Significance of Import Export Trade Leads In India

India was basically considered an agro based economy where imports exceeded exports. Indian imports consisted of heavy machineries, gold and silver, electrical products and so forth. There has been an imbalance in the export and import business in the country. The growth of globalisation paved way for better trade relations between countries. The advent and use of online business directories have further accentuated the prospects of trade in the country.

The Growth of Business Directories and Trade Leads

The b2b directories in India have proved to be excellent platforms for obtaining import export trade leads for various business entrepreneurs. Being a country which includes a huge number of SME sectors, obtaining global recognition was simply impossible without the use of business directories. But with the growing usage and emergence of various online portals, the Small and Medium Enterprises have obtained the required exposure in the global markets.

Better Exposure through B2B Directories

Today there are a number of business portals which show case different products and services manufactured by the SME sectors. This has led to the consequent growth of the Indian small scale industries. Through the b2b directories, the small and medium enterprises obtain necessary import export trade leads to accelerate the growth of business.

Buyers and sellers of different countries amalgamate on a single platform more commonly known as online business portals. Such portals pave way for import export trade leads which are basically enquires posted by buyers from different countries. These leads help to improve business as it gives better exposure and opportunity.


The growth of online business directories have led to the subsequent growth of export and import business in India. The import export trade leads have proved to be advantageous as it is one of the most economical advertising processes. There are a number of online business portals that provide free opportunities to post trade leads. This has proved to be a tremendous opportunity to the small scale industries to gain maximum exposure in the international markets. The Indian handicraft sectors and various cottage industries have gained global exposure with the help of online business portals.

The liberalisation policies introduced in the country has led to tremendous changes in the import and export business. The Indian exports have been experiencing a massive growth but so is the import sector.

Today the Indian economy is in need of machineries and crude oil as it is on the verge of becoming a developed economy. With such a vast amount of resources, the country requires proper ways to gain global recognition which is made possible with the help of online business portals and import export trade leads.

There are in fact many ways to obtain authentic business leads and some of the most effective methods include trade events, blogging and use of social networking sites. Through effective import export trade leads, both domestic and foreign trade can be elevated to new heights. With companies and businesses from all over the world, it is easy to obtain business leads and thereby economic development.

Most Common Office Stationery Items And Their Importance

Office stationery items are the must have accessories for significant office operations. Even the workplaces with computers depend upon various stationery items with very important roles to perform. These items help in carrying out some important office functions in an efficient and effective manner.

As a new office stationery business owner, you must survey and learn about the most commonly used stationery items in offices. Obviously, you would like to purchase more quantity of those items from office stationery suppliers that are in great demand. So, here is a list of items that office owners like to purchase the most.

Office Papers
Papers are required in the offices for printing purposes, for taking notes, to prepare documents and many other important functions. Papers are required to send proposals as well as invoices. So, you must offer office stationery items like A4 sized papers, paper notebooks and notepads, photo paper and so on.

Items to Write
Pens are among the most required items in a workplace. Apart from ball pens and fountain pens, the office owners require markers and highlighters as the useful writing items. Pencils and erasers are other items of great interest for the office owners. Going ahead, items like whiteboards are of importance for many workplaces. You must consider these items among the most purchased stationery items for the offices.

Diaries and Calendars
Other useful office stationery items include the things that help the office owners to prepare their schedules and remember the important dates. Desk calendars are the items that can be easily found on the working tables of the office owners. For this purpose, you must supply office diaries and calendars to the office owners.

Files and Folders
Every office owner likes the office to look organized. So, an important category of office stationery is that of files and folders. Paper folders and card holders are the common items purchased in this category. Report covers and document binders are other items of interest for the office owners. All these items should be included in the product base of your office stationery business.

Various Office Equipments
A modern office setup requires variety of equipments to work smoothly. Here are some important items that you must sell as office stationery:
Calculators and scientific calculators are required at offices for easy calculations.
Imaging equipments like computer printers, fax machines and photocopiers are among the most desired office items.
Presentation equipments like screens and projectors are other frequently used items in an office.

Other Stationery Items
Paper weights and paper clips are other things that are required in offices to keep everything in place. Paper cutters and sticky notes are other useful items that maintain the interest in working efficiently. Staplers and envelopes are other such items that you must supply as office stationery. Finally, adhesives and shredders are items that add usefulness to the working environment at offices.

You can find office stationery suppliers at business directories on the web. Make sure that you obtain the above-mentioned items to make your business a one-stop destination for the office owners.

Online Versus Offline Business Directories: A Comparison

Business directories have existed in the form of printed yellow pages and directories. People have always relied on these directories to search for businesses and service providers. With the advent of the internet and large number of people switching to online search, the significance of online business directories has increased tremendously.

This calls for a comparison between the offline and online business directories to understand which category offers more advantages. Below you can find some factors that form the basis for this comparison.

Geographical Search
Printed directories provide information about local markets and local businesses. But what if you wish to learn about the product and service providers in other region? Fortunately, the online business directories break the geographical barriers. People living in the United States can refer to the online business directories India uses to list its business providers in various categories.

Updated Information
Offline printed directories update the information about the business providers once a year. So, the information you come across might have gone out-of-date. On the other hand, a business directory available on the web is regularly updated with the business information regarding different companies. So, you can easily rely upon online directories to find up-to-date information about different businesses.

Product Catalogs
This is among the most significant difference that makes online business directories much better than their offline counterparts. The businesses are allowed to display their product catalogs in the web-based directories. On the other hand, the offline directories are simply used for listing services, where no information about the business products is available.

Business Marketing
From the perspective of the business owners, an online business directory provides them with the platform to promote their business products and services. The web based directories are good enough to promote businesses among different types of customers, including wholesalers, exporters, retailers and end-users as well.

Easy to Search Information
Online business directories offer fast and easy search tools that make it easy for the interested buyers to search for the products and services easily. This type of facility is lacked by the offline directories that require people to go through boring pages to search for the information they want. So, searching using online directories is a less time consuming process.

Inexpensive Tools
Printed directories are costly not only for the publisher but also for the businesses getting listed in them. On the other hand, online business directories are among the least expensive online promotion tools. Businesses don’t have to spend considerably t get listed in the web-based directories.

Easy to Access
Online business directories can be accessed at any point of time and from any place. You can even access them from your mobile phones. However, it is impractical to carry printed directories everywhere. So, you can easily find information about business providers using the online directories from homes, offices and other places.

Online business directories act as the meeting platforms for the purchasers and the sellers and for the businesses to find their targeted audiences. So, these directories got to have some great advantages over the printed directories.

Exploring Top 10 Business Sectors in India

The Indian economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and this is evident from the increase in b2b business space India shares with the world. Apart from the big business houses, the real contributors towards the economic growth are the small and middle sized enterprises belonging to different industries.

To learn about different business sectors of India, there is no better place than a b2b business directory, where these businesses open their doors for the world. Considering the popularity and growth rate of businesses, here is a list of the top 10 business sectors of India.

Foods and Beverages
The foods and beverage industry of India has gained popularity in the past 3-4 years, mainly due to the changing lifestyle and eating habits of the people. Most of the segments have recorded an increase in revenue from 2005 to 2009, the alcohol segment being on the top. A growth rate of 7.5 percent is expected between 2009 and 2013 to make it a 330 billion dollar industry by 2013.

IT Industry
The information technology business sector of India is expected to increase by 14.1 percent from 2009 to 2010. The expert analysis predicts the industry to become 67 billion dollar industry in 2010 and to increase by 11 percent by the year 2013. IT services, software as well as hardware segments are making great contributions towards the growth rate of IT industry as a b2b business.

Health Industry
Due to a huge different in the healthcare costs in India and the western countries, the health industry of the country is experiencing a growth in terms of business. The analysis shows that the current 35 billion dollar industry is going to touch the figure of 75 billion dollars in 2012 and 150 billion dollar by the year 2017.

Telecom Industry
The growth of telecommunication business sector in India can be easily termed as a revolution. The country enjoys the second rank as the telecom network provider. The rise of 3G services and mobile telephony has also contributed significantly towards the growth rate in the sector. The mobile subscribers in the country are expected to grow by 11 percent from 2010 to 2014.

Textile Industry
Textile industry in India is a globally reputed b2b business sector. The total textile exports from India contribute towards 27 percent of the total foreign exchange. Cotton, silk, jute, woolen, hand-crafted and ready made textiles are the main segments one can find in a global Indian b2b business directory.

Auto Industry
The Indian auto component industry has been growing with a consistent growth rate of about 20 percent since 2000 and the rate is expected to remain consistent till 2015. Engine parts, drive transmission ad steering parts, suspension and braking parts and electrical parts are main contributors towards the growth of this global b2b business sector.

Construction Industry
Accounting towards 11 percent of India’s total GDP, the construction industry is an exporter of various raw materials to the world. For example, China is the biggest consumer of steel exported by India. Besides, the cement industry is a significant contributor in this category.

Handicrafts
Indian handicrafts enjoy a great demand in the foreign markets like those of USA, UK and Australia. Wooden handicrafts, jewelry, hand printed textiles and crocheted goods are some of the main segments that bring foreign exchange of the worth of 3 billion dollar to the country.

Energy
Both renewable and non-renewable energy sources have contributed towards the growth rate of energy sector of India. Natural gas, LPG and solar energy are the segments that have been consistently growing.

Banking and Insurance
Investment banking, credit cards, mortgage and insurance products are the segments that contribute towards the growth of banking and insurance sector of India. For example, the number of debit cards increased by 40 percent from 2006 and 2009.

To find the companies showing growth in the above-mentioned business sectors, you can refer to a b2b business directory. Apart from them, there are many other industrial sectors growing in the domestic as well as global markets.

The B2B Market Place: An Understanding

To understand the B2B Marketplace, we first need to understand each of the other components like:

B2B As a Term: The term describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. Contrasting terms are business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-government (B2G).

B2B Business: The trade that takes place between the different bodies constituting the B2B Market scenario comes under the study of the B2B Business. They can be the manufacturers, the suppliers, the retailers, the exporters and the importers. These individual bodies which are not restricted to a particular location or area spreads across the boundaries.

B2B Industries: The B2B industry comprises of the authoritative bodies and the companies who sell their products or services through the business to business (B2B) channels. These bodies lend a helping hand to these companies who face unique marketing challenges and opportunities vastly different than a typical business-to-consumer (B2C) channel. These B2B companies seek expertise marketing efforts to provide business customers with relevant information necessary to drive revenue growth and achieve customer satisfaction. The industry helps in knitting an online channel to help build and nurture long-term customer relationships. The authorities in this field of B2B business relentlessly work with these small medium and big companies to improve their marketing effectiveness through implementation of segment-based marketing programs that more relevantly speak to the prospective clients. More efforts and works are underway to expand to additional marketing programs, measure business impact, and assist the organizations to catalyze and accelerate the business scenario in this industry. The B2B Industry spreads across agriculture to science, apparel to environment products, FMCG to hardcore services, last but not the least, home appliances to industrial supplies and lots more.

Finally, coming to the B2B Market Place, we need to understand them as the platform on which the rest of the components take support. The Online B2B marketplaces have been redefining the Business to Business industry in India. These market places have been relentlessly working to provide the best product directory of India, with larger than normal number of Suppliers, Buyers, Exporters and Manufacturers. Through these market places, the suppliers and buyers will find genuine and verified trade leads from all across the globe, as well as India.

The B2B market places have proved to be immensely popular. Each of the market places has their unique style of conducting the trade and matching the market players. Some of the exclusive services for members include provided by them can be listed as:

• Product Directory
• Trade Leads
• Virtual Office
• Blog Promotion
• Email Marketing
• Search Engine optimization
• Brand Promotion
• Renovation of existing company’s official site
• Advertising and News Room facilities etc.

These bodies are fast setting the stage for Indian manufacturers, suppliers and exporters to expand their network both nationally and internationally. The companies get launched with certain revolutionary concepts in an attempt to further boost the selling prospects of Indian suppliers and to push them on higher growth plane.

Business Directories: Finding Your Way

Are you looking for an opening to the new global avenues for your business? Do you need to interact with thousands of similar companies and your associates? Do you require listing your business and starting receiving export import trade enquiries? If your answer to these is a YES, “A Business Directory” is your one stop solution. Thinking of a business directory the name that pops up in most of our mind is the Yellow Pages. The Indian Yellow Pages is India's largest & fastest growing online “Business to Business Directory” that brings the world's best solution of trade. It helps us in easily locating and browsing the categorized company listings for our products and services. This platform provides the golden opportunity to Indian manufacturers, exporters and wholesalers to reach their domestic as well as international clients. Precisely, this gives us a fair idea of what exactly a “Business Directory” is.

Browsing a business directory page exposes us to a cluster of information right from the Manufacturers, Exporters and Suppliers, to Service Providers and Industry Verticals. In India, the B2B directories have moved on to create a wide plethora of opportunities and contacts among the Indian manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers and exporters. Talking of some of the Indian directories we have our very own IndiaMart, IndiaBizClub.com, Altaindia and TradingBiz.com. These B2B directories contain one of the most enormous and exceptional database of well known Manufacturers, Suppliers and Exporters. Serving the role of a one stop destination for any type of requirements; these business directories serve as massive amount of Trade Leads and Knowledge Pool to successfully satisfy any type of specific need that might be there.

The online business directories also help in creating a platform for the SMEs; the small medium enterprises which look forward to create a niche of their own. The B2B directories in this category ensure maximum opportunities and partnerships that promise to take them to unprecedented scales of growth and success. Thus, we find that these business directories not only prove helpful to the already established market players in the sector of manufacturing, export and supply, but, also help in building a network, and hence a market, for the upcoming small and medium business enterprises. The Indian SMEs house a major opportunity in the fields of pharmaceuticals, leather, textile, paper, telecommunications, food processing to name a few. Therefore, a helping hand in the form of these business directories will always provide them with a support in their endeavor to succeed amidst their competitors within and outside their geographical boundaries.

To conclude, B2B directories in India are gaining recognition in terms of delivering business opportunities in increasing volume. The corporate world have started recognizing the need of many such online directories to help build an amiable and structured network of associated businesses and their end users. The growing scarcity of time and the increasing global and local competition widens the horizon for the Indian B2B directories, to match the steps of the foreign players in various sectors.