b'FEBRUARY 2024TOP NORTH AMERICAN EXPORTERS & IMPORTERS23(REACHINGcontinued fromcaninformtheuserwhethersucha(NOTEScontinued from page 18) haspostedTEUtotalsin230,000-page 20) product already exists, or, if, not, thehadnumbersinexcessof400,000240,000range.Interestingly,fruit/found. Its designed to simplify thesystem will bring the user into a work- TEUs.A similar case can be made forproducesuppliersagainwerehigh process for suppliers to list productsflowcalledRFQ(requestforquota- Home Depot at 59 thwhich posted justontheTop100list.Chiquitacame andcreateastorefrontontheplat- tion) in which the user enters relevantover 18,000 TEUs after nearly hittingin number 3 at over a 171,000 TEUs form, said Mahtani. For the buyer,information and specifications related72,000 TEUs in the 2022 chart. while Del Monte tapped in at 7th with it simplifies the process of identifyingto the product idea. The system assistsIn some cases, the data for previ- over143,000TEUs.Alittlefarther products and suppliers and managingthe user by prepopulating some of theous years is NA or Not Available whichdown, Fyffes Tropical at 28 thposted shipments. material specifications and prompts thein most instances, such as BMW Northnearly35,000TEUswhiletheSol In the first place, Smart Assistantuser to add data on issues such as orderAmerica simply means it didnt makeGroup just behind at 29 thchecked in saves vendors time when it comes toquantities and shipping timelines.the Top 100 lists. In other cases, thewith nearly 31,000 TEUs.listing dozens or hundreds of productsWevealsoaddedtheabilitytoreportinghaschanged,andthedataSamsung America placed 2 ndand on virtual storefronts. For buyers, thecreate an image of the new product usingisnt available in any meaningful waynotched almost 176,000 TEUs while tool makes it easier to find suppliersAI, said Mahtani, and for the user to the numbers are simply too low.rivalLGElectronicsUSAwas5th ofexistingproductsandtodevelopgo back into the description to edit itemsOther incidental data does help fillwith over 155,000 TEUs. new ones.such as colors and materials.in some blanksdeliveries to knownAlmost every year, Ikea is the top A major time suck for suppliersThe AI tool is already generatingDCs and warehouses or handling byinhomefurnishings. ThisyearIkea is to have to list 200 SKUs within theirpositive results for its users. Accord- 3PL(thirdpartylogisticsproviders)was4 th onthelistatover170,000 stores and write out the descriptionsing to Mahtani, buyers are getting 29%can in instances be traced to the BCOTEUs.Butthesectoriswellrepre-andthespecificationsfortheprod- more quotes from suppliers using the(beneficial cargo owner). sentedasRoomToGo(RTG)was ucts, said Mahtani. Smart AssistantAI version of RFQ and suppliers areHowever,evenwiththeabove- 12 th topped58,00whileAtHomes streamlines the process of uploadingseeing a 21% increase in responses.mentionedcaveats,the TEUtotalsdoStores at 23rd hit nearly 41,000 TEUs products and listings on the back endWerealsofindingthatthesegive a fair representation of year-to-yearandEuromarketDesigns(Crateand by filling in their pricing and producttoolsareresultingin20%higheractivity and are an interesting barom- Barrel) at 25th tipped 38,000 TEUs. descriptions. dealclosingrateforoursuppliers,eter to trade and trading behavior.LivingSpacescameinat39 th with Thats pretty much standard-fairheadded.Itsgettingmoreprecise24,000 TEUs while Ashley Furniture AI, as Mahtani put it, as it involvesresultsinlinewithwhatbuyersareC harth ighlightS at 41 sthit just over 23,000 TEUsextracting data and populating a form.lookingfor,soitsbenefitingbothThisyearschartleaderisDoleOtherregulartopofthechart But it helps with one of the biggestbuyers and suppliers.with 234,000 TEUs. Dole consistently(NOTEScontinued on page 38)painpointsthatsmallandmid-size business owners experience. Accord-ing to a recent Alibaba survey, time, or the lack thereof, is a big problem facing business owners, second only toinflationandtherisingcostof goods.Roughlythree-quartersof business owners say that time is one oftheirbiggestobstaclestogetting anything done, said Mahtani.Alibabas system reaches into userGUANGZHOU PORT GROUPdatabases to find relevant information butalsoemploysinternetsearches and Alibabas own data to help ven- THE FASTEST GROWING PORT IN SOUTH CHINAdors and suppliers with time-consum-ing e-commerce tasks.Because we have so many years of experience in6TH LARGEST PORT IN THE WORLD WITH sourcing, we can identify specific data about products and use that pre-pop-ulateinformationabouttheminthe25.4 MILLION TEUS IN 2023storefront, said Mahtani. In the case of garments, for example, the system understands the need to provide infor- PORT OF NANSHA (GUANGZHOU PORT GROUP)mation about sizing, fabrics, etc. New On Dock Rail (connecting theNew Terminal (4th) Fully Automatedk nOwleDgeS OurCe FOrv enDOrS Hinterlands + Europe) Open 24/7/365The AlibabadataalsoservesasNew Cold and Dry Warehousing16+ Berths, 70+ Cranes and Deep a knowledge source for vendors who might not be experienced in specificFacilities with Air-Sea + Rail EnablingWaterareas they are exploring. For example,Ecommerce Shippers Reduce cost + time by utilizing a Port if a seller is looking to source silver- thats closer to your Vendors: Nansha!ware,thesystemcoulddirecttheir attention to the varying weights, pol-ishes, and price points that are avail-able in the marketplace. Itcaneventakeknowledgea step further, said Mahtani, to tell the seller the best ways to negotiate with the supplier about metals content and minimum order quantities. Productdiscoveryisabigpart of what the Alibaba platform offers, makingiteasierforsellerstofind manufacturers,suppliers,andprod-uctsofinteresttothem.Alotof business owners are looking for trend-ingorveryspecificproducts,said Mahtani.Wealsoallowbusiness owners to create something new. So,forexample,theadvanced featuresofthetoolallowusersto uploadaphotoofaproducttothe searchbarandgetresultsinthe formofinformationaboutsimilar productstogetherwiththeirmanu- S.CHINA PORT WITH N.AMERICA AND facturers and suppliers. The systemEU/UK REPRESENTATIONalso allows use of spoken language toprovidedescriptionsofproducts being sought.FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT US ATPORTOFNANSHA.COMIfthevendorhasanideafor improving such a product, the system'