspect in working towards the longer term goal of creating the next generation of on and offline trade experiences.

    Sophie Wu, president of the Alibaba B2B business unit, says collaborating with UBM will offer small and medium-sized enterprises a multichannel B2B trading experience.

    “They can also tap into the abundant and combined expertise of the two industry pioneers for more worldwide trading opportunities.”

    Tim Cobbold, CEO of UBM  says a fundamental element of his company’s ‘Events First’ strategy is its commitment to innovate and to deliver value for customers.

    “We are excited at the opportunity to partner with Alibaba.com, to create the next generation of trade buying experience.”

    Pilot programs for the joint collaboration will begin with UBM Asia’s Malaysia International Furniture Fair (MIFF) to be held on 1-5 March 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Finefood Shanghai – part of Hotelex Shanghai – to be held 29 March to 1 April 2016 in Shanghai, China; and the co-located Materials Manufacturing & Technology (MM&T) and Fashion Access (FA) fairs to be held 30 March to 1 April 2016 in Hong Kong.

    The collaboration will commence with promotions of the UBM fairs to both parties’ respective trade audiences and Alibaba will begin offering their Trade Assurance service onsite to select exhibitors.

    Alibaba’s Trade Assurance service allows participating suppliers to offer guarantees on order quality standards and on-time shipment.

    Further pilots in the second half of 2016 will include additional business match-making components for other UBM Asia events such as Shanghai International Children Baby Maternity Industry Expo (CBME China) and Sign & LED China fairs.

    James Dong, head of B2B strategy, investment, business development and business intelligence of Alibaba.com, says the eCommerce giant sees great added values for global business traders through the collaboration.

    “Alibaba’s online trading resources and technology complements with the interaction and dialogues in the offline UBM trade shows. Such an alliance not only makes trading more cost-effective but enables higher level of trust between global buyers and sellers,” he said.

    James Dong of Alibaba, left, and Jime Essink of UBM Asia announcing the new partnership.

    Jime Essink, president and CEO of UBM Asia Ltd, says one of the challenges of the trade exhibition industry is continuing the buyer and seller dialogue and experience throughout the year.

    “Meanwhile, the limitation of a pure online trading world is the absence of the physical interaction and development of the personal relationship. With Alibaba and UBM Asia – both prominent players in our respective fields of B2B trade – working together, we see opportunities to change how online and offline trade takes place, providing improved returns and efficiencies for our customers.”