The Future of China Sourcing

Good communication is the cornerstone of ANY relationship. Business AND personal.   You could also argue that good communication creates wealth and adds value to what you are doing.  Sounds familiar?

When it comes to China sourcing, good communication is both more important and more difficult to achieve.  More important because it affects your bottom line, and more difficult because your counterparts are Chinese: there is a cultural and language gap to overcome.

So you want to ensure that you have excellent communications with your suppliers, vendors and all agents in China that are working on your behalf. It is of the utmost importance.

In this blog, we wanted to review how importers have communicated in the past, how they are currently communicating and what the future may hold for advancements in communication.

What are the main elements of good communication?  You could argue that they are the following:

– Clarity: To avoid misunderstandings, to ensure great quality, you want your communication to convey attention to detail, you want the ability to deliver not just good voice, or text, but also images, graphics and complex drawings.

– Speed: It is of the essence today. You want to reply fast, as well as accurately.

– Cost: You want low cost. Ideally, no cost.  Because the opposite: high costs, means that you will try and save, which means you will communicate less, and less well.

– Language: Obviously it works better if you speak the same language. Has communication technology facilitated the language challenge?

How much has progressed so far?  What has technology done recently and what will it do soon to make a difference to the above?

Recently, with new developments in China and international trade in general, we at CPG began thinking about how much China sourcing has evolved over the last 40 years. We began to evaluate how much has changed in terms of communications, how much continues to evolve, and how much has been just revolutionary.

In this new blog series, we’ll be discussing and evaluating how China sourcing has evolved from the past, how it is currently changing, and what we could expect in the future.

How have recent developments changed your China sourcing program? How have they stayed the same? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

 

By Jocelyn Trigueros