How to Find Buyers for Your Export Products

The export business is currently booming. According to UNCTAD, global trade peaked at over $28 billion in 2021 alone. This accomplishment is a strong indicator that now, more than ever, international trade is experiencing significant growth. This international trade boom has put exporters in a particularly advantageous position. 

Numerous markets are available to receive exported goods, and the exporters are poised to make significant profits from huge sales. However, one of the biggest challenges with the exportation business is the ability to find buyers. While there is no doubt that there is a robust availability of buyers in the market, the problem lies with the ability to find those buyers. This article discusses the tips you can adopt to find reliable buyers for your export products. 

Finding a Reliable Buyer for Your Export Business: Tips to Apply

Attend Trade Fairs

There are many peculiarities with the export business. One of such peculiarities is the difficulty of finding buyers within your location. Most of your customers are likely to be foreign buyers, and these buyers will rarely exist within your physical circle. This distance is why trade fairs are beneficial. Trade fairs are events that gather buyers and suppliers in one location. These events allow suppliers to showcase their products, demonstrate quality, and establish connections. International buyers and companies attend many of these trade fairs, giving you a chance to connect with numerous potential buyers. You can get information on trade fairs and trade-related events from the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). The FIEO's official website provides information on a list of trade-related events held in India. You must note, however, that trade fairs can be quite expensive and time-consuming, with costs like booth rentals, travel costs, invested time, and transportation costs for the goods, among others.

Utilize Export Promotion Agencies

Export promotion agencies are established for the sole purpose of increasing exports by providing incentives to exporters. For example, the Indian government has numerous export promotion agencies. They include the India Trade Promotion Organisation, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), and the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). These agencies possess strong international connections that place them in a position to provide Indian exporters with intel on potential buyers. You should note that these agencies may not be entirely efficient.

Create an Efficient Website

Physical connections can be a hassle. More so, the world is becoming increasingly digital. This also applies to finding customers for your export business. You can easily seek out buyers via online channels, one of which is utilizing a website. The internet is a digital marketplace; you can leverage this by creating your website and displaying your products. It is crucial to prioritize simplicity and efficiency with websites. This would ensure potential customers can easily navigate the website and make orders. However, creating a website can be expensive, complicated, and difficult to generate traffic. Hence, you may not get importers despite having an efficient website. 

Leverage Social Media

Social media is one of the best avenues to find buyers for your export business. The reason is that social media gives your business a personalized touch and enables you to create cordial relations with potential buyers. In addition, you can showcase your products to gain access to buyers from numerous countries across the globe. For example, displaying your products on a social media platform like Twitter will ensure that you gain access to a market of over 300 million Twitter users. This number demonstrates the limitless market access that social media provides to exporters. However, social media can be limited in its reach. Most of your posts can be targeted at users in your geographical location. You may also struggle to achieve a high SEO ranking or visibility for your products compared to using an established digital marketplace. This beats the whole point of seeking international buyers for your products. 

Use Buying Agents

Buying agents are businesses or individuals that buy export products on behalf of importers in a specific country. Using buying agents is a viable option if you intend to establish a large customer base for your export business. Most buying agents purchase export products in bulk and distribute them afterwards to importers. Also, they serve as the primary link between exporters and intending buyers in foreign markets. You can gain access to buying agents through procurement companies. E-commerce platforms also list buying agents as purchasers. A marketplace like Doocan verifies agents signing up on the platform before listing them as buyers. Doocan also mandates KYC checks for all users as an added security measure. With these features, you can securely access buying agents for your export business. 

Chambers of Commerce

Chambers of Commerce are the primary agencies in charge of trade in a country. In addition, they regulate all issues relating to international trade. Chambers of commerce help find buyers because they often provide commercial support to exporters. They also offer training and networking sessions that help exporters build connections with potential buyers. You can get in touch with your local chamber of commerce to take advantage of these benefits. 

Use a digital B2B marketplace

While the methods mentioned above are undoubtedly effective, e-commerce platforms provide a more straightforward, highly effective, and affordable option for exporters seeking to find buyers. 

An e-commerce platform is the best option for finding export buyers due to some reasons. First, e-commerce export-import platforms are cost-effective. Hence, exporters do not have to invest funds to create and maintain a separate website. Instead, finding buyers can easily be done by signing up to the digital trade marketplace website and creating product listings. Also, unlike trade fairs where exporters are expected to pay hefty sums to attend, an e-commerce store can be established with fewer costs. In addition, the e-commerce option is more straightforward to use. Export e-commerce platforms also take care of payment transactions with minimal fraud risks. For instance, a platform like Doocan connects Indian suppliers to American buyers. After orders are placed, the funds are securely held in escrow and released immediately after the products are shipped. This service ensures that suppliers not only have access to a large market but also that they transact with reliable buyers

The success of every export business is centered on the ability to find buyers. However, finding these buyers can be risky, given that many exporters have fallen victim to fraudsters posing as buyers. This is why it is vital to ensure that your buyers are reliable. 

Digital export-import B2B marketplaces can help achieve that. These platforms are professionally run and have necessary checks to prevent fraud. Essentially, these platforms take the stress of finding buyers off your shoulders while guaranteeing the safety of transactions. As an Indian exporter, you can leverage Doocan’s platform to find ready buyers from the US by joining the waitlist.