On Jun 24, 2014, at 9:45 PM, R J wrote:
Interesting report....
I teach import export, but from a USA perspective and caution I never assume I know anything about foreign markets. As an importer, I let the foreigner worry about the problems in his country, and I buy FOB. As an exporter, I let the foreigner worry about rules and regs etc in his country and I sell FOB. With this in mind, some ideas...
Retailers in USA take no risks either. The buyers are scientists, not artists. They hypothesize, test, recalibrate, hypothesize, test and so on until they know the market for a product . The pro buyers manage risk initially by purchasing very small amounts, to start, and test test test...... in the USA the B2B laws say merchandise moves only one way, it cannot be shipped back.. (although consignment is legal, it is usually only used for second hand goods...) It seems to me where you say "too many" I see "much opportunity." What if those folks could be shown practices that made business more rational, profitable, and easier? I am thinking the USA system, but... as I said, I know nothing of India.***
Yes, people are usually quite wrong as to everything relating to China. Too bad, because if premises are wrong, conclusions are likely wrong. Have you read Ogilvy on advertising: Make News, Enhance the image, grow the business. Seems you are heading that way....
Another odd thing... ecommerce has pretty much flatlined in USA... it is still under 7% of all usa retail, meaning 93% of sales are at brick and mortar. If it could grow more, it would have by now. Amazon is not making money selling things, it makes its money on info and services (like FBA.) Amazoon FBA is the most expensive option, you can get as good at a lower price in USA.... we can talk about that when you are ready to conquer this market.
Materialist vs consumerist. Emerging markets it seems to me, consist of materialists who wish to make purchases for goods that will last. Advance markets, like USA, people want goods that flash and discard, consumerism. Now, no country is 100% either way, and neither rich nor poor is 100% either way...
Unfortunately, unlike the US, our retail market is not too organized, sales reps for home and gifts aren't present, too many mom and pops, not too many chain stores and they buy only on consignment which means you ship it to them and they will pay you if it sells, because retailers don't take any risks!
China isn't cheap, not anymore at least! People here don't necessarily think so, and hence ironically I am editing a YouTube video for our customers today, where I talk about how China is fairly expensive and I also chatted with a few factories/suppliers at trade shows. So that's another thing we do that our competition doesn't do - interesting content and engagement.
E-commerce has taken off in a big way, and although we sell online too, we are looking to leverage these big ecommerce guys to sell our products. Amazon has just entered India and we have already got our stuff on their site, and are starting off with Amazon FBA as well. Next stop, Amazon FBA a in the US, and UK!
Attached are a few pictures to see the kind of premiums we are looking to sell. However these would fall under the 'cool stuff you see overseas' category. I reckon there is a wider market for this in the states than in India. We tend to be savers here, I hope I am wrong on this!
Specialty traders, such as me, sell to the materialists who want the best value (rarely is that the cheapest) because quality is usually the best bet.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
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