Alibaba.com at Toy Fair 2009

SANTA CLARA, CA (USA) – Excitement, innovation and inspiration were abundant in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, as droves of visitors descended upon the American International Toy Fair. “Inspiring Growth” was the theme of this year’s show, which featured more than 1,100 exhibitors from 89 countries, showcasing hundreds of thousands of products including over 7,000 never-seen-before products.

Held from February 15 -18, the show covered 361,000 square feet of exhibition space, and attracted some 20,000 attendees, a decrease from previous years. Though attendance may have fallen, it did not mean less business for exhibitors at all. Kimberly Carcone of the Toy Industry Association explains in her blog, “Exhibitors have said they are seeing the “right” buyers, which makes their investment in Toy Fair all the more worthwhile.”

Cliff Hsia of Alibaba.com, agreed, “There were a significant number of visitors to Alibaba.com’s booth with specific questions about our sourcing services. There was a lot of interest about how Alibaba.com could help businesses, from companies of all sizes.”

More exciting to Mr. Hsia were the reports of success among Alibaba.com’s buying members. “Two members, in particular, spoke very highly of the Gold Suppliers they’ve worked with.”

Mary and Greg Pembleton are the wife and husband team at the heart of Answers In Motion, LLC. Beginning three years ago, the Pembletons have sourced the Thumball, an educational toy, from a Gold Supplier on Alibaba.com. “We’ve never met face-to-face,” says Mary. Greg agrees that Alibaba.com makes a difference for Answers in Motion, having recently begun sourcing accessories for the Thumball through Alibaba.com as well. “We’ve recommended Alibaba.com to others because it works so well,” he said.

Todd McCartney, owner of Aeropro, agrees that working with Alibaba.com’s Gold Suppliers gives the best results. “Gold Suppliers are the best...with the easiest, fastest communications,” he says. “Sourcing promotional gift items from Gold Suppliers has allowed me to reduce my clients’ costs by up to 300%.”





Fun and Learning at the Toy Fair

Despite the low attendance, Alibaba.com’s presence at the Toy Fair could not be ignored. “Finding new, low-cost suppliers is the key to profitability for all businesses, whether you are a retailer, e-tailer or entrepreneur,” commented Mr. Hsia. “By demonstrating the sourcing possibilities available through Alibaba.com, we were quite successful in communicating this to visitors to our booth. As has happened in the past, our games and bags helped to bring visitors to the booth, but it was the demonstrations of the strength of Alibaba.com that impressed attendees the most.”