Category: Shopify dropshipping

Shopify dropshipping

Elksourcing：Advantages of Hiring a Sourcing Agent

Apr 16, 2021 , by 露露

Are you interested in sourcing products from China? If that’s the case, you have two options – you can either take the trouble of handling all the sourcing activities, or you can hire a sourcing agent China. Calling the suppliers, verifying authenticity of suppliers, negotiating prices, conducting paperwork, and making a deal are not easy. It is a tedious and time-consuming work for business owners. But, if you hire a sourcing agent, you can give attention to important aspects of your business. The followings are the benefits of hiring a sourcing agent for procuring from China.

1. Passes on knowledge about local suppliers

By approaching a sourcing agency with offices in China, you can learn about different suppliers and their fields of expertise. The agency experts can speak in the local language and can easily communicate with the suppliers. Sourcing agents are linked with major players in the suppliers’ market and can verify suppliers’ credentials. Their knowledge assists you to choose the most reliable and efficient supplier in China.

2. Helps reduce expenses

You may think that by handling sourcing activities on your own, you can save the money. However, visiting China repeatedly to address different purposes can lead to huge expenditure. Moreover, your lack of knowledge about the suppliers’ market in China can make you an easy target of exploitation.

A sourcing agency with offices in China performs all the necessary tasks related to your sourcing needs. A sourcing agent China closes your deal at the best price. Ultimately, you can save money and use it for further development of your business.

3. Ensures quality supply

Chinese sourcing agents can speak the local language. Therefore, they can communicate clearly with suppliers. Proper communication convinces the supplier that the agents are locals and thus, cannot be taken advantage of. They visit the supplier’s warehouse to check the quality of products at their disposal. The agents make sure that the products reach you in sound state and not in broken condition.

4. Reaches solutions to on-floor warehouse problems

It is natural to face problems in an overseas sourcing transaction. You cannot keep stalling important business meetings or other essential work to visit China every time the supplier needs you. Sourcing agencies make sure that the issues are solved in time, so that you don’t have to travel to China repeatedly. They send representatives to the supplier’s warehouse to address issues and offer you efficient service.

You might have to pay a certain amount to the sourcing agent as remuneration. However, you are saved from incurring hidden costs that are involved in directly dealing with factories. Dealing with a good sourcing agent is time-saving and cost-efficient. Also, you don’t have to involve yourself in lengthy sourcing activities.

Shopify dropshipping

Elksourcing：Key Stages of Strategic Global Sourcing

Apr 16, 2021 , by 露露

Companies across the world strive to offer quality products and services to their clients and at the same time, earn considerable amount of profits. International purchasing is a unique procurement strategy offering you the facility to procure quality goods at reasonable rates from developed and developing economies. You can hire a global sourcing agency to ensure a smooth and profitable outcome of your international purchasing endeavor.

Pls read the following steps to get an idea about the global sourcing process.

1. Investigation

This is the primary stage where the sourcing agents identify the primary and the secondary operational activities, analyze market needs and identify competitors in the field. The insight gained will assist in knowing the prospective market and the objective of the brand in procuring from a different country. In this step, the sourcing specialist creates a baseline and work strategy for performance measurement. 

2. Evaluate supplier and market

This is the phase where the agents create an elaborate benchmark to select suppliers. Depending upon the findings from the market evaluation, the agents can help you to create a final cost model. This is when the economic as well as the operational advantages are considered and calculated

3. Supplier Selection

The sourcing agent will assist you in selecting the suppliers, so that you can negotiate the price of the products to be procured from them. In this stage, the agents conduct a technical assessment of the suppliers who have been finalized. This helps in understanding the tentative savings of each and every supplier, so that you can decide which supplier to choose. The supplier with maximum savings is a good option as you can be rest assured of service, even if the economy faces a financial crisis. After this, an implementation schedule is drafted, which draws the timeline for various suppliers. This is the stage in global sourcing where you can finalize on the supplier you are going to choose for your procurement needs.

4. Implementation

In this stage, a schedule for performance analysis is created where the sourcing agent outlines all activities performed as per the implementation schedule. The procurement agents constitute the implementation team and they publish the strategy as well as the schedule. This is when the supplier and the business owner – the latter with help from the sourcing agents – reach an agreement, which is related to resources, shared supply and logistical arrangements. If you expect any external and internal reports from suppliers, make sure to document it for later use. You never know when you might need them. You can also measure and report the actual performance of the suppliers regularly, with the help of the sourcing agent.

5. Keep an eye on performance

You can measure the performance of suppliers in response to the procedures and resources that are applied by supply partners. Independent measuring is also possible. This performance measurement should be routinely carried out and documented on a regular basis. This is the stage where you can analyze the efficiency of the partnership developed with each supplier. You need to identify the developmental areas and try to get rid of the problems faced. This approach results in improving the overall performance of suppliers.

6. Get an insight into the spend category

In this stage, the sourcing agents try to get an idea about spend category. This refers to the knowledge gained about the usage style, and why the specific grades were mentioned. You must also know about the different stakeholders involved in the procurement process. Starting from shipping details to handling, you need to understand the following areas.

a.   Expense as per sub-commodity and commodity

b.   Expense as per supplier

c.    Total historic expense 

d.   Projection of future budget and demand 

e.   Expense as per department

7. Stay in touch with new suppliers

Any change in delivery process, specifications and pricing model is communicated to suppliers and people in your organization. Building a proper communication plan is essential to ensure a smooth transition from old to new. 

Conclusion

Now, that you know about the various steps involved in the process of strategic procurement, it’s time you hire a sourcing agency for smooth procurement.

Shopify dropshipping

Elksourcing：How to Improve Communication with China Suppliers?

Apr 16, 2021 , by 露露

Many Western importers find it’s relatively easy to find suppliers online, however, to properly communicate with China suppliers is usually daunting. Are there any tips about how to improve communications with your suppliers? Here are some.

1. Keep emails simple when communicating with suppliers

Importers sometimes send a barrage of emails to a supplier in a short period of time—all relating to the same issue. These emails sometimes contain technical English, slang or spelling mistakes. You may feel your Chinese supplier’s English is pretty good. But there’s a strong chance they’re regularly copying your emails directly into an online translator to understand the meaning in their native language. Sending many different emails, using complicated language or including spelling mistakes in your message can all lead to misunderstandings. And in doing so, you also risk having your supplier miss the key points of your email. Limit your email correspondence to one simple email chain per topic when possible. Use short words, short sentences and bulleted or numbered lists to help the supplier more easily respond to different points.

2. Follow up with a phone call

Getting your contact on the phone is one way to quickly improve communication with suppliers.  It’s often best to contact your supplier by phone if they don’t respond to an email within a reasonable amount of time or become generally unresponsive. Reviewing details over the phone can also help you avoid misunderstandings and gauge whether a supplier genuinely understands your message. If you doubt your supplier’s understanding, simplify your message like you might if you were explaining to your grandmother. Speaking slowly and in simpler terms will go a long way in ensuring your expectations are clear.

3. Limit the number of contact people

Having to deal with several different people can complicate buyer-seller communication. Requirements can easily get lost in translation as they’re transferred from one contact to another. Limiting the number of people, you talk to can help. Whenever possible, designate one person from your organization to act as the key contact to liaise with your supplier. That person should ideally be someone sensitive to the local culture with the ability to communicate in simple, easy-to-understand English, or even better, in the local language. Likewise, your communication can improve by having a single point of contact on the supplier’s end. It’s often best to have a contact that’s actually working in the factory where your goods are being made.

4. Make contact with suppliers through QQ

QQ can be an effective mode of communication with Chinese suppliers who are hard to reach by email and phone. While email remains the preferred communication tool in the West, Chinese professionals largely prefer online chat as their method of choice. Partly due to a lack of desktop PCs at the time email emerged, China never quite fully adopted the Western custom of habitually checking email. That’s not to say you shouldn’t still rely on email or phone calls for more formal communication like negotiating contracts. But QQ can be great for informally checking in on your supplier’s progress. You’re more likely to reach suppliers wherever they are—on a train, in a taxi or in the office—with QQ than with email.

5. Create a QC checklist to set clear quality requirements

Are your requirements spread out in multiple email chains, embedded in a long-winded paragraph or split into several different email attachments? If so, important details are likely lost in the process.

In the quality control industry, this kind of document is known as a QC checklist. Along with any approved samples, a QC checklist can serve as a reference of your requirements for both factory staff and QC inspectors. Sending a QC checklist to your supplier before production even begins is a great way to limit miscommunication. This gives the supplier an opportunity to review your requirements and confirm their ability to meet them, ask questions and offer feedback.

6. Share product inspection results with your supplier

Some importers just glance at a product inspection report, check if the result is pass or fail and advise whether to hold or release the shipment accordingly. Then they set the report aside and don’t bother to review it again. They “rinse and repeat” when placing the next order, following the same process but expecting different results. Whether performed by you or a professional third party on your behalf, outside inspection can pinpoint issues and help your supplier improve. Inspectors may find quality issues you didn’t expect could appear. This often happens if you’ve omitted a requirement from your checklist. And if you want to prevent the same issue from reoccurring, you’ll need to communicate the issue and your tolerance for it to your supplier.

7. Meet with your supplier in person

Not all importers have a budget that allows them to visit their suppliers overseas.  But arranging a visit can be well worth the investment if you’re serious about improving communication and cultivating a long-term relationship with your supplier. Meeting suppliers in person helps put a face to your name. Large suppliers handle thousands of purchase orders a year. And your requirements can easily get lost in stack of others’. But if you go the extra mile (literally) to visit them, they just might prioritize your orders a little bit more.

8. Involve your third-party inspection company when liaising with suppliers

Even if you’ve sourced from China for years and routinely visit your suppliers, you might not speak Chinese. And there’s nothing wrong with that—chances are you’ve got much higher priorities!

Working with a third-party inspection company can improve your communication with your supplier in ways you never could without Chinese language abilities. If you involve your inspection company early enough in the process, they can also support you by clarifying requirements to prevent potential problems later.

9. Trust your supplier (but always verify)

This last point might seem contradictory to some of the above advice. But even the most experienced importers know due diligence is essential when working with a new supplier, no matter how credible that supplier may appear. You’re never wrong to appropriately confirm the information your supplier communicates to you. In fact, you’d be reckless to blindly trust your supplier if you have any expectations at all for what you’re buying. Failure to investigate a supplier’s claims early often leads to a breakdown in communication and in your supplier relationship later.

Shopify dropshipping

Elksourcing：How to Avoid Quality Fade Issues in Global Sourcing?

Apr 16, 2021 , by 露露

How to catch the subtle quality fading issues when there happens to be distance of some thousands of miles separating the supplier from the buyer? It would simply become impossible (or at least extremely difficult) to figure out the quality of items prior to the supply packaging process. Unless the supplier happens to be extremely honest (which is rare these days), there are minimal chances left to get the best quality product as expected. It is absolutely difficult to undergo scrutiny for the products. At the same time, ignoring quality fade issues over the time would probably through challenges to a business in staying at the top of the seat for a longer time period.  

Is it possible to avoid quality fade issues? What are the steps to follow?

1) Selecting a highly reputable supplier

Even if it costs a tad higher, still there are great advantages in going with a supplier having significant positive market repute. Whether items are outsourced from China, Vietnam, or India, primary emphasis should be given on figuring out vendors who have a strong positive market reputation. Remember, reputation is built depending on the quality of services they offer. It is advisable to carry out some kind of factory audit in order to have clear vision about the shortlisted options. Accordingly, the judgments need to be taken. Remember, it would be worth the time and troubles being invested in figuring out a supplier possessing strong enough integrity. It would definitely help in saving a whole lot of money and time in the near future. Also, the brand value of the organization would improve.

2)Having backup options readily available

Don’t rely on a single vendor, always have proper backup supplier readily available. It would be a point of threat for the primary supplier. This would also allow the primary supplier to check on the quality of items being supplied. There would always be an approach to maintain high quality standards because of the availability of a backup option. It would play in their mind that even the slightest of compromising attitude with the quality might make them get replaced with the backup options available. 

3) Setting up suitable quality control system

This is definitely a crucial part to consider. No matter how much assurance the vendor would be providing to the buyer in regard to the quality, still there might be certain related issues appearing at a later stage.

In order to prevent such issues, suitable quality control systems must be initiated via the buyer company’s representatives or through some professional and reputed third party QC experts. Some of these third-party agencies would offer additional services like pre-production monitoring, factory audits, pre-shipment inspection, etc.

Shopify dropshipping

Elksourcing：How to Ensure Quality Control in China?

Apr 16, 2021 , by 露露

Implementing an effective quality control plan in China doesn’t have to be difficult, even if you live on the other side of the world. Luckily, you have plenty of solutions available to make sure your product is manufactured to your specifications and shipped on time. Start by preparing your order well in advance, with clear instructions for your supplier. Then pick the right quality control plan, from creating your own QC team to hiring a neutral sourcing agent. You will then minimize business risks and maximize your professional success.

1. Understand different “quality” points of view

Everyone has a different point of view when it comes to quality, and these differences are amplified even more when you begin working with suppliers in other countries, particularly China. Because of the great distance between importers and manufacturers, most communication is limited to English written documents submitted to the factory, which opens the door to a lot of misunderstandings. This is partially due to the lack of language skills: Chinese suppliers usually have sales teams with a basic English knowledge while factory workers don’t even speak English. Moreover, Chinese suppliers produce goods for buyers from all over the world, each one with varying standards and regulations for each specific country of origin. That’s why you should avoid asking your manufacturers to use common sense. The best way is for them to rely solely on the importer’s requirements that are provided at the beginning of each job, so it’s necessary to clearly explain your quality expectations to Chinese manufacturers.

2. Get ready for the right quote at right quality

Perhaps the most important step when purchasing in China is to prepare very clear product specifications. These include product dimensions, characteristics, functionalities, customizations, individual packaging, labeling, shipping packaging, etc. This should be done as early as when you request the price quote from the supplier to make sure the number you receive is accurate. Plus, the more detailed your request, the better the supplier can meet your manufacturing needs. He can ensure the proper equipment, human resources, and lead time to produce your order. Not only that, providing detailed product specifications helps increase the quality of your goods. If the actual job ends up costing the supplier more than the original quote, many would rather lower the quality of goods than increase the price.

3. Verify and keep record of approval samples

Approval samples are a vital component to control quality of your products, so make sure it’s part of your supplier agreement that you receive and approve at least three samples before production. That may seem like a lot, but you’ll soon understand why. When you get the samples, pay very close attention to every single detail. If you prefer a professional eye, some quality control companies will verify it as well. Either way, the goal is to test the product and verify that it meets each one of your product specifications and quality requirements. Make sure you keep one sample on your side and send back an approved sample to your supplier and one to your QC inspector to control quality. The supplier uses the golden sample as a reference and compares it with production. If there are discrepancies, the production should be adjusted. The sourcing company then uses it as reference to verify the conformity of the production to your product’s requirements.


Be aware! An approval sample alone is not enough to confirm that production will go smoothly, because the two product types come from different places. A single sample is created in a sample room, while the final products are created on the manufacturing line: it is made by different hands in different conditions.

4. Control quality during the production

Every supplier has its own manufacturing skills, but it also has limitations. Unfortunately, these are not always conveyed to the importer; in fact, many manufacturers have difficulty saying that they’re unable to fulfill a particular request, whether it’s due to cultural differences, a weak quality management system, peak season, or shady business practices. The only way to ensure that your instructions and quality requirements are clearly understood and respected is to verify the goods while in the manufacturing process.

To track your goods quality during the production, you can ask your supplier to send you production samples and pictures from the finished goods for review. But these measures are oftentimes not enough to confirm product quality and useless to verify the production speed. A less-than-reputable supplier could use smoke and mirrors to create the illusion that production is conforming to your requirements, when the reality might be very different. Collaborating with a sourcing company gives you an on-site expert to confirm the goods’ quality and production status on your behalf. This service is called a During Production Inspection and helps limit consumer goods defects while still under manufacturing process.

5. Identify quality problems before it’s too late

When the goods are manufactured and ready to be shipped, you have one last chance to verify their conformity before their arrival at destination. Rather than relying on production samples and pictures of the goods packed, you have several options to control quality of your order in-person. You may prefer to travel to China to inspect the shipment yourself. You can also rely on a sourcing company to save yourself time and money: this service is called pre-shipment inspection. While fully trained and certified, the inspector can follow your own quality control procedures, so you know the shipment is exactly as you requested before it arrives. A sourcing company guarantees a neutral point of view and provides an additional set of eyes to catch any errors or other red flags. Once a poor quality or incomplete shipment arrives, you have few — if any — options to return the goods or get your money back.

6. Take the opportunity to improve future quality

Remember that the results of previous quality controls on goods are an opportunity for improvements, not an automatic reason to go looking for a new supplier. In fact, every non-conformity or quality problem has a solution if you take the time to communicate and negotiate. The most important step is to analyze the root cause of the problem together with the supplier and identify the corrective actions to put in place. This is actually part of the continuous improvement process known as the ISO 9001 standard, which is used by certified third party inspection companies and most professional Chinese manufacturers. When you have an ongoing relationship with a supplier, quality control is the best way to work hand on hand, to regularly improve goods quality and conformity to requirements.

Shopify dropshipping

Elksourcing：Tips for Outsourcing Procurement Activities

Apr 16, 2021 , by 露露

The marketplace is now getting more and more competitive day by day. For retaining the position, business requires adapting the ever-changing trends. It is possible only when they will concentrate fully on the core competencies. 

Outsourcing the procurement activities has now become a highly preferred option for a number of businesses, as it lets businesses to reduce hassle and keep eye on their primary goals. How to do this? Below are some tips:

1). Acquiring new skills:

The outsourcing companies which deal with procurement activities have expertise in this specific field and also possess huge knowledge in the related aspects. While purchasing products from the foreign market, many challenging situations may occur. Often handling such situations, becomes difficult for the businesses. But, as the procurement outsourcing providers have adequate relevant experience, managing these situations becomes easier. The third-party vendors are aware of risk factors that can affect procurement activities. Thus, you can take preventive actions in advance for eliminating the negative impacts. 

For procuring successfully from the foreign market, businesses need to come up with new ideas. Every business, especially the small ones, importing from the global market may not have the necessary skill to do this. In that case, the third parties are highly effective. These third parties can provide you with fresh ideas which are difficult to be generated from internal team. From these ideas, you can review and shortlist the best ones on basis of their feasibility and can implement one by one. The procurement vendors are mainly responsible for dealing with the tasks like negotiating with suppliers, handling raw materials and making purchases. However, there are some such service providers too who can help you to think strategically. These service providers can help you for assessing new opportunities and analyzing the expenditures.

2). Reducing total procurement costs:

In the case of procurement, the organizations have to deal with huge skill gap. As businesses are going beyond the boundaries of their national market, demand for the skilled professional is increasing. It is quite expensive to hire the right professionals and train them as per requirement of your business. In this case also, taking help from external expert’s would be a smart move. You only need to pay a predetermined amount of money to the vendor and it takes the charge of everything. It will reduce the cost of developing own procurement team a lot. 

Moreover, the procurement vendors analyze total expenditure for purchasing products regularly and look for opportunities to control it. The continuous evaluation process let businesses to know the areas where expenses can be reduced. The vendors also take responsibility of looking for new ways for reducing cost. For example, the vendors constantly search new suppliers so that products and services can be purchased at lower cost.

3). Accessing necessary resources:

The outsourcing service providers have long experience in this field. Thus, they already possess necessary infrastructure and other resources which are required for purchasing from global market successfully. It, apart from enabling them to finish the job faster, also facilitate to focus on existing current opportunities. The outsourcing service providers have adequate knowledge on changes in customer demand, changes in priority and other related factors. In addition, the outsourcing service providers let businesses to implement supplementary strategies such as evaluation of suppliers, developing the new product line and penetrating to new sourcing destination. Other services of outsourcing vendors which are beneficial for the long term, are the installation of procurement systems, providing necessary training to your staff and reviewing current business processes and offering strategic advice.

4). Effective identification and solution of risk factors:

When it comes to procuring from the global market, the risk is unavoidable. Every organization purchasing products from the foreign market have to encounter a number of internal as well as external risks. Therefore, it is mandatory for businesses to acquire new resources and developing the existing ones through training and other programs. It is easy to understand that the process is quite expensive and bearing the cost may not be possible for small businesses always. Hiring a procurement service provider can be an effective solution in this case. By outsourcing some of the activities, businesses can tap the best talents at comparatively lower cost. As a result, identification of the risk factors associated with purchasing from the foreign market and evaluating those becomes easier.

Involving a third-party vendor to procurement activities has a significant impact on the delivery of purchased raw materials. These service providers focus only effective purchase of raw materials, handling those materials and delivering to your own destination. Clearly, it makes the business able to get a constant supply of products in a simpler way.

Shopify dropshipping

Elksourcing：Good Practices for Sourcing Products Internationally

Apr 16, 2021 , by 露露

Despite increasing importance of sourcing internationally, there are many organizations which are not aware of such practices. Below are some good practices I have learned from sourcing products internationally.

1- Know the market trends:

To source products internationally, at first, you should know what will be required and what are relevant. For instance, if you are sourcing a fashion product, it will have own demand and trends. Moreover, these trends can differ in the global and local market. Thus, before starting to source internationally, it is your task to research thoroughly. Before stocking inventory, ensure that what you are purchasing, will sell.

Bringing products to your domestic market may be time-consuming sometime. That’s why; you should keep an eye on what is new related to your product. It will ensure that you are receiving the perfect type of inventory always. Keeping an eye on the production management system of your chosen supplier is necessary to avoid the issues like outdated inventory or delays.

2- Understand your suppliers’ capacity:

In the case of overseas procurement, you have to rely on the supplier a lot. when buying some organic products, such as processed food, the order can be impacted by weather condition. On another hand, when you are supplying anything like electronics goods, then the risks caused by weather conditions start to reduce. However, in these cases, the infrastructure possessed by supplier influences the entire order quantity. Before choosing a supplier, make sure that the manufacturing unit is large enough to provide you with products of right quantity.

Analysis of the supplier’s capacity also needs extensive research. You can employ own staffs to assess the manufacturing capability of supplier before purchasing products from them. For too small organizations, where the resources are scarce, you can hire agencies for the purpose. While assessing a supplier, always try to visit the factories in advance multiple times. Only the factory visits can let you know the manufacturing capacity accurately. During such visits, be ready to ask the suppliers as any questions as you can. 

3- Check whether the quality is matching:

Matching up the quality is one of the biggest challenges for international sourcing. While sourcing globally, you have to match the quality of products offered by a manufacturer living in remote areas of a developing country to that demanded by your customers living in top cities. Clearly, the task is quite stressful. In your chosen sourcing destination, you may find a number of internationally recognizable supplier, though getting inventory from them can be little costly. If you are working on a tight budget, choose to purchase from multiple suppliers. It will also help you to get superior products in right quantity and at the right time.

Getting the sample of products manufactured by suppliers is another effective technique to assess their abilities. However, the quality of sample may not match always with that of actual products. Therefore, check the reliability of a supplier before making any deal.

4- Stay updated about major holidays: 

Every sourcing destination has different festivals and holidays. The production of your required product can remain suspended during these periods. If you do not plan in advance, such interruptions can take a serious toll on your supply chain. 

Getting products from foreign suppliers will become easier if you put yourself on their priority list. Otherwise, the suppliers may not give much importance to your order. While placing an order, provide the supplier with some information about your business or your inventory planning. If the suppliers realize that you are having long term plans, they will show more interest and serve you better.

Shopify dropshipping

Elksourcing：3 Mistakes You Should Avoid for Sourcing Products from China

Apr 15, 2021 , by 露露

For being successful in China sourcing, you should have clear understandings about the sourcing process and realistic expectations. Here, the most common mistakes for sourcing products from China are listed. 

1). Absence strategic management in case of China sourcing:

The companies, just after starting sourcing from China, usually make a lot of mistakes. Some of the most common mistakes, made by these companies include- lack of adequate research, the right strategy, and benchmarking process. It restricts businesses from setting the right product quality targets. Usually, the businesses source products from the Chinese market, mainly because of the cost benefits. However, according to the professionals, involved with sourcing, it shifts the focus from purchasing quality products to saving money. The commonly made mistakes of other businesses for sourcing Chinese products can be broadly classified into the following categories-

A.  Not having a proper strategy

B.  Not having any properly defined standard for the suppliers

C.  Lack of performance assessment for suppliers

D.  Not having well-defined payment process and quality assurance model 

E.  Not having any written contract with the suppliers

F.   Not having knowledge of local market practices and laws

G.  Not working with a professional who can communicate in local language

Before sourcing from China, businesses have to know all the risk factors associated with it and how will you encounter these. Along with setting realistic targets, businesses should have a system for assessing the suppliers also, so that the right decision on the renewal of contract or making contract with existing suppliers can be taken. Staying aware of local rules and regulations as well as business practices is another thing that leads to successful sourcing. Unless an importer is well acquainted with these factors, legal issues may rise and it, later can interrupt the sourcing process significantly.

2). Not considering sourcing as a core competency:

When it comes to sourcing from China, the strategy is the most critical part. At the first stage, you have to decide, whether you are going to buy or make? In many cases, buying products from foreign countries is a more feasible option. The second stage deals with deciding whether you will purchase from a low-cost country or will invest on low-cost products. When all these questions are answered, your next task will be, preparing the organization for next sourcing project.

The modern approach that many organizations adopt for sourcing products from China is, considering it as a core competency. In other words, the entire sourcing process is designed in such way so that a number of resources and talents work together. In the case of traditional sourcing projects, more focus was given on management of transactions and ensuring the maximum money. In the contemporary sourcing model, more emphasis is given on managing the KPIs.

For improving sourcing efficiency, most of the modern importers take help from the third-party agents. Sourcing activities which are outsourced in most of the cases, include- deciding whether you will focus more on cost savings or quality improvement, managing the cultural issues and achieving organizational targets in terms of cost, quality and timing.

3). Not knowing the best practices of China sourcing:

The sourcing best practices differ from country to country. While sourcing from China, an importer requires staying updated about all aspects of it. Typically, the critical elements for China sourcing include-

1.   Product life cycle, i.e. how much time will take to introduce it, the time required for branding etc.

2.   The right time to make purchases. It means, importers need to consider season, holidays etc. to avoid interruption or delays.

3.   Cost incurred for inventory handling

4.   Cultural issues that you may encounter.

5.   Managing relationship with suppliers

6.   Timely delivery of products

Sourcing products from China require continuous involvement. Just selecting a supplier and placing your orders will not help you here anyway. Instead, you have to put continuous effort for identifying new suppliers, making favorable contracts and improving the quality of the products to get the most out of the investment.