C-star Shanghai sets records for exhibitors, attendance

C-star – the China spin-off of the world’s largest retail show, the triennial EuroShop in Germany – is underway in Shanghai this week.

This year’s event, the fifth, features a record 138 exhibitors at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Pudong, with exhibits including shopfitting and store furnishings, retail technology, store design and visual merchandising, lighting, and catering and refrigeration.

A parallel retail forum features an international line-up of speakers covering trends, technology and design, among other topics.

C-star was the first international spinoff of EuroShop and while still a shadow of the German event, which boasted 2400 exhibitors from 60 countries and 113,000 visitors the last time it was held in 2017, the Shanghai event is growing in stature each edition. The number of exhibitors this year is up 30 per cent. After the success of C-star, organiser Messe Dusseldorf has since launched another event focused on technology, EuroCIS, and its latest new venture, In-store Asia in Mumbai, India.

Elke Moebius, global head of retail & retail technology with Messe Dusseldorf, and director of EuroShop, EuroCIS, C-star and In-store Asia, says the company wants C-star to become “the most influential retail event in China”.  

“Our decision to come to China was absolutely the right one,” she told the opening ceremony yesterday.

“We have succeeded in distinguishing C-star from other events.”

Messe Dusseldorf (Shanghai) GM Marius Berlemann says with mobile and ‘smart’ retail solutions developing quickly the internationalisation of the retail industry is following suit.

“This presents even more opportunities for global investors and corporations to flourish in China’s retail industry, and our goal as the organiser is to build the bridge and bring the world of retail together.”

Smart Retail Life Zone

A key feature of this year’s C-star event is the ReTailor Hub where creative solutions are shown in a real-life environment. Exhibitors include apparel-store Elf Sack, cosmetics-brand Fox Fairy, food-and-beverage brand Rio (which has a robot on site mixing and serving cocktails) and unmanned store concept 24 Jian. These exhibits are complemented by retail technology and equipment suppliers showcasing instore solutions including customer-flow analytics, interactive smart displays and virtual fitting systems.

C-star’s Brand Zone offers a premium stage for exhibitors to present their newest and most promising products and solutions to a global audience.

This year, exhibitors include design house Malherbe Paris, Storymaker, Hideki Azuma, Onewedesign, MPlus and Koscar sharing new store concepts and smart retail solutions.

C-star 2019 continues today and tomorrow in Shanghai.

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