Insights

Notes for factories that sell abroad.

Short and practical, written from our own projects: what Western buyers look for, and what helps a factory get found.

Buyers 5 min read

What a Western buyer checks before replying to a factory

Before a buyer answers your email, they look you up. Here is what they check, in the order they usually check it, and how to get each step right.

From the article What a Western buyer checks before replying to a factory

A buyer at an importer or a retail chain gets emails from new suppliers every week. Most of them are deleted. When an email is interesting, the buyer usually does not answer straight away. First they look the factory up. It takes a few minutes, and it decides whether you get a reply.

We see this again and again in the outreach we do for factories.

1. Your website

The first click goes to your website, from the link in your email signature or from a Google search for your company name. In the first minute the buyer wants to know three things: do you really make this product, can you make it for them, and who should they talk to.

What helps:

Your own domain in your company’s name. A shop on a marketplace is not enough on its own.
Natural English, checked by someone who writes English well. Short sentences are fine.
Real photos of your products and of your factory. Stock photos and photos with watermarks make a buyer careful.
The basic facts: where you are, since when, what you make, the minimum order, and a named contact person.
Speed outside China. Open the site on a phone, through a connection outside China if you can. If it takes many seconds to load, many buyers will not wait.

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Product film 4 min read

How we made a 30-second product film from nine catalogue photos

The Safari film for Loving Home was made with AI from the factory’s own catalogue photos. No camera, no studio. Here is how it was made, step by step, and what still needs a human eye.

From the article How we made a 30-second product film from nine catalogue photos

Loving Home Collection is a porcelain factory in Chaozhou. Its Safari collection is matte black tableware with hand-painted wild animals. For this collection we made a 30-second product film from nine photos in the factory’s catalogue. We always say clearly that the film is AI-made.

What we started with

Nine catalogue photos: plates, bowls and dishes from one collection, photographed on a white background. No lifestyle photos, no video.

That is normal. Most factories have good product photos on white, and nothing that shows the product in use. For a buyer, a photo on white answers the question “what is it?”. A film answers “how does it look on a table, in a home, in a shop?”.

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Search 4 min read

Being found in Google and AI search: what actually helps a manufacturer

Buyers search for suppliers in Google, and more and more of them ask AI assistants. This is what makes a factory easier to find and easier to recommend, and what is a waste of money.

From the article Being found in Google and AI search: what actually helps a manufacturer

Many buyers start looking for a new supplier with a search. Some type into Google, others ask an AI assistant, for example: “Find porcelain mug manufacturers in China that accept small orders.” Both read the open web: factory websites, trade-fair listings, directories and marketplaces.

There is no trick, and nobody can guarantee you a place at the top. But some work clearly helps a factory get found.

How buyers search

Buyers rarely search for a company name they do not know. They search for a product and a need: “stoneware mugs wholesale”, “porcelain dinnerware for hotels”, “ceramic lamp base manufacturer”.

For many of these searches, the first results are marketplaces and directories. A factory’s own page can appear when it answers that exact search better than a listing does.

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Next step

Let’s make the West see your factory.

Send one product photo and the name of your factory. We reply within one working day with what we would do first.

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