From 3-5 July, 17,776 visitors attended ISPO Shanghai 2020 to learn about future developments and to experience new products in the segments of Outdoor, Snowsports, Sport Trends, Running, Health & Fitness, Water Sports, and Manufacturing & Suppliers. ISPO Shanghai has seen an increase of 14% in visitor numbers and kept its momentum for the third year in a row, organisers report.

“With myriads of people flooding to the exhibition and omni-channel marketing, ISPO Shanghai proved itself as a starting point for the sporting goods industry to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” ISPO says.

Creating valuable opportunities

ISPO Shanghai 2020 gained a total of 350 brands to exhibit, hosted more than 50 industry forums and events, and attracted 17,776 visitors. Klaus Dittrich, Chairman & CEO of Messe München commented: “We are very pleased to see ISPO Shanghai coming back stronger with an increase in the visitor number and even better experience. It also marks the restart of the outdoor and sporting goods industry in China and breaths the confidence to the whole industry globally that the sports lifestyle is returning and will be valued even more after the COVID- 19 pandemic."

Due to COVID-19, many outdoor and winter sports brands either cancelled or delayed their plans at the beginning of the year and came all the way to ISPO Shanghai to complete their long-awaited launching plans. This also helped ISPO Shanghai to expand its segments of the exhibition this year. In addition, ISPO Shanghai 2020 partnered with IWF Shanghai 2020 and co-located with each other to showcase synergies in the cross-field sports industry.

Live streaming and influencer marketing helped ISPO Shanghai achieving initial goals

Crossover key opinion leader (KOLs) and sports influencers called on ISPO Shanghai 2020. They were invited to tour exhibitor booths, participate in interactive areas and recorded their journey in forms of live streaming, VLOG, etc. More than 100 KOLs were invited on-site and influenced a total of over 20 million followers. ISPO Shanghai built a live streaming platform for exhibitors to present their products and technology during the exhibition. In total 22 live streams were broadcasted and 28,918 page views recorded. Many distributors and retailers who could not participate in the exhibition were able to see what’s new at ISPO Shanghai and communicated with exhibitors by a single tap on their smart phones.

Genuine love towards sports made the gathering unmissable

ISPO Shanghai always crafted dedicated areas that allowed different sportswear and outfits to be presented in a rather intuitive way to the visitors. The Outdoor Lifestyle Village, ISPO Sports Fashion Zone, and Tracker’s Show gave both professionals and enthusiasts chances to take a closer look at products in different scenarios.

The ISPO Outdoor Lifestyle Village showed a variety of fashion outfits which can be used in different occasions, giving sports lovers more choices for outdoor activities. Brands gathered in the ISPO Sports Fashion Zone showcased their most dazzling products featuring both athleisure and sporting performance. The Tracker’s Show presented marathon outfits as well as trail running wear. In addition, it launched an online running challenge with 100,161 runners that finished the program.

The ISPO Lifestyle Stage carried people’s pursuits for sports life. With experts, KOLs, and enthusiasts on the stage, more than 30 discussions were held including brands‘ product launches, mountaineering dialogues, KOL talks, and the award ceremony.

Communication between professionals develops new ideas

“To seek development and to find a way out,” ISPO says. “This is the challenge that the entire industry is faced with. ISPO Shanghai shouldered the responsibility by introducing relevant topics to the ISPO Retail Forum and ISPO Trends Forum. ISPO Shanghai once again provided a communication platform for professionals to develop new ideas.”

The ISPO Retail Forum shared hands-on topics such as digital retail, private domain traffic, community operations, short video marketing, and live streaming operations; ISPO Trends Forum interpreted colour trends for spring/summer 2022 and focused on the sustainable development path of the sports market.

The ISPO Award area displayed selected award-winning products in 2020, including launches that haven’t released to the market yet. In addition, ISPO Textrends showcased the latest compositions and innovative concepts of fabrics, as well as other highlights.

In addition to forecast new trends, the business matchmaking event was dedicated to build channels for brands, distributors and sports designers to communicate with each other. During the exhibition, there were more than 160 on-site matches. E-commerce platforms, marketing platforms, online and offline retailers, distributors, product managers, and designers were invited to exchange their needs for sporting products.

Olympics are just around the corner; sports industry will rebound stronger

As the Olympics in Tokyo have been postponed to the next year, 2021 undoubtedly will become a great chance for the sports industry to recover. At the same time, the pandemic also made people pay more attention to the active lifestyle brought by sports, fitness, and outdoor activities. Mrs. Hua Chuan, Chief Financial Officer of Messe München Shanghai, commented: “In 2020, the industry has suffered a lot of losses, but we have also seen the government continue to increase subsidies to companies. Sports enthusiasts have long been waiting for outdoor activities and they might consume more goods when the pandemic situation gradually stabilizes, and the industry starts to rebound. ISPO Beijing 2021 will grab this opportunity to continue serving as a professional platform, leading industry companies to prosperity in the upcoming Olympic year.”

By showcasing various brands and crossover resources, ISPO Shanghai aims to help both buyers find the right suppliers to explore potential business opportunities and to restart the industry. The next stop of “restart”, ISPO Beijing 2021, will be held at the China International Exhibition Center (new venue) from 14-16 January, 2021.

www.ispo.com