Importers have long wished for an easy way to keep tabs on the shipping and receiving activities of their competitors and suppliers, and two new services from ImportGenius give them instant access to such information in real time.
Import/export data is collected by US Customs each day, and it is already publicly available. What's been missing, however, is an easy way to search through it, rendering it virtually inaccessible. That's where Arizona-based ImportGenius comes in, with an interface that gives customers immediate information on shipments as they cross customs. The company's ImportScan service, priced at USD 399 per month, gives customers unlimited access to detailed information on every shipment entering the United States since 2006 for their industry vertical. Using ImportGenius's simple interface, they can search by product type, importer, exporter, date of entry, port of entry, loading port, importer's address, exporter's address and more. Results include contact information for both the exporter and importer of the shipment, revealing where competitors are sourcing their products overseas and where overseas suppliers are selling in the US.
For companies more interested in the activities of their suppliers, ImportGenius also offers SupplySpy, which monitors all shipments from a single supplier or importer. Priced at USD 199 per month, the service answers such questions as which competitors are doing business with a particular supplier, including their relative market position, and whether the supplier has been honoring exclusivity agreements.
ImportGenius's data is updated daily by US Customs, and real-time search results can be exported into Excel or CSV format. The result? In the company's own words, "ImportGenius immediately eliminates any competitive advantage your competitors have derived from their superior knowledge of overseas suppliers." Those in manufacturing, import, export, retail, marketing... Check out ImportGenius's free demo. The lesson for all others: find a way to make public data more accessible, and you'll import some tidy profits yourself! (Related: Bringing transparency to restaurant kitchens.)
Website: www.importgenius.com
Contact: info@importgenius.com
Spotted by: Amber York
Amber:
Good spotting! Anytime a company can add value to an existing "service," if you can call the US Custom's data such a thing, it's a good possibility for success. I bet ImportGenius gets plenty of business in the near future, as competition heats up for limited Stateside consumer dollars.
So a company's hard earned product and distribution strategy developed at great expense is now free for all to see through a website? I'm not sure how the larger importers/exporters take it particularly those with FMCG and luxury goods.
I'm sure ImportGenius will get lots of business, probably by those people doing all they can to crack their competitors strategies and trying find the formula for success as the big guys have.
As a former subscriber of import-genius, I was taken in with their big promises and claims- however what I got in return was anything but. I found that their claims are a lot of hot air. They don't back up what they state that they can provide. The information results I was getting from them was a complete waste of money. The information was disorganized and in many cases made no sense. In other cases there was no information. I've used other data mining companies before and import-genius is below substandard. The only thing about this company that is higher than standard is the price they charge to subscribe. Complete waste. I would of been better off burning my monthly payment than giving it to them.
As the CEO of ImportGenius.com, I take offense to this under-the-belt attack by "Mark Hueter." He was never a client of ImportGenius.com. Furthermore, we have never received anything but exceptional feedback from our users. Rather, this is part of emerging pattern of comment attacks against our company. We've tracked the IP address of one of the comments on a different blog back to a company that e-mailed us because they were disgruntled about having their shipping records appear in our database. Since these documents are public record, there was nothing they could do except slander us on blogs. If you have any doubts about our service, please give me a call anytime at 888-843-0272, I'll be happy to talk with you personally.
Good come back Ryan Petersen. Great transparency and openess.