In today’s environment, it’s very unlikely that you can find new customers just by traveling, meeting face-to-face, and attending physical fairs because these opportunities have been very limited since the pandemic. In this era of developing technology and with it digitization, you may be looking for faster, cheaper and practical methods of foreign trade. Because today’s technology and digital infrastructure assures you of it. Because of all this, you may be trying to find customers from the internet and websites using less traditional methods. There are various ways to find customers on the Internet, but how effective are they?  If you want to know whether it is possible to find customers online, read this article.

1. You are likely to spend hours on the Internet to find a suitable customer

Time is precious these days. Do you measure the effort your team puts into finding a customer? The Internet is a huge world, and there are a lot of things in it. With so many options, apps and websites, you need to know very well where and how to look. If you do not know how to find new customers, you could easily become lost in this world and spend more time than you should on the internet.

2. It is not easy to find the right customer from the Internet and sites

It’s not easy to find the right customer on the Internet. Also, if you don’t know exactly who or what to look for, you may not even realize it if you find it. If you don’t know who your target audience is, it becomes challenging to find them.  There is information from many large and small companies on the internet, but with the limited information on the internet, it will not be easy to read your target audience correctly and reach them. 

3. The up-to-dateness of listing sites is debatable

Listing sites, where you can access company information through direct purchase and/or membership, is one of the methods for finding new customers. Because the price of these lists depends on the number of companies in the list, their reliability is a matter of debate. In order to make more money, they can also list companies that are not actively engaged in foreign trade, and the information may not be accurate because it is not updated frequently. Checking that the information is up-to-date also means an additional expenditure of time and money. 

4. Companies you find on the internet may not be trustable

There are many companies that claim to do foreign trade on the Internet. But are these companies real or do they only exist on paper? There is no way to know for sure. A company with contact information in Africa may present itself as a large company on the Internet, but may not even have an office in reality.  In order to find reliable companies on the internet and not to lose money while doing foreign trade, you need to research the companies thoroughly.

5. The difficulties you will experience while reaching the right contact from the internet in foreign trade

It is often difficult to reach the right department or person within a company you find on the internet or on a listing site. This is because the email addresses you find on the internet or on listing sites are usually just informational emails. These e-mails are usually handled by assistants or non-administrators.  It is unlikely, if you do try to reach someone, that they will be authorized to help you.  This could reduce the probability of reaching the right person and making foreign trade.

6. The companies you find on the internet and sites may not be in your target audience

Although the listing website says there are companies from all over the world and in all fields, there may not be enough companies on the list. Alternatively, companies you find on the internet may not have enough products on hand or may no longer trade them. The information these companies provide on the Internet may not be up-to-date or genuine. You may need to spend a lot of time figuring out if these companies are included in your target audience.  

Technology and the digital world provide great convenience to you as well as to many people. However, keep in mind that in the virtual world, Sometimes things are not as they really are, they are as they should be shown. Technology has brought some trust issues along with debates regarding convenience and practicality. Many foreign trade companies prefer to use reliable B2B foreign trade platforms because they don’t trust the idea of doing business with people they don’t know.  Digital trade can cause a cautious approach to international trade. In this article, you can read 7 reasons why digital solutions are untrustworthy in foreign trade.

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