Asian Vendors launches its portal in India

US-based Asian Vendors Inc launched its website asianvendors.com aiming to be the first export-import exchange based in India

US-based Asian Vendors Inc launched its website asianvendors.com in India yesterday. This portal is first of its kind in India. The click-and-brick model enables a global buyer to get detailed information on the vendor of a particular product in Asia, as well as the product, and the pricing. The company has invested $2 million in sourcing the technology from Neuvis Inc and around $10 million in setting up the site. The Indian partner of Asian Vendors Inc is M&N publication. The company publishes 80 per cent of the official directories in India, the flagship brand being Getit Yellow Pages.

Asian Vendor's decision to zoom in on India was backed by its research findings. India contributes 25 per cent to the total export business generated from the Asian countries. And the chunk of the buyer community is mainly in the US and Europe. That clearly indicates that India is major hub for vendors/exporters of various products. And that is where the company spotted an opportunity.

asianvendors.com is the trusted EXIM infomediary on Asia and provides comprehensive product catalogues, and in-depth databases along with other value-added services. Currently, the site provides information on over 14,601 product categories ranging from textiles, leather products, gems and jewellery, agriculture to machinery, wood and wood products and medicine. "It took around three years to aggregate the information and build a store-house of data. We have leveraged the strong infrastructure of the official yellow pages and marketing companies across Asia to gather authentic information," said Ramesh Gupta, chairman and CEO, asianvendors.com.

The site has a host of services to simplify the process of tracking down a suitable vendor in Asia for a buyer based in the US or Europe. The prospective buyer can search through the database of suppliers by country or for products by the NAICS (North America Industrial classification system) product code number keyword. The other services listed on the site include classified advertising, interactive features to host real-time discussions for industry professionals, trade-show information etc.

In addition, the portal aims to provide value-added services on the lines of credit ratings, inspection facilities, logistics and support. In the next phase of development, the site has an ambitious plan to evolve from being an information base to a trusted e-marketplace.

The portal has a very simple revenue model. Revenue would come from the vendors who are interested in being listed on the site. An amount of $1,450 per annum is charged from the vendors. For that money, the vendor gets to display up to 10 products. Around 10 to 15 pages are dedicated to furnish details of products, the nature of business and profile of the vendor. The company brass claims that its officials personally visit the vendors to take the pictures of the products that would be displayed on the site.

Currently, asianvendors.com is targeting around 25,000 registered vendors in India. To promote the portal, the company will leverage M&N's large sales force that services a customer base of 78,000. Apart from this, direct mails and telemarketing will be extensively used. The company also has plans to attract companies to advertise smart banners on its site.