With the online marketplace, WieTec became a hybrid event that offers visitors and exhibitors the opportunity to discover new products, conferences, and other useful information in real-time, and browse a directory of 200,000 suppliers in the WieTec database.

Recently held executive meeting of the State Council deployed a package of measures to stabilize the economy, mentioning that "the current adverse effects on the economy continue to increase, and many industry players are in a difficult situation." Therefore, the meeting proposed 33 measures in 6 areas, including tax reduction, and measures related to the supply chain, investment, and energy security, to name a few.

In 2020, the research group of the Entrepreneur Survey System of the Institute of Public Administration and Human Resources of the Development Research Center of the State Council surveyed the impact of the pandemic on enterprises, and collected more than 1,300 valid questionnaires, covering all industries across the country. The results show that only about 13% think that the pandemic has little or no impact.

Just like in any other industry, in the environmental protection industry, manufacturing, infrastructure, operation, and maintenance are all inseparable components of the sector’s ecosystem, and disruption in one of them will create a domino effect. To comment on this year's Shanghai Covid-19 outbreak, the CEO of one of the renowned water companies said, "We can’t start or finish any project, our staff can't go to work, the equipment can't be produced, and communication is very limited", while another environmental monitoring company mentioned that they are less affected due to their relatively good environmental equipment inventory reserves.

However, the anxiety of many businesses does not stop there. Even if their business operations are not completely halted, the situation of many environmental protection companies is not envious. It’s not easy to run projects with limited capacities. May is already gone, and many are left with the feeling that nothing has been accomplished in the first half of the year. "Many projects are running simultaneously, and we haven’t finished even a fraction of what we originally planned,” said one General Manager.

Furthermore, cost increases are inevitable and profit margins are further compressed. For companies that are still navigating through the lockdowns, issues such as slow logistics, the rising cost of raw materials, being understaffed, and difficulties in new business development are all challenges to face this year.

Even more problematic than the impact of the pandemic is the mindset of some companies who wait for the pandemic to end, instead of building resilience with new strategies. There is no time for waiting.

For those who don’t want to just sit and wait until the pandemic ends, WieTec got a solution – WieTec Online Marketplace offers a platform where companies involved in environmental business can browse products and services, and reach out to their potential customers, suppliers, and buyers.

Amid the Shanghai lockdown, it’s time for all of us to make some adaptational decisions. Over the years we have been developing WieTec online marketplace that allows the users to connect online with the business prospects from the WieTec database even if they are not able to attend the in-person event.

"WieTec Integrated Marketing Platform” is a B2B platform dedicated to the environmental protection and energy-saving industry created by the organizers of WieTec. It is the first integrated marketing platform in the industry that leverages offline exhibition resources, such as exhibitor and visitor databases. WieTec integrated marketing platform allows its users to submit their content, and get in contact with the target buyers through multi-channel marketing. The platform integrates the entire customer lifecycle journey – from customer reach and acquisition to customer loyalty and aftersales service.

With the online marketplace, WieTec became a hybrid event that offers visitors and exhibitors the opportunity to discover new products, conferences, and other useful information in real-time, and browse a directory of 200,000 suppliers in the WieTec database.

At WieTec online marketplace, users can find product manuals, corporate information, product explainer videos, and customer reviews, all in one place, with every information they need to help them make informed decisions. The online marketplace also allows the users to book a matchmaking meeting with a supplier or a conference seat with only one click. It allows its users to reach out to potential customers all-year-round, and during the show days!

WieTec Online Marketplace creates a scenario that integrates online platforms and offline exhibitions. The online store supports the presentation of a series of in-depth information such as customer's product pictures, product manuals, corporate qualifications, product explanation videos, etc. During the offline exhibition, the audience can also search for products and brands of interest through the online platform, and accurately access booths of exhibitors whose products meet their needs, which will improve their visit efficiency.

With precision marketing, the products are being advertised to millions of users. This way the audience can learn about the customer's products ahead of the event and even allow users to make an appointment for booth visiting before the exhibition, to make timely preparation for the exhibition.

The pandemic motivated us to adapt to new ways of doing business, and online platforms play a crucial role. Thanks to new developments in AI, this might be only a transition to even more immersive offline exhibition alternatives, such as Metaverse. Switching to online business is no longer optional, it has now become essential for every business related to environmental protection.

Online matchmaking meetings are organized for suppliers and buyers through Wietec Online Marketplace. Some of the topics covered by the app are "industry products and services", "list of companies", "technology and innovation", "industry hotspots", "purchasing center", "latest industry projects" and many other topics that will keep the users updated about the latest environmental protection challenges and business opportunities, all from the comfort of their phone.

Online marketing promotion showcases products to millions of buyers in our database that we have built over 15 years of organizing our exhibitions. Visitors who browse or click on the products will be added to our high interaction database and will be contacted by our buyer service center to confirm the purchase intention. In case a buyer is interested in purchasing products, we schedule an online matchmaking meeting that will allow users to seize business opportunities on time.