Every week I receive quite a few enquiries
from enterprising exporters
- How do you get so many overseas trade
inquiries for Indian products ?
- Please tell us how can we find genuine
importers for our products ?
People, very eager and enthusiastic to
know whereabouts of buyers - genuine importers who
are serious and most likely to buy their products.
While it is true that number of business
transactions through Internet is rising rapidly -
it is equally true that there is no short-cut to established
business processes. Internet makes our life that much
simpler by providing a cheap, reliable and convenient
mode of communication. However, beyond that it is
still that much of hard work in product sourcing,
quality control, marketing, business correspondence,
negotiation etc. etc.
The point I am trying to make is that
- selling your product in international market is
a long drawn, systematic process. It is not as simple
as getting a list of buyers through Voodoo magic or
as difficult as Rocket Science - but accomplishment
of simple, well-defined, systematic jobs that will
result in a gradual increase in your overseas business
over a period of time. Hard work and perseverance
are the requirements of the day - no quick fix solutions
!
Now, to answer our original question
'How to find buyers' - we need to first understand
who are your 'buyers' and exactly what do they want
from you. Understanding their profile will not only
help you in finding the likely places where they can
be traced but also to offer right mix of product and
price as also clues on how to negotiate successfully.
There are mainly following 6 categories
of organizations/ people who are likely to buy your
product directly or indirectly:
Manufacturer/End-User
Pharmaceutical formulation manufacturer
looking to source bulk drugs, garment manufacturer
sourcing fabrics etc. fall in this category. The buyer
is generally well aware of import procedures, pricing
etc. Volumes are usually large and negotiation takes
time to materialize. Since the material will be used
in-house, buyer may provide own specifications. It
is not uncommon, when buyer may decide to enter into
collaboration with supplier with buy-back agreement.
Buyer seller relation is comparatively on solid footing
(i.e. buyer does not look for alternate supplier if
seller does not commit major bungling or goof-up).
We know quite a few overseas manufacturers
who have developed lasting relationship with Indian
suppliers through initial contacts at infobanc.com
site.
Wholesaler/Trader
Usually a hardened international buyer
who knows the ins and outs of product he/she is buying.
The buyer generally has well-developed distribution
line in his country to dispose off imported products
quickly. Generally sensitive to price, looks for alternative
often. Volumes are almost always large - container
size at least. May ask for credit after a few transactions.
At infobanc.com, we constantly track
this type of buyers who do not mind testing new suppliers
if price and quality is acceptable. It is not difficult
to track them if you know the usual market places
where these people go for new supplier.
Retail Chains/Supermarkets,
Large Brands
These are organized buyers who have well
developed sourcing offices and trained manpower in
exporters' countries. Very particular about quality,
delivery etc. Takes quite some time in negotiation
and order placing. Considered very valuable clients
by exporting community in general.
Small Retailer
Before the advent of Internet, small
retailers were happy to buy from wholesalers in their
own country as importing in small quantity did not
make economic sense. There were well-defined distribution
channels where retailers used to make reasonable profit
by buying from wholesalers.
By its very nature, Internet has reduced
the levels of distribution in significant amount by
removing intermediaries. Thanks to cheap and convenient
communication medium like Internet and e-mail, small
retailers, specially in North America, are now coming
directly in contact with sellers in developing countries
and buying products in small quantity. The risks are
higher than buying from local wholesaler, but profit
margin is far too high. And, there is no dearth of
small exporters who do not mind supplying in small
quantity to retailers directly at higher than market
price. These are usually small purchase but at regular
intervals. The margins are also higher.
infobanc.com has probably the largest
number of small retailer/importer in its database
of buyers.
Broker/Mandate
Typically, these are representatives
of large commodity buyers who are constantly looking
for new sources and lower prices. They represent buyers
who have the money to buy from one continent and sell
at another. North America (Canada and the USA) have
plenty of them. The buyers usually bid for international
tenders or secure orders through their own means and
source the products from international marketplace
at a price that can give them healthy profits. Brokers
are usually nearer to actual buyers while a mandate
usually represents a broker.
One needs to be aware of the status of
the broker or mandate - mandates have limited power
and prove ineffective in many cases.
We are in regular contact with a large
number of such broker/mandates who use infobanc.com
site to source products
Agent/Distributor
Agent/distributors are not really buyers
- they represent you in a foreign country where you
are not able to sell directly. Because of their intimate
knowledge of local market, Agent/Distributor is considered
a formidable part of any export campaign.
Agents know the buyers and represent
you as your sales representative. They usually book
orders from local market and collect commission from
sellers. While Agents work on case to case basis,
Distributor stocks your products in anticipation of
sales and usually carries higher risk (and consequently
margin) than agents.
Recognizing the importance of agent/distributor
in export campaign, infobanc.com started a separate
section for them and started vigorous campaign to
identify and invite commercial agents towards Indian
products couple of years back. Today, large number
of Agents from Europe, Latin America and other counties
visit infobanc.com site regularly and post inquiries.
There are other categories of buyers,
however we have considered only those considered significant
in the context of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
(SME).
Having identified the main categories,
we shall discuss how to reach individual entities
in each category in subsequent articles.
