As in the whole world, Mexico suffers the consequences of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, which has affected all the productive branches.
In particular, the footwear industry is one of the most affected, especially in the areas with the highest production, such as the state of Guanajuato and its industrial center of León, which bring together more than 3,500 factories with 27,000 jobs.
At the beginning of August, the situation in the sector was not yet normalized, due to the irregular evolution of the pandemic, which does not allow accurate forecasts to be made to resume activities. In this framework, the state of factories and workshops is critical, due to the decline in orders as a result of the minimal sales in the commercial circuit, as a result of depressed demand. Added to all this are the commitments of the industrialists to maintain their staff of operators and face permanent service, financial and maintenance costs.
At this juncture, the institutions representing manufacturers and suppliers -CICEG and APIMEX- organizers of the SAPICA and ANPIC fairs, are the specific means to maintain the offer of their members, and in this sense they have launched their respective digital versions and are attentive to the possibility of live presentations.
SAPICA: the showcase of Mexican footwear
Although the usual August edition with the Spring-Summer collections is unlikely due to the epidemiological status in the country, according to leaders of the organizing entity, they confirmed that a more limited and controlled live version would be possible for the month of September, as conditions improve and the health authorities enable it.
Likewise, they informed that the presentation of the new virtual fair of SAPICA is imminent, which will have the participation of the most important footwear factories and brands of Mexico, to serve national and international buyers.
It will be a platform of easy navigability and maximum functionality in order to provide an effective contact and business service, between exhibitors and buyers.
The new commercial alternative will be widely disseminated in the footwear sector of Mexico and in local and foreign press media to promote the visit of foreign operators.
To reinforce the concept of a trade and fashion fair, SAPICA virtual will include content on trends, collections presentations, lectures by designers and professionals who will refer to topics of interest in the sector.
SAPICA. The largest shoe fair in Mexico creates its own digital platform to complement its live events.
ANPIC of suppliers, with positive results
After the suspension of the traditional May fair, its organizers launched the new version of ANPIC DIGITAL on June 11th and 12th, that as reported by APIMEX, "exceeded expectations."
212 companies participated and 11,932 business opportunities were generated for the exhibitors present, with 15,600 total visits.
During two days of activities, the online fair managed to exceed the goal of a thousand registrations, reaching 3,041 registered national and international buyers.
Regarding national visitors, it had the participation of buyers from León, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Puebla and San Francisco del Rincón.
Meanwhile from abroad, visits from 35 countries were counted, among which the following stood out: Guatemala, Colombia, El Salvador, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, the United States and Italy. Visitors from countries such as: Vietnam, Japan, Germany and India were also registered.
ANPIC. The virtual version of ANPIC served to promote the offer of suppliers, until the conditions for holding the live fair are met.
