Why Specialist Trade Shows Matter for OEM/ODM Suppliers: An Interview with Gary Dong

For an OEM or ODM manufacturer, the objective of attending an international trade show is usually very specific:

to meet brands that are actively looking for manufacturing partners.

But not every exhibition attracts this type of buyer.

We spoke with Gary Dong, from a Wenzhou-based manufacturer producing cosmetic bags, laptop bags, handbags and other customised bag and packaging products.

The company does not operate its own consumer brand. Instead, it manufactures for international brands, particularly across European markets, and attends around four or five trade shows each year to develop new business.

After exhibiting at different types of events, Gary believes that exhibition size and visitor numbers are not the only factors manufacturers should consider.

A more important question is:

Are the buyers attending the show actually the customers you are trying to reach?

About the Wenzhou Vision

Gary Dong's company is based in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, and manufactures cosmetic bags, laptop bags, handbags and other customised bag and packaging products.

Rather than selling under its own consumer brand, the company primarily provides OEM and ODM manufacturing for international customers with their own brands.

Its export markets include Europe and the EU, with customers in the UK, Germany and Italy, as well as the Middle East.

Customers come from different industries, including fashion and eyewear brands that require customised bags or packaging to complement their existing product ranges.

Website: http://www.visionpacking.com

Can you introduce your company and the products you manufacture?

Gary: We mainly manufacture different types of bags, including cosmetic bags, laptop bags and handbags.

Our main markets are Europe and the US.

We attend around four or five trade shows every year, and the customers we're looking for are generally brands.

We don't have our own brand. We mainly provide OEM manufacturing for our customers.

So when you attend exhibitions, are you mainly looking for brands that need OEM or ODM manufacturing?

Gary: Yes.

Our customers have their own brands, and we manufacture customised products for them.

They can come from different industries. For example, we work with fashion brands and eyewear brands.

They have their own brand, and we manufacture customised bags or packaging products for them.

How has your experience at the Birmingham exhibition been?

Gary: This Birmingham exhibition seems to be more focused on the consumer or retail side.

There are a lot of retailers, but we haven't really seen the type of buyers we're looking for.

The overall visitor numbers haven't been particularly high either.

A lot of the people coming by are actually other suppliers or businesses from the industry. There have been relatively few genuine customer enquiries.

Have you exhibited at other trade shows in China and internationally?

Gary: Yes, we attend both domestic and international exhibitions, and some of the other exhibitions have performed better for us than this one.

In China, for example, we attend the Canton Fair.

Internationally, we've also attended more specialist exhibitions, including ISPO.

What type of trade show works best for an OEM or ODM manufacturer?

Gary: It really depends on what the company is trying to achieve.

For example, if a business has its own products and wants to find an agent in the UK, an exhibition like this one in Birmingham might be suitable.

But if the company mainly wants to find B2B customers, I think it should attend a specialist exhibition for its own industry.

For example, a bag manufacturer may get better results from a specialist bag exhibition rather than an event where many different product categories are mixed together.

B2B customers that are genuinely looking for OEM or ODM suppliers are more likely to attend those specialist exhibitions. They won't necessarily attend a general trade show.

Why can specialist exhibitions attract more relevant buyers?

Gary: ISPO is a good example from our previous experience.

The exhibition areas were divided very professionally.

For example, there was a China pavilion, and it was clearly identified as a supply-chain area. The different sections were very clearly separated.

That meant the customers coming into those areas were professional buyers with relevant sourcing requirements.

It was very different from a more general exhibition.

Do you think the international B2B trade show market is changing?

Gary: Yes.

It's not only exhibitions like this one in Birmingham.

General exhibitions may be more retail-focused, but some specialist B2B exhibitions around the world are also becoming smaller, and in my experience the overall results are not as strong as they used to be.

You may still meet professional buyers at specialist exhibitions, but the scale of some shows is getting smaller.

Many buyers who used to visit exhibitions regularly don't seem to attend as much anymore.

So I think the global exhibition industry has changed compared with the past.

Which international markets do you currently export to?

Gary: Europe and the EU are our main markets.

We also have customers in the UK, Germany and Italy, and we export to the Middle East as well.

Can you customise bags using different materials?

Gary: Yes, basically we can work with different materials depending on the customer's requirements.

Our customers are mainly businesses with their own brands.

For example, they might be fashion brands or eyewear brands. They have their own branding, and we customise and manufacture bags or packaging products for them.

Why Do OEM/ODM Suppliers Need Specialist B2B Buyers?

Gary's experience highlights an important difference between the international sales model of an OEM/ODM factory and that of a company selling its own finished brand.

A brand selling finished products may be looking for:

retailers, distributors, wholesalers or sales agents.

An OEM or ODM manufacturer has a different objective.

It needs to reach companies that already have their own brand and are actively looking for a manufacturing partner.

That potential customer needs more than an interest in the product category. It needs an actual requirement for product development, customisation or production.

As a result, an exhibition can attract large numbers of retailers without necessarily generating relevant opportunities for an OEM factory.

Gary's point is therefore straightforward:

Manufacturers should choose exhibitions based on the customers they need to meet, not simply on the size of the exhibition.

General Trade Show or Specialist Trade Show: Which Buyers Are You Looking For?

Gary sees different types of exhibitions as serving different commercial objectives.

A company with its own finished product may find a broader exhibition useful if its objective is to meet retailers, distributors or agents.

For a manufacturer seeking OEM/ODM business, however, a more specialised industry event may make it easier to reach buyers with genuine manufacturing requirements.

Gary uses his previous experience at ISPO as an example.

Clear segmentation made it easier for visitors to understand which exhibitors were brands and which areas represented the supply chain.

For an OEM/ODM manufacturer, this can reduce irrelevant conversations because buyers entering a sourcing-focused area are more likely to understand what those suppliers are offering.

The relevant metric is therefore not simply:

How many people walked past the stand?

It is:

How many of those people were actually looking for a manufacturing partner?

Does Buyer Quality Matter More Than Trade Show Footfall?

Visitor numbers matter, but Gary's experience particularly highlights the importance of buyer relevance.

At the Birmingham exhibition, he found relatively few enquiries from the type of brand customers his company wanted to meet.

At more specialised exhibitions, his experience has been that buyers tend to arrive with clearer industry and sourcing requirements.

For an OEM/ODM manufacturer, evaluating an exhibition therefore requires looking beyond overall footfall.

The more useful questions may be:

Are these the brands we want to work with?

Do they have an OEM or ODM requirement?

Are they actively sourcing this product category?

Does their purchasing model fit our manufacturing business?

Buyer numbers and buyer fit are not the same metric.

Are Physical B2B Trade Shows Still Important?

Gary does not suggest that specialist physical exhibitions have stopped being useful.

In his experience, they can still provide a better opportunity to meet professional buyers with relevant sourcing requirements.

However, he has also observed changes in the exhibition market.

Gary feels that some specialist B2B shows have become smaller and that some buyers who previously attended exhibitions frequently are doing so less often.

These are Gary's observations based on his own exhibition experience, rather than evidence that every international B2B trade show is declining.

For suppliers, this makes the strategic question more specific than simply asking:

"Do physical trade shows still work?"

A more useful question is:

"Where are the buyers I need now looking for suppliers?"

Key Takeaways

• Gary Dong's Wenzhou-based company manufactures cosmetic bags, laptop bags, handbags and other customised bag and packaging products.

• The business does not operate its own consumer brand and primarily provides OEM/ODM manufacturing for international brand customers.

• The company attends around four or five trade shows each year.

• Its customers include brands from different industries, such as fashion and eyewear, that require customised bags or packaging.

• Its main export markets include Europe and the EU, with customers in the UK, Germany and Italy, as well as the Middle East.

• Gary believes broader exhibitions can be useful for companies looking for retailers, agents or distributors, while OEM/ODM manufacturers may benefit more from specialist B2B exhibitions.

• In his experience, clearly segmented specialist exhibitions make it easier to meet buyers with relevant sourcing requirements.

• Gary has observed that some professional buyers attend physical exhibitions less frequently than they did previously.

• For an OEM/ODM manufacturer, exhibition performance should therefore be assessed not only through footfall, but through buyer type, sourcing intent and commercial fit.

How Can OEM/ODM Manufacturers Reach Brands Looking for Production Partners?

Gary's experience raises a practical question for OEM and ODM factories.

The target customer is not simply anyone interested in bags.

The relevant buyer is a company looking for a specific combination of:

product category + customisation capability + manufacturing expertise + suitable supply-chain partner

Traditionally, specialist exhibitions helped create this connection by bringing industry buyers and relevant manufacturers into the same physical environment.

But if buyers are increasingly using different channels to research and shortlist suppliers, manufacturers also need to consider how they can remain discoverable outside the exhibition hall.

This is part of the thinking behind China Sourcing Show 2027.

Through Matchmaker, international buyers can describe what they are looking to source and discover exhibitors and products relevant to those requirements.

For OEM and ODM manufacturers, the objective is not simply to generate more visibility.

It is to make it easier for overseas brands that are actively looking for the relevant products, manufacturing capabilities and customisation services to discover the business.

Gary's experience illustrates the distinction clearly:

More buyers do not necessarily mean better buyers. What matters is reaching buyers whose sourcing requirements match what you manufacture.

Could an international brand already be looking for an OEM/ODM partner with your capabilities?

Book a demo to discover China Sourcing Show 2027.