When searching the internet to answer Eric’s question below, I came across Importgenius.com again, and they have been busy coming up with new offerings. I’ll reiterate what I said before, and then critique, from the small biz point of view, their new offerings.
My critique is two part: one is the useful information they offer is otherwise available for free while importgenius.com charges a pretty penny; their offerings seem to be geared toward big business.
Having said that they have some intro videos up on their site, previewing their paid offerings... I’ll critique each.
Use Customs Records to Find Suppliers for Any Product
Video one: This we already know how to do on our own at no cost. No need or pay big bucks for that.
Track Your Competitors' Imports Using U.S. Customs Data
Video two: No need to track our competitors at all, since we are customer focussed, not competitor focussed. Our customers will tell us all we need to know about our competitors. We initially need to know all of our competitors for the reason I lay out in my reply to Eric below. But once known, any salient info will come form our customers. We know how to get this information at no cost.
View a Dazzling Visual Map of Any Company's Trade Connections
Video three: yes, a dazzling map, but not much point beyond that. Our suppliers will be eager to share the same info anyway, so why buy it from importgenius.com? As you look at the video, do note a point I have long made, and that is we all go to the same sources. It is a dazzling graphic of a controversial point I have long made.
Also, any company that does not care to end up in such representations as importgenius.com offers, can and will hide themselves from this exposure. I think in time more will elect to hide themselves, making this particular avenue of investigation less valuable. This offering seems to have a built in self-destruct mechanism if it becomes popular.
Also, it is only ocean freight, leaving out airfreight, which may be more valuable info in some instances. Airfreight data is not available to the public as ocean freight data is.
Identify High-Value Sales Prospects with Import Genius
Video four: At the small business level, competing on design and not price, the proper way to identify high-value sales prospects is to go straight to those entities you’d expect to buy from you, and test your hypothesis and either gain orders or feedback on redesign. Buying a list that contains names you already know and you still have to visit seems like a waste to me.
As I look at all of the needs of the trader in import and export, I cannot see any services not yet available. Importgenius.com does not seem to be targeting small business anyway, but I do get people asking me about them. They are very well funded, but to what purpose?
Also, all of this can be done for export as well, as I do in my courses, so I wonder why they do not offer the export side as well.
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