A New Approach To B2B Searching B2B

Hong Kong SAR, China, 29 November 2006 — An exciting Internet start-up, the Global Source Directory based in Hong Kong, is launching a new business-to- business information platform in December. Using the latest Web technology, the site will connect product suppliers and service providers to customers both locally and internationally. The site is being designed to significantly reduce the time spent by busy professionals searching for business contacts. It promises simple, fast and precise searches, using ISO and UN standards. It also promises to be different from the rest of the market in which, as Jack Ma of Alibaba recently pointed out, the B2B market place is becoming very crowded with many clones of the original Global Sources concept.

Although Ma said he was not worried by competition because of the dominant position of Alibaba, the Global Source Directory is not yet another clone and they believe their approach will help develop the directory market in Asia. Rather than developing a site by looking at the market leaders and copying them, the team of professionals at the Global Source Directory have carried out extensive research of the sourcing habits of purchasing professionals from all over the world and are developing their site to address these needs. They will also remove many of the concerns users have currently. The research shows that current sourcing portals cause frustration due to the inaccurate results — for example typing “hydraulic oil” into a leading directory returns over a thousand hits which sounds promising, until you start reviewing the results which include items from dirt bikes to injection moulding machines with very few actual industrial oil suppliers. Also, the highest listed returns tend to have some “trust” status but users indicated they were unsure what that means. For example Alibaba's “Gold” status means basic independent credit checks have been done (this activity accounts for seventy percent of Alibaba's revenue) but does not give confidence in the companies overall capabilities.

The Global Source Directory's approach is different. By adopting the same classification system (UNSPSC) that many multinational companies use in their ERP systems, the search for an item such as “hydraulic oil” becomes very fast with only a few keystrokes and clicks of the mouse needed to get a concise list of suppliers. Like most of the existing sites the Global Source Directory will not charge for basic listing but unlike most others, users will not have to register. A range of simple and helpful value added services are being developed that will assist companies in displaying their capabilities. Data is the driving force for the site design with the architecture allowing network effects to be created by user-participation, and user-created content through the use of highly intuitive user interfaces. This is empowered through the use of AJAX and browser compliant standards such as XHTML, CSS and RSS as well as the future provision for Webservice APIs.

Hong Kong was specifically chosen as the headquarters for this venture because the city is based on global trade and has a real spirit of enterprise. It is also a city that is changing from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, so although the cliché of “East meets West” still stands it is being replaced by “Old Economy meets New Economy.” The company has built a team of technical professionals that really understand the use of technology and how to incorporate it into the needs of their customers. And these creative minds believe they are developing unique methods for searching and reviewing business contacts. For more information on this exciting new venture, please visit www.globalsourcedirectory.com.