Top 10 China Sourcing Companies Part 1: The List

Sourcing from China offers tremendous cost savings, especially if you buy directly from Chinese factories. To do so, you need the right on-site support. (To learn more about why on-site support is essential – see The Cost of Doing Nothing.)

But what does on-site support mean, exactly? For large importers, this often means having their own sourcing office, sometimes with multiple locations and perhaps hundreds of employees. Smaller importers, on the other hand, cannot justify setting up, hiring, training, and managing their own China team. For these companies, working with a reliable and knowledgeable third-party service provider, i.e., a “China Sourcing Company” is the best solution.

There are a lot of China sourcing companies to choose from, and they are all different.  Their size, experience, headquarters, specialties and services vary.  So how do you figure out which is the best fit for you? 

Every importer is unique: they have different products, business models, and needs. These needs can range from fine-tuning a complex existing sourcing operation to simply finding a source for one specific product. Some buyers want complete control over every aspect of their supply chain, others just want the product to arrive in good shape and on time. They do not want to be involved in the details. Some need the lowest possible cost, others prioritize quality. One solution does not fit all: different importers are best served by different service providers.

To find the best, a US importer should be able to study and compare an authoritative list of service providers based on their strengths and weaknesses in key areas using specific, objective criteria. Makes sense, right? Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any such list. Of the lists we did find, the rating criteria was subjective and unclear, and therefore, not very credible or useful.

The List: We decided to remedy the situation by publishing our own carefully researched and authoritative Top Ten List of China Sourcing Companies. To compile this list, we focused on companies that primarily service US importers, for example we did not include companies like Lee&Fung who target retailers. We studied their public data (mostly their website) and reviewed and evaluated over 70 service providers in great detail on multiple facets.  And then we simplified and rated them on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the CPG standard) in the four categories that matter most:

– Experience
– Cost & Transparency
– Expertise
– Communication

We also listed their headquarters and identified the kind of companies they appear to be targeting. The result is an easy-to-read short list of the best companies in the business. We hope you will find it useful.

Submit the form below to download the list now!

 

In our next blog, we will share our assumptions and the methodology of our analysis so that you can better understand the selection rationale. This, perhaps, will facilitate your own evaluation based on what matters to you the most. 

Stay-tuned!

 By The CPG Team

Editor’s note: This blog was originally published in June 15, 2021.