Some Hong Kong and Chinese mainland exhibitors keep going back to Japan, evaluating their performance trip by trip. When looking for winning strategies in the world's second largest economy, these companies are the ones to watch, because they learn the art of how to sell in the country.
At the International Premium Incentive Show – Japan's largest trade fair for domestic sales promotion tools – one such exhibitor was Hong Kong's Cross the Seas Limited.
Japan-born, Hong Kong businessman Takumi Shimada, Managing Director of Cross the Seas, is no stranger to Tokyo trade shows. A native Japanese speaker, Shimada's friendly presence at the Cross the Seas booth did much to assuage fears which some Japanese companies have about doing business with non-Japanese suppliers.
The Cross the Seas booth featured dozens of inexpensive electronic novelty items, one of the more popular being a USB mobile phone recharger that connects to a computer and recharges a mobile phone. Last year, Shimada says he sold 100,000 of these rechargers, which cost about US$3 per piece.
Other Cross the Seas USB items on display included a miniature version of the popular arcade Whack-a-Mole game, USB power pack multi-chargers, USB memory sticks with retro combination lock security and USB-powered retro desk fans.
"Like economies all over the world, the Japanese economy is shrinking," said Shimada. "So, we try to suggest new and exciting items to our customers. Because everybody has a computer, now we are selling all kinds of compact USB accessories and cute and gimmicky toys. These USB fans, for example: we've already sold about 700,000 pieces!"
Cross the Seas was also showing a number of unique non-USB items, such as a battery-powered, hand-held fan with a synchronised digital projection that can be programmed to display messages on the whirling blades.
Also here was a 30 cm tall tough-guy-in-a-tuxedo moulded plastic figure. A hidden motion sensor triggers a series of funny messages when the doll is approached. The fans and the dolls, with their dynamic visual and audio characteristics, attracted a steady stream of visitors to the Cross the Seas booth.
Alas, overall there wasn't the same volume of traffic at the show this year as last. In the spring of 2008, attendance was more than 72,000 during the show's three-day run at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre. This year, organiser Business Guide-Sha Inc reported the total number of visitors had fallen to about 61,000.
