Yiwu's toy industry is racing against time to sell globally

With the strong recovery of Baixing Qianye, as the "wind vane" and "barometer" of global small commodity trade, the toy industry of Yiwu International Trade City has also ushered in a thriving atmosphere. In the first quarter of this year, Yiwu's toy exports reached 3.89 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%, and continued to maintain a stable growth trend. At the same time, the daily average passenger flow of Yiwu International Trade City has reached 200000 people, and the daily average foreign business flow has reached 1600 people. The constantly growing passenger flow is a flowing wealth business opportunity.

The toy industry in Yiwu market started in the mid-1980s and is now distributed in the first district of the International Trade City. The toy market in Yiwu is mainly exported, with products exported to more than 200 countries and regions worldwide. The production and sales volume of the world toy market is about 25%, and one out of every four toys in the world comes from the Yiwu market.

Warm water and surging crowds in the spring river

On the morning of May 7th at 8 o'clock, Lu Qingrong, who runs a toy business on 6th Street in Yiwu International Trade Zone 1, parked his car in the parking lot next to the market early. Why did he come so early when the market was still half an hour away?

If you come early to park, you won't have a place if you're late, "Lu Qingrong didn't joke. With the increase in passenger flow, the parking lots on the market have already become saturated, and some foreign businessmen spent up to an hour in traffic jams and queues before arriving at the market from the parking lots. According to data provided by the market, in the first quarter, the average daily traffic volume in the market was 88593 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 23.4%.

The first district of the International Trade City where Lu Qingrong is located has over 1900 toy business entities, among which the 6th Street is located on the market channel, making it one of the most prosperous neighborhoods in the "Yiwu Shanghe Tu". From 9am to 4pm every day, on the 6th Street corridor, domestic buyers with a wide range of accents and foreign buyers speaking different languages gather here. What attracts them are various toys placed at the store entrance, such as drones flying in the sky, motorboats swimming in the water, mountain bikes that can cross country, and talking cacti, which are dazzling.

In Yiwu, there are only toys that you can't think of, and there are no toys that you can't buy. "In a toy store, Brazilian foreign businessman Vidiz's words made everyone laugh heartily, calling him a foreigner who" understands Yiwu ". Vidis has a crush on a panda doll and a cross dressing teddy bear. These two new products use new plush fabric, which feels skin friendly and is not easily deformed when washed. The jelly color scheme is also very popular in the market. I haven't been to Yiwu for 3 years, and the toys have been updated all the time. Some have been upgraded for several generations, and if we don't come again, we may lose a lot of business opportunities. I will place an order for 50000 yuan first and test sell it in Brazil to see how it works. "Vidis has a long procurement list and a wide range of categories. It is precisely because of this that he increasingly feels inseparable from the ubiquitous supermarket in Yiwu.

At present, there are waves of customers and orders, and the factory's orders have been arranged until July. The foreign trade order volume in the first quarter has also increased by 30%. "Lu Qingrong happily told reporters that in order to welcome this wave of orders and prevent delivery delays, the company has already communicated in advance with OEM factories in Anhui, Henan, and Hebei, and production capacity is guaranteed.

With the easier entry of overseas buyers and the launch of a global procurement invitation activity in Yiwu, ten measures have been launched to provide foreign services. Currently, there are over 13000 permanent foreign businessmen in Yiwu. The return of 'Vidisys' has given merchants in the toy industry more confidence.

Jiang Yunjiao, who runs alloy toy cars, also has a shop on the main channel of 6th Street. When the reporter talked with her, domestic and foreign purchasers came into the shop from time to time to make inquiries, and the "Alipay" collection prompt tone in the shop never stopped. Alipay received 300 yuan, 500 yuan, 1000 yuan and 2000 yuan. We not only handle large foreign trade orders, but also retail retail retail orders, with daily retail revenue of several thousand yuan. During the May Day holiday, we can have a turnover of tens of thousands of yuan. "Jiang Yunjiao said," With customer flow, there will be business. Recently, the number of foreign merchants visiting our store has significantly increased compared to last year

Jiang Yunjiao is quite optimistic about this year's foreign trade business. A Portuguese customer has purchased 60 boxes of toys in the store, each box can hold 120 alloy toy cars, and all of them have been shipped out. Meanwhile, among the customers who have visited the store in the past few days, the proportion of customers from Central Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia is increasing. There is a customer from Mongolia who has not encountered it before and has a strong purchasing intention this year. They have already placed orders for toy cars four times.

There are fewer orders from Europe and America now, and more orders from emerging markets. We welcome customers from Asia, Africa, and Latin America to negotiate and help small goods open up diverse markets. Eggs cannot be put in one basket, "said Jiang Yunjiao. Small goods are a necessity for global consumers, and business will definitely not be bad this year.

Sufficient orders for trade recovery

There is only a off-season mentality and no off-season market. As long as you use your brain and do everything possible, there will be orders and customers. This is the consensus of the majority of business owners.

Just after returning to Yiwu from the Canton Fair, business owner Song Hongjun received an order from a Chilean customer, mainly purchasing remote-controlled car toys. 90% of our orders are for foreign trade, but the domestic consumer market is booming, and the domestic sales share has also kept up. The overall order growth in the first quarter has been at least 30%, especially in March, when the order volume doubled and the factory's orders have been arranged since June. "Song Hongjun told reporters that after the epidemic, we haven't seen each other in three years. Returning to Yiwu, where we have been away for a long time, many foreign businessmen are extremely excited to see familiar suppliers. Out of every 10 foreign businessmen he receives, 7 are old customers and 3 are new customers. According to customer feedback, they have a high demand for small commodities. With smooth personnel exchanges, business will definitely improve this year.

Serbian businessman Haris has a shop in a wholesale market in Belgrade, where his stall is filled with small items from Yiwu, including Barbie doll blind boxes loved by girls, various toy cars loved by boys, and this year's best-selling cactus that sings and dances. He told reporters that although the global economic situation is not optimistic, the small commodities in Yiwu have helped him "make a lot of money". Yiwu's products have good quality and excellent prices, which are deeply loved by Serbian consumers. We can also request products based on demand, increase or decrease specifications, and there is nothing that Yiwu merchants cannot do! "Haris said that this time in Yiwu, we mainly purchase pressure reducing toys, such as fingertip gyroscopes," rat exterminators, "pinch balls, and so on.

Foreign businessmen are here now, and it takes time to see, compare, and select goods. From placing an order to becoming a foreign trade commodity for export, it also takes time, "Wang Xuxue, the person in charge of Miaomiao Toys, told reporters." There are more inquiries, more trial orders, and fewer large orders. After three years of not coming to the market, customers always need to look around and understand the market situation.

Wang Xuxue said that now is the buyer's market, and sellers need to rely on product innovation, not price wars, because good products and services are the key to retaining customers. In order to better serve foreign buyers, she has developed dozens of new plush toys and upgraded the factory, greatly improving production capacity and striving to achieve an annual sales revenue of 40 million yuan this year.

Trade has rebounded and merchants have returned. At the end of the reporter's interview, in the toy block of the first district of the International Trade City, foreign investors' inquiries still kept rising, and the operator Alipay's collection prompt sounded beautiful. Behind the familiar scenes, all these scenes released strong signals of economic recovery and business recovery.