For some furniture and home décor importers, sourcing new products especially in Indonesia in this uncertain Covid situation is too complicated and full of hassle. Even in this digital era where you are supported with high-tech and user-friendly websites such as Alibaba.com and Amazon.com, sourcing products from Indonesia for your brand and store can be difficult. As a result, many importers avoid sourcing the products all on their own and instead rely on sourcing agents or trade organizations to do the legwork. Furthermore, this sourcing strategy can be an effective and efficient way for you to avoid all the hassles, especially if you want to develop new product ranges and do not have any suppliers yet. However, you should know several mistakes that are usually made by the furniture importers when sourcing their products in Indonesia, thus you could avoid them. Here are five common product sourcing mistakes and how to avoid them:
1) Not setting product’s quality standards
Setting your quality standards before going to the field sourcing the products seems not really important, but in fact, it is the most important thing you should do. You will save a lot of time and money if you use your quality guidelines to narrow the field. Furthermore, if you choose to work with a sourcing agent in Indonesia who already knows the suppliers and the quality of their products, it will help you to get the products with the quality standards you wanted.
2) Not checking the product samples
Making sure you are working with a good and reliable supplier is really important to avoid scams and fraud companies. The only method to assess a factory’s capabilities is to visit it in person, take a virtual factory tour, or check product samples. When you start your sourcing process, gathering samples and inspecting their quality is the most preventive approach that will save you from a fraud company. Following that process, an approved product sample— will be your gold standard for your supplier in manufacturing your products.
3) Not asking for transparency
After knowing that your supplier can meet your standards in terms of quantity and quality, it’s critical to minimize your risks by requesting complete transparency. Even when dealing with really trustworthy manufacturers, it’s important to express how much you value proactive communication. Of course, requesting transparency will not put you ahead of every difficulty. Still, it is always easier to solve the problems when you have accurate and relevant information from your manufacturer. While there will always be unforeseen factors to deal with, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that the direct-to-consumer brands with the strongest crisis communication skills are the ones staying competitive and profitable. That is why transparency is important when you are importing from Indonesia.
4) Thinking that no news means everything is under control
If you’ve previously established contact with a factory and things appear to be going well, you should continue to hear from them regarding the progress of your order. A reliable manufacturing partner will keep you updated in every stage of the manufacturing process. If you find it difficult to communicate with your supplier, it is something to be aware of. It is important to save you from the supplier that suddenly disappears after an order is completed and paid for.
5) Ignoring your instincts
You must follow your instincts before deciding to work with a new supplier. As an importer or buyer, the cheaper price seems more interesting for you as you can get more profit from it, however, price should not be your only consideration. You should make sure of their product’s quality, the material they use, and their capability to work on your order. Most importantly, if something seems wrong such as the products pictured on their website look a little too perfect—or they even show branded products you’re confident they can’t supply. Whatever it is, trust your instincts and walk away if you get the impression things just don’t add up.
How to minimize all the risks of importing furniture from Indonesia?
Importing furniture from overseas is never a simple task to do. At the very beginning yet the most important one, you have to find excellent factories that meet your standards in terms of product quality and organization management. Furthermore, after having found the best factory, you have to negotiate the price and take care of all the documents. Those tasks sound tiring and consume so much time and energy. But, there are always solutions to every problem. Having a sourcing agent that acts and do all the job on behalf of your company is really a time-energy-money saver.
What are the benefits of working with a sourcing agent?
If you are still wondering whether working with a sourcing agent is a good decision to make or not. Here is the explanation of why it will become the best decision that you have ever made:
- Sourcing agent as your business partner. Looking for a high-standard manufacturer who produces the high-standard quality product is similar to looking for a needle in a haystack. By hiring a sourcing agent, he will help you to find the best supplier of the products you want. He will absolutely be a savior for you.
- Sourcing agent as your spokesperson. Hiring a sourcing agent means you have nothing to worry about. They live around your suppliers and they spoke the same language as your suppliers. This will save you from the communication and culture gap between you and your suppliers. And also your sourcing agent will act as your trusted middleman who will negotiate with the suppliers to get you the best prices.
- Sourcing agents will minimize your risk, and maximize your profit. Why? It is because you don’t have to spend much money to travel to Indonesia just to check and monitor your productions. Let your sourcing agent do the job of taking care of all the documents and be your eyes during the manufacturing process.
- Getting out of trouble. When problems arise such as product quality claims and delayed shipment an importer who isn’t in Indonesia cannot just solve them by emails and phone calls, a sourcing agent knows the ins and outs of the business in Indonesia, they can visit the suppliers regularly to see what’s going on and report to you immediately if there is anything that goes wrong. They can ensure you access trusted suppliers so that you get the conform products.
Get sourcing help from the experts on the ground in Indonesia now!
Asean Sourcing can act as your partner working in the ground in Indonesia to avoid you from all the hassles of sourcing your product.
Asean Sourcing is a sourcing agent and service company, unlike the other common sourcing agencies, we are the expert in the furniture and décor home industry in Indonesia, and we invest our time and knowledge to give and source high-quality products with the best price balance for you. If you are looking for a professional sourcing agent to assist you with your import business, Asean Sourcing is the right choice!
Recent Comments