Export market research resources that every exporter should know
- Bogdan Georgiev
- Feb 9, 2022
- 9 min read
Updated: May 23, 2022
International trade is an important part of today's world, it allows countries to expand their markets and access products and services that otherwise may not have been available domestically. The result is that the market is more competitive.
And to be competitive in this dynamic environment it's important to keep yourself updated on all the opportunities, challenges, and trends in the industry because your competition most likely will.
Trade intelligence and market research are critical components of successful export planning, and it’s important to gather the necessary information for decision-making in a timely and cost-effective way.
Here we made a list of some of the most useful resources that will help you to be always informed, and aware of the environment in which your business operates.
I will take the opportunity to mention Export Map, it exists with the sole purpose to provide you with a customized export research report, saving your team time, effort, and most likely- money, giving you a panoramic yet detailed view of the industry, due diligence of the potential markets and its participants, and practically every bit of market data needed for decision making, so you or your export department no longer need to scan the globe for market gaps, opportunities, potential clients and partners, and wonder how your competitors are doing.
We don't have an affiliate agreement with any of the listed companies, so you can be sure that we have added only the resources which we have selected over the years and have proven to be the most effective.
On the list you will find:
International Trade Centre
The International Trade Centre (ITC) is probably the most useful resource for exporters, it's dedicated to supporting the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Offers a variety of market analysis FREE online tools that can be useful for every exporter.
The list is actually quite long:
Trade Map - Provides tables, graphs and maps with indicators on export performance, international demand, alternative markets and competitive markets, as well as a directory of importing and exporting companies. Trade Map covers 220 countries and territories and 5300 products of the Harmonized System. The monthly, quarterly and yearly trade flows are available from the most aggregated level to the tariff line level.
Market Access Map - Market Access Conditions, Identify customs tariffs, tariff rate quotas, trade remedies, regulatory requirements and preferential regimes applicable to your product.
Rules of origin facilitator - Rules of Origin Facilitator is the first comprehensive global online resource on tariffs, trade agreements and rules of origin. The tool enables you in a few clicks to find out import duties in foreign markets applicable to your product, available duty savings, detailed rules of origin, and certification procedures.
Investment Map - The Investment Map database collects yearly FDI statistics for about 200 countries and detailed FDI sectoral and/or country breakdown for about 115 countries. The Investment Map helps Investment Promotion Agencies identify priority sectors and competing countries for foreign investments, as well as existing and potential foreign investors. Moreover, it helps companies identify potential locations for investment abroad.
Trade Competitiveness Map - Analyse country and product competitiveness with trade flows.
Export Potential Map - The Export Potential Map identifies products, markets, and suppliers with (untapped) export potential as well as opportunities for export diversification for 226 countries and territories and 4,376 products. Export Potential Map evaluates export performance, target market demand, market access conditions, and bilateral linkages between the exporting and importing countries to provide a ranking of untapped opportunities.
Procurement Map - provides detailed information for public tenders and contract awards. This tool offers a route to foster entrepreneurship and to seek new market opportunities. Users can easily identify potential buyers thanks to an intuitive search based on target country and economic sector. Additional information on Sustainability Standards and Women and Procurement may help users improve their corporate profiles.
Standards Map - The world’s largest database for sustainability standards. Contains free, accessible, comprehensive, verified and transparent information on over 300 standards for environmental protection, worker and labour rights, economic development, quality and food safety, as well as business ethics.
Market Price Information - Market Price Information provides free access to real-time data on prices and market updates for more than 300 agricultural products.
Non-tariff measures - ITC's programme on non-tariff measures aims at increasing transparency and help countries better understand the non-tariff obstacles to trade.
LegaCarta - Providing access to a core group of some 250 multilateral trade instruments with references to approximately 450 amendments and protocols, in addition to legal maps, ratification tables, accession statistics and country analysis and technical assistance tools, LegaCarta offers national authorities, trade promotion organisations, private sector organisations and educational institutions a truly global picture of the multilateral rules that impact trade.
*Companies you will find in Trade Map are those registered as importing or exporting companies in their sources- Kompass International and Dun and Bradstreet.
Export Genius
Export Genius offers a Comprehensive Market View. You can Search import-export data online by country, importer, exporter, HS Code, commodity, data duration, port name, transport mode etc.
It will help you Identify and study trade relationships of import & export companies and know from whom your competitors buy or to whom they supply goods.
Customs Data contains 100% shipment information including company details. Contains detailed customs data of 48+ countries online. Customs data is useful to find importers & exporters, monitor trade activities of competitors and gain in-depth market insights.
Statistical Data covers useful shipment information such as Date, Quantity, Price, Country and so on, but No Company Names. You can access statistical data of 28 European countries online and other nations. Statistical data is useful to find potential market, determine market price of every commodity which companies import & export globally and analyze market share of countries.
Mirror Data contains data of those countries whose direct data is not available and re-structured on the basis of data of their partner countries. the database covers 188 countries mirror data that is better than no data.
Bill of Lading Data is based on shipping documents and contains companies’ shipment information but pricing details are not available.
Suez Canal Data contains bill of lading data of shipments, which move through Suez Canal. You can gain access to 89 countries Suez Canal BL data.
Pricing varies from $1200 to $8000 per year.
TradeAtlas
TradeAtlas provides its members with the most critical and to-the-point market data such as the importers’/exporters’ name, the import value or amount and time of importation/exportation based on HS code or import/export shipment, the share of an importer in total imports of the country where they are located by each HS code and so on. This way, TradeAtlas users are able to monitor their competitors and customers in the international markets.
TradeAtlas users can benefit from:
data of 230 countries
Over 20 million actual overseas importers based on bills of lading and customs records
Unlimited searching and downloading of data of overseas importers in any appointed product category for a member
More than 1,8 billion import shipment details
The importers data according to HS Code and/or product name
On the website you can also find a list of Customs duties and tariff schedules applied by countries, regional economic integrations, and customs unions.
Pricing varies from $2750 to $7750 per year.
Market Research sources
International market research is a critical component of successful export planning. Unfortunately, many exporters skip this step or they only select new markets based on website inquiries or where a competitor is selling.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) - The WTO provides quantitative information in relation to economic and trade policy issues. Its databases and publications provide access to data on trade flows, tariffs, non-tariff measures (NTMs), and trade in value-added. The WTO provides economic analysis and research that aims to deepen understanding of trends in trade, trade policy issues, and the multilateral trading system.
MarketResearch.com - MarketResearch.com is the leading provider of industry intelligence for businesses, consultants, investors, and anyone seeking to understand where markets, countries, or companies are headed. With over 350 publishers covering every sector of the economy as well as emerging industries, they curate the most comprehensive collection of market reports and services updated daily.
Passport - Euromonitor International - With millions of internationally standardized statistics, you can gain an unbiased view of industries, markets, and companies. Euromonitor is the world's leading independent provider of strategic market research. Get data and analysis on thousands of products and services globally.
Freight Forwarder listings and platforms
Freightnet - Global directory of over 28,000 Freight Forwarders ready to service your freight and cargo transportation requirements. Request a freight quote from their Premium Qualified Members. Receive multiple quotations and compare prices. Your rate request will be posted to their premium members within one hour and you will receive a fast response to your enquiry.
Saloodo! - connects shippers and carriers on a digital freight platform. Only for EU countries.
Twill - Are you looking for simple logistics? With Twill, booking, tracking, and managing your shipments is easy. They offer a wide range of logistics solutions, from transportation to financial services. Find dates and rates that suit your needs. With detailed insights into shipment routes and transparent pricing, you’re empowered to make the best shipping decisions. Shipping to more than 300 ports in over 150 countries.
FORWARDERS.COM - Forwarders.com is strictly a "match-making" platform. All Forwarders are licensed in their country and abide by International shipping standards. Forwarders.com does not get involved in the shipping, quoting, or handling of the goods. Each Forwarder will contact you directly and work with you directly.
SimplyDuty
Quick tool to calculate import duty & taxes for hundreds of destinations worldwide - SimplyDuty
Business-to-Business Directories and Databases
Here are some of the best and fastest-growing global B2B platforms that are helping thousands of businesses in the world to grow and reach their international and local clients.
Kompass - The Kompass business B2B portal, helps buyers and trustworthy suppliers to connect and do business locally and globally. Contains more than 32 million verified companies, 34 million B2B buyers every year, and 55.000 products and services at your disposal. Kompass provides free information that their locally based teams update on a regular basis. You can find for many companies their number of employees, details of their products and services as well as their contact details.
Dun & Bradstreet - The Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud, covers hundreds of millions of business records in which you can discover insights about companies of interest to you. Search their industry directory to view highlights from their industry reports to gain visibility into growing markets and understand trends and forecasts. Use industry insights to target companies based on size, location, competitors and more. Their industry analysis tools help sales teams research prospects, business challenges, call preparation questions, industry forecasts, and more.
DiscoverOrg - Connect and close ideal customers using a B2B business contact database and buying signals you can't get anywhere else. While subscriptions is on the expensive side, starting at around $25k a year, what LinkedIn does for one-on-one relationship building, DiscoverOrg does for prospecting for b2b sales leads at scale, particularly with enterprise-level accounts.
Global Database - Provides you with structured company datasets allowing you to easily explore business opportunities anywhere in the world, verify and approve the companies that are financially stable, regulatory compliant and hit the highest lead scores, contact the right people at the right companies at the right time applying account-based marketing in each channel, and grow your business exponentially. Find, verify and sell to over +120M companies worldwide.
Cognism Prospector - Cognism is a B2B lead generation, outbound automation and data processing service. They maintain a database of 5.6 billion data points, including 400 million business profiles and 10 million companies. This unique data asset provides B2B organizations with a GDPR-compliant way of prospecting leads and enriching data. Use Cognism to find verified emails, direct dials, and mobile numbers of B2B professionals working in a variety of industries across the US and Europe. The unique database includes SMEs and mid-market companies you can’t find anywhere else.
You can also often find useful, country-specific information on the websites of International Trade Departments for free.
There are a lot more export resources out there, but I believe those are the most essential and that with them you can cover most of the components of a worthy export research and the list is already a bit long, so I will leave it like that for now, but maybe part 2 will come in the future.
Hope this article will help you in your export research, but if you want to entrust this responsible task to a professional and save yourself time and money I will once again bring up Export Map (if we don't promote ourselves in our content, then where), and that we have access to almost any related to export database, we work with local contacts and our team consists of professionals in the field of export and market research with many years of experience, and if you need detailed export research with all the necessary information and analysis, our prices are unparalleled, and it will be far more expensive to gather by yourself all the information we provide.
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