Recently, I surveyed another "expo" at the MVEC (Mid Valley Exhibition Centre). For this round, it was the Indian Global Shopping Festival, which has MATRADE support (in other words, governmental financial support & subsidy). All three halls were taken, and in the Atrium, a make-shift platform constructed, with rows of chairs laid for the audience for this very purpose.
It showcased many of the participants who came direct from
- knitwear
- bangles & accessories
- indian male & females wear (Punjabi suits, sandals, etc).
- idol structures, and worship equipment
- indian sweets
- a local merchant retailing the premium Indian skincare products- Shahnaz Herbals
- loads of local merchants selling kacang puteh,
- among many, a Jesal Sweet House selling Indian sweets (that I had bought some milk sweets- RM6 for 200gm).
- Wedding & photography package service providers by local merchants: Indian sales personnel dressed up in indian formal wear to target the Indian crowd. There was surprisingly even a chinese provider- with chinese models in their albums…!
- Bizzy Body, a local lifestyle & beauty service provider.
- Henna tattooing services
- Chiill Reflexollogy- a local body message services.
- Grolier- educational & encyclopedias serviced by a local merchant, with Indian sales personnel targeting the many parents and families with young children still in school.
Hall 3- Many local participants, providing lifestyle & aesthetic skincare products.
Among the local merchants being,
- Shake House (utilizing Herbalife products);
- D’Care, & G’Wellness (herbal supplements for regulating & control of diabetes; detoxifying & metabolism- an MLM health supplement company)
- The
- Femme Nutri Soup for ladies problems
According to my manager, the expo formerly had more participants from
That said, evidence was shown through the recruitment of some chinese merchants demonstrating the use of chinese cookware in malay language, which barely drew any attention from the Indian crowd.
Price & Target Audience:
Price-wise, the participants would have of high probability had enrolled as there was governmental financial support & subsidy to participate in the show. MATRADE was subsidising 50% of eligible activities, including participation fee paid to the organiser, cost of promotional materials, advertising cost in Show Directory, airfare & accomodation for out-of-town participants.
Published rates (before subsidy) to participate in the expo started from 6,000- 9,000.00 RM depending on booth location & number of booths taken.
Sales Output:
However, in terms of quality purchases, it might be less than desired as there were many participants retailing products of the same nature, creating a price competition. This includes too the factors that although the socio-economic status of the target audience, being the Indians, is rising, many of them who come from the out-of-town areas, and even in the city itself, still many not have the purchasing power as the Indian merchants may desire.
However, if made on the basis that transactions are made in Ringgit will be converted to Rupee, there might be enough to break-even as the cost of participating (which is highly subsidised by MATRADE) was affordable, considering it was over the span of 10 days.
For the international India participants who maybe there for the purpose of utilizing it as a trade show in the intent of soliciting local distributors and creating awareness & publicity for their products, it would be solely for that reason. Good sales, and enquiries of their ware will be a good indicator to the merchants of the kind of merchandise which may draw a good response from among the Malaysian-born-Indian crowd.
Official Website: Global Indian Shopping Festival (GISF)
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