The Leverage of Virtual Exhibitions
Many business players have organized virtual exhibitions this year as parts of their efforts to avoid the risks of losing income and potential buyers.
Many business players have organized virtual exhibitions this year as parts of their efforts to avoid the risks of losing income and potential buyers. Two of the exhibitions have been able to bring in buyers from abroad and generate transactions of up to billions of rupiah.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, conventional exhibitions cannot be organized. In order to be able to continue the promotion of products and services, a number of organizers have held exhibitions virtually, which could also help drive the country’s economy, especially in the creative sector.
The Indonesia Event Industry Council (Ivendo) estimates that the financial losses suffered by 1,218 meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (MICE) event organizers due to postponements and cancellations caused by Covid-19 could reach between Rp 2.69 trillion and Rp. 6.94 trillion. About 96.43 percent of the events planned to be held in 17 provinces were postponed, 84.2 percent of other events were canceled, and some 90,000 workers in the sector lost their jobs.
Also read: Virtual Trade Bridge
In fact, the contribution of the MICE industry to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is quite large. According to 2018 data on the global economic significance of business events, the MICE industry in Indonesia contributed about $3.9 billion to national GDP, placing Indonesia 17th of 50 countries.
The project director of Seven Event, Agus Riyad, said that this year it only organized one of the six exhibitions planned. As a result, the company could suffer a loss of nearly 90 percent of its total potential income.
The 2020 Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) scheduled in four cities, namely Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Makassar, has also been canceled. In fact, last year, the GIIAS Jakarta expo at ICE BSD attracted 472,000 visitors. During the expo, as many as 23,000 cars were sold, not to mention transactions outside the exhibition that could have originated from negotiations made during the GIIAS event.
The director of PT Indonesia International Expo ICE BSD City, Alim Gunadi said that at present the MICE sector had begun to recover by holding a number of meetings by companies and the government. However, the largest contributor to incomes is still exhibitions.
In 2019, a total of 396 MICE events were held at ICE BSD City, including concerts, exhibitions, weddings and meetings. "As for January-September 2020, only 28 percent of scheduled events were held. The rest were postponed and even canceled, “he said.
The president director of Dyandra Promosindo, Hendra Noor Saleh, said the MICE industry was severely affected by the pandemic. Of the 34 exhibitions scheduled to be held by Dyandra this year, 32 events were postponed.
Also read: It\'s Time to Attract Consumers through Digital Channels
As many as 80 percent of the 32 exhibitions were instead held through multi-channel platforms, namely digital and television. "We carried out a transformation by creating different platforms, such as virtual exhibitions and television shows," he said.
Facilitation
To avoid the risks of lost income and potential buyers, small, medium, to large business actors and industries have held virtual exhibitions this year. For example, the International Franchise License & Business Concept Expo & Conference (IFRA); the Trade Expo Indonesia Virtual Event (TEI-VE); Pertamina SMEXPO; Indonesia Property Virtual Expo; Mobil123 DRIVE Virtual Expo; and Virtual Indonesian Creative Work (KKI) held by Bank Indonesia (BI).
The director general of national export development at the Trade Ministry, Kasan Muhri , said helping small and medium enterprises (UMKM) to promote their products and services was one of the goals of the 2020 TEI- VE exhibition, which would be held by his office in November, this year.
We carried out a transformation by creating different platforms, such as virtual exhibitions and television shows.
The confirmation that the 35th TEI-VE expo would be held this year was made after seeing the enthusiasm of the visitors as well as businessmen and MSME players as the participants.
"The organizer has a database of visitors and TEI participants from year to year. The Trade Ministry also cooperates with representatives from the Indonesian embassy, representatives of foreign trade, and the diaspora network to promote this year\'s virtual event. We will also present potential buyers through online networks, "said Kasan.
Also read: Trade Expo to Have Online Buyers
BI also decided to hold its annual KKI expo for micro, small, medium enterprises (MSMs) virtually. The exhibition, which involved 377 SMEs assisted by BI, was held in three series. Series I on the synergy for exports was held on Aug 28-30.; Series II for digital synergy on Oct. 9 and Series III on synergy for millennial will be held in November.
MSME Adaptation
Changing the method in holding the KKI exhibition is a form of BI\'s responsibility to foster MSMEs to be ready to adapt to the new normal era
The KKI 2020 Series I exhibition recorded Rp 4.86 billion in transactions from the sales of MSME’s products such garments, crafts, food and beverages. At the expo, a one-on-one meeting between buyers and MSME players was also held, bringing together 31 MSMEs and 16 potential buyers from Singapore, Italy, South Korea, Japan, China and Australia, as well as aggregators from Indonesia.
"Changing the method in holding the KKI exhibition is a form of BI\'s responsibility to foster MSMEs to be ready to adapt to the new normal era. BI is committed to continuing to develop MSMEs so that they can become the backbone of the regional and national economy, "said BI Governor Perry Warjiyo.
The virtual exhibition for UMKM held by Pertamina or Pertamina Smexpo 2020 on September 9-11, for example, was also dominated by foreign buyers. Rp 9.3 billion in business transactions was booked during the exhibition, dominated by visitors from the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Taiwan.
"Of the total transactions, the biggest sales were recorded by Hitara Black Garlic products consisting of processed garlic with a transaction value of around Rp 2 billion. These products were bought by buyers from England, France, South Africa and Australia, ”said Pertamina\'s vice president for corporate communication, Fajriyah Usman.
In the property sector, due to the high enthusiasm from the public, state-owned Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) decided to extend the Indonesia Property i Virtual Expo until Oct. 15. The exhibition involving 175 property developers with more than 500 housing projects was initially planned to be held from Aug. 22 to Sept. 30.
Virtual exhibitions are more efficient.
The vice president of the bank for non-subsidized mortgage and consumer lending division, Suryanti Agustinar, said the number of visitors to the virtual exhibition, held in cooperation with PT Adhouse Clarion Events, reached 1.7 million people as of Oct. 10. The public accessed the exhibition through the ipex.btnproperti.co.id website. "Virtual exhibitions are more efficient, both for developers and banks because they do not need to pay the rental costs for the exhibition space such booth [showroom] and exhibition keepers," he said.
Although he did not specify the value of the transactions recorded during the exhibition, Suryanti said the transactions made during the exhibition would be able to boost BTN\'s home ownership credit (KPR), which is targeted to grow by 10 percent this year.
In the automotive sector, PT Toyota-Astra Motor (TAM) marketing director Anton Jimmi Suwandy said PT TAM also sold its cars through official websites, e-commerce platforms and virtual exhibitions. Page visits at PT TAM’s website reached up to 2.5 million during the pandemic, an increase of around 35 percent compared to the previous year.
Toyota has also held virtual exhibitions twice this year. At the end of July, the company sold 250 cars through a virtual exhibition, similar to the numbers sold at exhibitions in a mall. "The expo was joined by dealers in Jakarta. In August, we took part in another virtual exhibition, this time at the national level, and about 600 cars were sold. They were not just orders, but also those which have been backed by a booking fee, so there have been actual transactions, ”said Anton.
Obstacles
Although virtual exhibitions can promote the sales of various business actors and industries, they often face obstacles. The chairman of the Association of Indonesian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Akumindo), Ikhsan Ingratubun, said both conventional and virtual exhibitions had their advantages and disadvantages. Through virtual exhibitions, SMEs can introduce products even through a visual narrative. However, this exhibition method can only be enjoyed by the eyes and ears.
"One of the challenges for SMEs when they want to promote marketing through digital technology is the ability to display attractive products visually," said Ikhsan.
Displaying products that are visually attractive, said Agus Riyadi, could take advantage of virtual reality (VR) and 3D technology. Many companies in Indonesia have provided this technology. However, a conventional car exhibition that prioritizes automotive image and technology cannot be completely replaced.
There is still a need for consumers to explore the physical car, such as seeing the product features and the car body, holding the steering wheel and testing the vehicle.
"However, virtual exhibitions can become a trigger for potential customers to want to find out about the technology and product features on display. Apart from that, virtual exhibitions can also reach more visitors," said Agus. (J U D / A P O / H E I / O S A / D H F)