Toshiba Roadshow tours 4 Istanbul malls, does experiential marketing drive sales?
Toshiba is touring four Istanbul shopping malls with a mobile showroom to put its white goods and small appliances in front of shoppers; the “Toshiba Roadshow” started on 1 October 2026, held its official opening on 3 October and will spend one month in Istanbul (Perakende.org, 7 October 2026). The route runs from Marmara Forum to Ümraniye Çetinkaya, Meydan İstanbul and then Maltepe Park.
Here is what it means for you: a brand entering the market without a dealer network is building awareness in the mall corridor instead of a shop window. For a manufacturer, importer or new brand without a store chain, this is a workable way to put a product in the customer’s hands. Whether it sells depends on how you set up each step.
Which Istanbul malls is the Toshiba Roadshow visiting, and what does it show?
It visits four malls and shows the full range, from large appliances to small kitchen gadgets. At the centre are OriginTech, the brand’s global innovation platform, and SAMURAI, its flagship series. Fridges, washing machines, dishwashers, microwave ovens and small appliances are on display for visitors to try.
Why is Toshiba starting with mall experience zones instead of dealers?
Because its route to market relies on a distributor, not a dealer network. Ekonomim reported on 6 July 2026 that the brand planned to enter with around 30 products, mainly online, using a distributor model. Without its own shop windows, the mall corridor, the AVM in Turkish shorthand, becomes the place where the product gets seen.
For which businesses does a Toshiba-style experience zone drive sales, and for which does it not?
It works for products people will not buy untried, that carry a high price and have a thin store network. Furniture, white goods, mattresses, coffee machines and cosmetics fit this group. For frequently bought, low-priced products already on the shelf, a mall stand rarely pays for itself.
How can a business owner set up a mall experience zone step by step?
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Step 1: Write down a single goal
- Step 2: Pick the mall for your customer, not for the crowd
- Step 3: Design the stand for touching
- Step 4: Build the sales path before the stand
- Step 5: Measure from day one
In five steps: goal, venue, stand, sales path and measurement. Time and cost vary by mall, floor area and season, so get your own quote for every item. The order below makes sure the sales path is ready before the budget goes into the stand.
Step 1: Write down a single goal
Decide whether you want awareness, product trial or contact details. A stand that chases all three cannot measure any of them. In Toshiba’s case, the visible goal is to introduce a range that has no dealer network behind it.
Step 2: Pick the mall for your customer, not for the crowd
The busiest mall is not always the right one. Choose the centre where your target customers already shop. Ask mall management in writing for the space dimensions, set-up hours and required documents; confirm the official terms with them, as this is not legal or financial advice.
Step 3: Design the stand for touching
The product belongs within reach, not behind glass. On Toshiba’s stand, everything from fridges to microwave ovens is out in front of visitors. Get your own quote for stand build and staffing.
Step 4: Build the sales path before the stand
Here is the common mistake: the stand is busy, yet customers leave without knowing where to buy. The product page, QR code and promo code must all work before the event opens. Otherwise interested customers walk away and finish their search on a competitor’s site.
Step 5: Measure from day one
Log promo code redemptions, QR scans and contact details collected at the stand every day. When the event ends, you decide with those numbers, not with impressions.
How do you measure a mall experience zone’s digital impact in search and ads?
You measure it through the rise in brand-name searches and stand-specific codes. If brand searches do not climb during event weeks, people are seeing the stand without remembering it. Digital measurement is the one concrete answer to whether the experience zone sells.
What should a business owner who wants customers to try the product do this week?
This week, ask one mall for a quote and test your sales path. If scanning the QR code, reaching the product page and applying the promo code takes longer than two minutes, fix that first. We build event and launch plans with businesses through our digital marketing work.
Quick Summary
- The Toshiba Roadshow started in Istanbul on 1 October 2026 and runs for one month there (Perakende.org).
- The route covers Marmara Forum, Ümraniye Çetinkaya, Meydan İstanbul and Maltepe Park.
- Kumtel runs sales and service in Türkiye, with 170 service points in 81 provinces (Perakende.org).
- No visitor, budget or sales figures have been published for the tour.
- An experience zone works when the sales path and measurement are ready before the stand.
Short Glossary
- Experience zone
- An experience zone is the temporary or permanent display area used to let customers touch and try a product before buying.
- Distributor model
- A distributor model is the structure used to hand a brand’s sales and distribution to an authorised distribution company instead of its own dealer network.
- Footfall
- Footfall is the term used to describe the number of visitors passing a store or walking through a mall.
Frequently Asked Questions
Next Step
If you want to assess together whether an experience zone is the right move for your product, fill in the consult your expert form.
Sources: Perakende.org, 7 October 2026 · Toshiba Roadshow campaign page (linked in the text) · Ekonomim, 6 July 2026, for the market entry model.
Updated: October 2026
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Midea’s MEARI region, which covers the Middle East, Africa, Russia and India, planned the project. In Türkiye, Kumtel runs sales, distribution and after-sales service. Kumtel has 170 authorised service points across all 81 provinces and aims to install products within 48 hours of delivery.
The Toshiba Roadshow campaign page lists Istanbul, Aydın, Denizli and Mersin as stops. Dates and venues for the last three are not on the page. The news report adds that the truck will tour other countries after Türkiye.
According to Aydın Kuzaltı, “Toshiba Roadshow is one of the first steps of this journey for us.” Perakende.org introduces him as CEO of Midea Group Türkiye. His title appears differently in other sources.
A fridge is not something most people buy from a photo. Shoppers want to open the door and pull out the shelves before they decide. An experience zone gives a brand without stores that hands-on moment.
A mall delivers ready-made footfall. Instead of pulling customers to its own store, the brand goes where customers already walk. In a mall whose tenant mix has no appliance store, that gap is even easier to see.
No. If a customer likes the product but does not know where to buy it that day, the interest goes nowhere. In a model built mainly on online sales, the path from the stand to the website has to be obvious.
Brands new to Türkiye, local manufacturers without stores and home-product brands that sell online. For them, a stand is a way to meet customers face to face without renting a permanent shop window.
Stores selling white goods and small appliances in the same mall, plus independent appliance dealers nearby. If shoppers try the product in the corridor and then buy online, the store’s sales per square metre can feel it.
Mall management teams and event agencies. If more brands follow this model, corridor space becomes something they have to price, schedule and approve more often. That is also a reason for small brands to compare stand rates between centres carefully.
In Google Search Console, compare impressions for your brand and product names before and after the event. Track searches coming from the district around the mall as a separate line.
Location-based ads aimed at the area around the mall during the event can reach people who pass nearby but never stop at the stand. Posting the event on your Google Business Profile helps you show up in “near me” searches.
A business on a tight budget should start with a few days in one centre, not four malls. For lower-cost ways to use technology at the till and in reviews, see the starting steps drawn from the ZMD awards.
Is the single goal written down, are the mall’s terms in writing, is the stand built for touching, do the product page and QR code work, are the promo code and daily tracking sheet ready? If you cannot answer yes to all five, it is too early to set a date.
New brands look for space on the shelf as well as in the mall. ETİ starting to make TRUBAR bars in Türkiye is the food-aisle version of this story. Our retail page, where we interpret retail news for you, keeps these examples together.
Apply directly to the mall’s management. Space, duration, fees and required documents vary by centre, so ask for the terms in writing.
The report gives the order of the malls, not the date for each one. Check the latest stop information on Toshiba’s campaign page.
That depends on the mall, the duration and the stand design. Get your own quotes for both options and compare them over the same period.