Tricks Experts Use for End-to-End Sourcing on Alibaba.com
To succeed in online shopping, you need to be smart about every step of your supply chain process. This means finding products that sell well with high profits, choosing reliable shipping partners, and getting goods from factories to customers quickly.
Alibaba.com is a global trade platform that helps ecommerce businesses grow by connecting them with suppliers worldwide. On this platform, you can find products, get quotations, arrange inspections, clear customs, ship goods, and pay for products all in one place.
From my experience working with suppliers on Alibaba.com, I've seen that successful businesses follow three trends:
1. They Search for Products and Suppliers in Different Ways
Successful businesses shop around to find the best products and suppliers. On average, they get 10 solid quotations from suppliers who can make their product. To do this, they use multiple search methods:
- Searching using keywords and narrowing results based on specific needs
- Using a "Request for Quotation" feature that brings suppliers to bid on their business
- Using image search if they have a similar product picture
Koi can help you manage your suppliers and your supplier's products.
Koi can help you:
- Track supplier purchase orders.
- Sync supplier inventory with Shopify.
- Automatically reword and rewrite supplier product descriptions.
- Automatically import Shopify products into Koi and Shopify.
2. They Only Work with Reliable Suppliers
Successful ecommerce businesses only source products from reliable suppliers. To help with this, Alibaba.com created Trade Assurance, which is free order protection for all orders placed and paid for on the platform. Suppliers who opt in to Trade Assurance guarantee that products meet specifications, are shipped on time, and payments are safe.
3. They Use Alibaba.com Shipping to Keep Everything in One Place
Logistics play a critical role in global sourcing. Successful businesses use Alibaba.com shipping because they know they're using trusted shipping partners with competitive prices. Alibaba.com offers four kinds of shipping:
- Full Container Load ocean shipping for high-volume orders
- Less than Container Load ocean shipping for smaller orders
- Alibaba.com Air Express, a warehouse-to-door air-shipping service
- Alibaba.com Parcels, a premium air-shipping service
We've made free Calculators and Resources for eEcommerce Merchants
- GST Calculator
- Safety Stock Levels Calculator
- Stock-to-Sales Ratio Calculator
- ... and many more!