Sourcing from China: Directly from the factories or local wholesale market
Changes in China
For the last 40 years, China has built up its manufacturing base to be one of the most successful in the world.
For many years, you could purchase a Chinese-produced consumer good considerably (over 75%) cheaper in Western countries than in a shop in China. This was due to;
- Few Chinese chain stores
- Local Stores without the purchasing power
- Exported goods have no sales tax
- Poor transport infrastructure
- Poor distribution within China
- Underdeveloped Chinese consumer market
Chinese quality is changing
This all started to change in the last decade with phenomenal growth in the Chinese mobile network, giving national internet access to 80% of the Chinese population in only a few years. This, combined with government investments in transport infrastructure and a growth in China in disposable income resulted in;
- Wholesalers and retailers online
- Major online retail e-commerce sites, starting with TaoBao (part of Alibaba)
- Many shopping malls have been built in every city and many towns
- Lower and faster transport costs
The Chinese domestic consumer market's growth has increased imports of high-quality products from overseas. In turn, this has driven up the quality of locally produced products. Today, China is moving towards better quality products.
Lower-quality products are moving to other Asian countries.
Manufacturing
The advantage Chinese manufacturing has over many countries is the end-to-end supply chain for factories.
Very few Chinese factories make all the parts for a product. For example, a simple battery bedside lamp has over 10 component parts, most of which will be sourced from different factories.
One of the best places to see this in operations is the Chinese wholesale markets found in most Chinese cities. If a wholesale shop does not have the component part you require, then they often can find it from another shop within minutes.
The products we recommend you look for from Chinese factories and suppliers are products that have already been successful in other countries other than your own markets. This gives you the working marketing, business plan, etc, module to review and adopt if appropriate.
Access to China has sourced over 300 products from China over many years. Our staff's understanding of the manufacturing process in China and the ability to local products and components.
Wholesale
Access to China trade business to business (b2b), not business to consumer (b2c). Within China, we have access to manufacturers and wholesale markets. This has cost time and money to achieve.
This is the same as b2c business. It takes time and money to build a market, follows and then sales.
We are looking for businesses with existing markets looking to source directly from China. We will support your sourcing from China end to end, from locating the products through to the shipping.
When working with customers and manufacturers, we are always looking for the next development in a product life cycle. Chinese businesses are no different to anywhere else in the world, priority is given to existing channels for new products and developments first.
If you looking to source directly from China. Please get in contact. We would like to see if we get your business trading.