BIG+BIH October 2010 Post Show Report
BIG +BIH; ASEAN’s Best and Trendiest Trade Fair for Gifts and Lifestyle Goods
BIG + BIH, one of ASEAN’s leading international trade fairs for trendy gifts and lifestyle products has been recognized as Thailand’s excellent platform for designers and new entrepreneurs to unveil their latest collections. The 30th BIG +BIH 2010 was held during 19-24 October, 2010 at BITEC Bangna, Bangkok, Thailand.
This duo fair is bi-annually organized by the Department of Export Promotion, Ministry of Commerce of the royal Thai government and supported by the Lifestyle Products Federation consisting of Thai Gift, Premiums & Decorative Association, Thai Toy Industry Association, Thai Houseware Trade Association, the Northern Handicrafts Manufactures and Exporters Association (NOHMEX), Thai Stationeries and Office Supplies Association, the Design & Objects Association and Home and Decorative Association.
BIG+BIH 2010 “Soul and Style of the Orient” Theme
This year’s theme “Soul and Style of the Orient” represents the uniqueness of product showcases at the fair and a mixture of the beauty of the East and the charm of the West.
Exhibitors
602 Thai and overseas companies with a total of 1,540 booths participated in this October fair.
Visitors
The overall number of visitors was over 80,000. Trade day visitors numbered 11,554 whereas public day visitors totaled 71,113.
During the trade days, the fair attracted 9,232 local visitors and 2,322 international visitors, a 23% increased compared to April 2010. The major overseas visitors were from Japan, the U.S., Malaysia, Singapore, the People Republic of China, India and much more.
Exhibits
A variety of products were displayed ranging from gifts, home decorative items, arts and handicrafts, artificial flowers and trees, beauty and spa products, household products, home textile products, toys to corporate premiums and stationery.
- Pure Pleasure: Gift/Handicrafts Decorative Items.
- Pure Earth: Artificial Flowers/Plants, Potpourri and Candles
- Fun & Favorites: Christmas Decorations, Toys and Gems and Stationery
- Life Styling: Home Textiles, Fabric Decorative Items
- Heart and Home: Household Products, Tableware and Kitchenware
- Comfort Zone: Bathroom Accessories, Cleaning Equipment, Small Electrical Appliances
Special Activities
Talent Thai: a showcase of products from 50 outstanding Thai designers, with a purpose to raise awareness of potential Thai designers on both a domestic and international scale and to provide business matching between potential Thai designers and manufacturers and exporters both local and overseas
Design Forum: Lifestyle Showcase: a display of 80-100 design items chosen from a large array of exhibitors that depict the latest trends in color schemes, materials, manufacturing technologies and designs
DEmark exhibition: a showcase of winning design pieces in the Design Excellence Award 2010 (DEmark) in order to raise awareness and to reflect the pride of the winners as a national product design inspiration
MOU signing ceremony for ASEAN Gifts Cooperation between Thai Gifts Premium and Decorative Association (TGP), Malaysian Gifts and Premium Entrepreneur Association (MGPA) and Singapore Gifts Association (SGA): The purpose of the MOU is to promote strategic alliances between the parties and to assist them in market expansion, products distribution and developing market knowledge and networks in ASEAN countries market.
Seminar on “Thai SMEs: Contribution to Thai SMEs for Strengthening Thai Economy”: the seminar focused on the benefits of FTAs and Thailand-Japan trade agreements on new market penetration, business environments in the AEC countries as well as study cases from successful business operators such as talad.com, Thann and much more.
Seminar on “Australian Homeware Market Trends” by Joanna Ross: the seminar provided the latest home ware market trends and outlooks in the eyes of Australian consumers and importers.
Feedback from Exhibitors
Mr. Somchai Thanapolkiat, CEO of Yothaka international Co., Ltd. was satisfied with the overall fair as many problems were solved and some improvements were made compared to the April fair and the past two years. However, the decreasing number of buyers was one of the major problems this year. Mr. Somchai suggested that solutions to this issue were targeting the right PR audience, screening potential buyers, trade facilitation, as well as product development.
Mr. Somchai stated that the BIG&BIH April 2011 was expected to provide prospect traders with ‘one-stop’ service by implementing proactive marketing strategies, developing fair management strategies and adding a wider rage of product to the fair. Impressed to know that more exhibitors from Asian countries would participate in the next year’s fair, he was yet worried about exhibitor screening. ‘A measure on goods and exhibitor selecting must be carried out to add variety to the fair, not to obstruct Thai entrepreneur’s chance’ said Mr. Somchai.
In addition, the company first received purchase orders from two giants in the U.S. department stores industry, Pier One and Michael’s Store. ‘It must have been almost impossible for us to meet them if we had not been in BIG&BIH this year’ she praised. Apart from the U.S.-based buyers, the company traded with other buyers from Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, India and the Middle East countries.
Ms. Pathtreeya further suggested that fresh design and new product features together with premium quality mainly helped attract buyers and thus lied behind the company’s success. In addition to these factors, in-booth space organization coupled with impressive decoration resulted in the success of business negotiation as well. A private area should be set and reserved for business activities and trade negotiation. Continuing product development was also important to Thai business operators, especially to SMEs perceiving products as their main concern. Over the recent years, the department of export promotion has been supporting the local entrepreneurs to achieve the business success by arranging in-house trainings to give them the essential knowledge on current design and color trends.
