Internet has changed the way we live for ever. And when we say the way we live, we mean it inclusive of communication, labor, and of course, commerce. Several forms or stages of commerce have been revolutionized by the Internet. Not just how and what we buy or sell, but even where from. Every one from consumers to whole sellers, or those involved in export or import business can find digital leads too.
Let us take a closer look at the latter stage or model of e commerce; export of import business. There was a time when thick books, folders filled the book racks and table tops in clearing houses and whole sellers or retailers. The books were of course full of contacts and leads for various products. But these days they are all a click away- no more chaotic stacks of visiting cards or Rolodex. And certainly no more thick directories. Anyone with a computer and an internet connection can go online to get the information they need about the export of import business. Not only that, you can even easily find information on issues of trade relations, treaties, currency exchange rates, logistics and everything related to trade basically.
If you are just exploring your options, or there are a wide variety of products that interest you, then check out websites such as FITA.org, the website of The Federation of International Trade Associates, which offers extensive resources on all things you might want or need to know about the export and import business. Then there are websites such as Tradenet.com, which has an alphabetically listed category of products, or Wholesaledistributorsnet.com which also offers endless categories of products and their manufacturers and distributors. Alibaba.com is a particularly popular website too and has well laid out category options such as Agriculture and Apparels to Environment and Eyewear. The listings are really quite marvelous in these online Rolodex. Perfect for anyone in the export or import business.
If you already have a product in mind, that is even better. You can stream line your search on the internet and find distributors on that particular item itself. But of course, the sites like that ones listed above are equally helpful as chances are they do carry the category to which the item you are looking for import belongs.
The digital era has also transformed the import business at its roots. It is not just about being able to find suppliers easily on the internet; it is also about being able to communicate with them easily via email as opposed to fax or letters. Then there is the other even more basic aspect of how commerce has been digitized; invoices, bills, inventory, all these things are now maintained as digital files on computers making them easier to maintain, locate and update. Just make sure you maintain an external back up system so that you don’t lose anything should your computer crash. Other than that, there’s very little to complain about the steady digitization of commerce.