Internet has opened a new era of business
opportunities. Falling trade barriers combine with easy access
to exchange information thanks to the Internet have created dramatic
possibilities and sparked the growth of global online commerce in
virtually all areas.
Many companies are taking advantage of electronic media a lot
aggressively making new contacts, accessing new markets
and reduce costs with the help of online technologies.
Whether you are starting a new import business or planning
expand your existing business, you too can use the Internet as
your main channel to get information, get products
or services, find suppliers and do their marketing.
Before the internet age, finding a viable product to import
It was not an easy job! Trade shows and trips to foreign lands
were the two best options available to get down to business
information about a product and its supplier. today, required
information on any conceivable product from virtually any market
is available at your fingertips.
find a product
If you know what you plan to import, substantial work
It is done! Otherwise, your first step is to choose a
product or service feasible to import. Whether you are planning
to import a general merchandise or a specific product of the industry,
do your homework well.
Browse through catalog repositories, B2B exchanges, electronic
trade boards, trade magazines and virtual trade shows to find a
product. If you know the country of manufacture where the
the product is possible to obtain, please refer to the specific country
portals and exchanges. Here is a list of high-quality electronic products.
trading boards:
For products made in China: http://www.alibaba.com
India Sourcing: http://www.trade-india.com
For Russian products: http://www.rusbiz.com
Products from Europe: http://www.europages.com
From South Korea: http://www.ec21.com
For other country or industry specific B2B exchanges
look at this list:
http://dmoz.org/Business/E-Commerce/Marketplaces/
Your criteria for choosing a product to import should include:
Your prior knowledge of the product you intend to import and your
industries Your chance of success is greatly increased if
you know the product well.
Access to the required amount of this product. if you spend time
and effort to develop a local market for a product and not be able to
to deliver, you will lose business and reputation.
Product quality. This is a crucial aspect for the development
a market for any product. The quality of the product must be
consistent with the market requirement.
High profit margin. As the import incurs many expenses that are
specific to this type of business only, before importing anything,
you should carefully calculate all the required expenses and see what
you still get attractive benefits. You can check the sites
your potential competitors and do a price comparison to get
initial idea about the current market price of your products.
find provider
Once you know what you plan to import, your next step
is to find a reliable supplier for this product.
Emarketplace or B2B exchange
B2B exchanges can be a good help to find suppliers of the
products you plan to import.
The possible steps you should take to find a provider of a
B2B exchange, are listed below. As an example, http://www.rusbiz.com is
use.
– Register your company. Often this service is free!
– Go to “Advanced Search”
– Write the name of your product in the corresponding box
– Select the required criteria and click “Search”
– You will find a list of companies.
– Take a look at each of them until you find a suitable one.
Chamber of Commerce
Another option is to contact the Chambers of Commerce to find a supplier.
A Chamber of Commerce is an association of companies that protects
and promotes the commercial interests of its members.
For a complete list of Chambers of Commerce in various countries
take a look at this page: [http://www.worldchambers.com/CCII/index1.htm].
Best seller
If other methods did not bring any fruitful results, you can
Consider posting classified ads in a variety of business forums.
There are many trading tables available on the internet. Time
post trade opportunities make sure to specify your requirement
precisely. A well written ad will bring much better results. To post
your trade leads frequently until you find a good supplier for your
product.
Once you find a provider that suits you, check it out thoroughly.
Your provider must meet the following criteria:
The supplying company must transport the product for a substantial period
of time.
You must have export experience – preferably to your country.
You should have export references readily available.
It must be a reputable company in your country.
If the business meets the above criteria, get Dun and Bradstreet
company report to verify your financial background.
Sale of imported products
Before even thinking about importing a product or service, you
you need to know exactly who your customers are and how they are doing
to sell their products. Although there are many ways
of selling a product, the sale through the Internet is gaining
fast ground.
Sell through your own website
Considering the growth of e-commerce, today, any consumer-oriented
product is viable to sell over the Internet. your success will be
It largely depends on your ability to market your website properly.
Your website should have the following qualities, among others:
attractive design, product specification well described clearly
images, great content, fast connection, easy to use shopping cart
and a good merchant account.
drop ship
As a direct distributor, you carry inventory and your
venture partners make the sales. Once a product is sold, you get
payment from your partner but you ship the product directly
to the end customer.
Sell through distributors.
Sell through resellers with experience in your bottom field
marketing and selling costs. If you sell products through a number
of distributors and each of these distributors uses diversified
marketing method, your sales potential multiplies without
spend more on marketing.
electronic market
An electronic marketplace is a business community where you can expect
to see a large number of buyers and sellers. For a seller it is
a low cost, highly functional and easy to use sales channel.
The benefits of selling products through emarketplace also include:
– Low cost of customer acquisition
– Improve customer service
– Efficient method of sharing information.
Reduce the cost of the supply chain
Entrepreneurs who want to take importing seriously have to
gain substantial knowledge of the process. A lot of
The information needed to conduct an import and export business is
available online. Anyone with enough enthusiasm to
learn you can easily find them and use them to build a profitable business and
interesting business