Product and use case
Name the product, who uses it and the job it must do. “Bathroom hardware” is too wide; “corrosion-resistant towel rails for EU mid-market retail” is testable.
Free 2026 buyer preparation guide
Arrive with a buying brief—not just a product category.
The 140th Canton Fair covers thousands of choices across three phases. This seven-field checklist turns a broad sourcing idea into rules your team can use when every booth looks relevant.
Independent buyer-side preparation. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Canton Fair.
THE TEST
Could another team member use your brief to reject the wrong booth—and explain why—without calling you?
The seven fields
Write the decisions before the show starts.
Keep the brief short enough to use on the floor. The goal is not to predict the perfect supplier; it is to preserve the buying logic while options multiply.
Target market and mandatory gates
State the destination market, buyer type and any required standard, test or social-audit gate. Packaging, claims, documentation and price logic depend on where the product will be sold.
Must-haves
List the conditions a candidate must satisfy before it earns more time: material, process, size, evidence path, capacity or test-order fit.
Automatic exclusions
Write the fast stop rules now—before a persuasive booth conversation weakens them.
Commercial range
Record target order size, acceptable MOQ range and the price basis you actually need to compare.
Decisive booth questions
Ask only questions whose answers can change keep / stop / verify. Avoid collecting a brochure as a substitute for evidence.
Evidence to bring back
Decide what the team must photograph, collect, request or leave explicitly unknown after each relevant booth.
From category to decision
Make every booth earn the next ten minutes.
A useful brief creates three visible states. “Unknown” is not failure; it is a task for the booth or follow-up.
The candidate passes the agreed must-haves and deserves deeper checking.
One clear rule protects the team from spending more attention here.
The next question or document is recorded instead of guessed.
Try it on real work
Four constraints are enough to build a free Mission Card.
Use the local browser tool without uploading anything, or send an anonymised business brief. No supplier names or personal data are required.
Official references
Dates and phase descriptions are based on the official 140th Canton Fair pages and the 2026 Attendance Guide. Event details can change; the official sources control.