In recent years, China's footwear industry has developed rapidly and has become the world's largest footwear producer and exporter. However, affected by factors such as rising labor costs, trade protectionism, and homogeneous competition, my country's shoemaking industry has also encountered unprecedented challenges.

After more than 20 years of extensive and rapid development, China's shoemaking industry has accumulated many contradictions. The export-oriented shoemaking industry is facing the shrinkage of the international market, coupled with anti-dumping and other trade protection measures from major market countries. The downward pressure is great, and while large-scale enterprises have emerged, a number of small businesses have closed down, and the shoemaking industry has entered a period of adjustment.

Shifts in consumer demand and changes in production models

All walks of life in modern society have begun to pay attention to comprehensive image design, and the same is true for the footwear industry. At the same time, with the changes in consumption concepts, consumers' brand loyalty has declined, and they are gradually focusing on design and cost-effectiveness instead of blindly pursuing brands in the past. At the same time, since the athleisure style was driven by Europe and the United States in 2014, major sports shoe brands have quickly regained market recognition with the two major elements of functionality and fashion, further seizing the share of traditional fashion shoes. However, some Chinese footwear brands have lagged behind in responding to market development trends and have insufficient understanding of market trends.

In recent years, global orders have been characterized by small quantities, large orders, and fast delivery, which is no longer suitable for the previous production model. Most international brands have gradually moved towards a small-scale, personalized and customized order model. However, most Chinese footwear brands are still obsessed with the production model of large-volume, homogeneous products. Under the appearance of being unable to adapt to the production model, what it really reflects is that footwear brand companies have inaccurate judgments on terminal market conditions, insufficient expectations of market development trends, and estimated sales volumes that are inconsistent with market demand, resulting in a backlog of inventory. It affects subsequent product updates and company operations, making the brand lack market competitiveness.

Pay attention to innovative elements and promote enterprise transformation and upgrading

After fifteen years of enrichment and accumulation, the 16th Shanghai International Footwear Expo will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (N1-N3) from July 10 to 12, 2019, and will attract more than 50,000 professional merchants to visit. Negotiations include many mid-to-high-end shopping malls such as Lane Crawford, Parkson Group, Bailian Group, Shanghai Golden Eagle, big-name e-commerce Tmall Mall, Amazon, JD.com, Yihaodian and Meihuahui, and trendy fashion & shoe brands Nike, Adidas, H&M, E-Land, Belle, Daphne, Saturday Group, Hot Wind and Aokang, etc., as well as professional buyer groups from Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shenzhen and other regions.

It is reported that next year’s exhibition will actively align with the national “Belt and Road Initiative”, “High-end Customization of Footwear Industry” and “Smart Manufacturing 2025” strategies, closely focus on the “internationalization and professionalization” exhibition concept, and organize more than 30 countries and regions. The participation of professional buyers will highlight elements such as internationalization and innovation, and contribute to Shanghai's efforts to build a large city with international influence and an international, innovative and quality city.

On the basis of the original international pavilion, the exhibition will set up a "Belt and Road" brand pavilion, which will bring together enterprises from countries along the "Belt and Road" such as Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, and Uzbekistan to participate in the exhibition, and promote domestic enterprises to strengthen cooperation with the "Belt and Road" context. Exchange and cooperation in the Southeast Asian market.

In order to further enhance the international level of Shanghai Shoe Expo, the organizing committee will also set up a "high-end customization" exhibition area to display high-end customized products from the domestic and foreign shoe industry. In addition, Italian fashion experts were invited to hold two special lectures on fashion trends to authoritatively interpret the latest trend design trends. At the same time, professional buyers from more than 30 countries and regions including France, Australia, Colombia, and South Africa were organized to participate in the exhibition to enhance the economic and social benefits of the exhibition.

In addition, the exhibition hall facilities of the organizing committee are strictly planned and set up in accordance with international standards. Electronic admission tickets will be introduced, and a foreign buyer matching meeting will be added in the negotiation area to achieve comprehensive and in-depth integration with international exhibitions.