Import Genius, an online of provider of data that drill down into the timing and container ingredients of global supply chain shipments, has been providing such data since 2006 through ImportGenius.com. Importers and exporters use the data to conduct market research and view international demand for particular product categories, the shipping routes and volumes used by competitors, and the experience of particular suppliers by the companies they ship to. Companies also use the data to trace the source of counterfeit products.

“We can show granular information on a shipped container, such as that it included 10,000 pairs of sunglasses, at this weight, and the shipper and importer,” founder and CEO Michael Kanko says. The data can also show such information as the ports of departure and entry.

In some countries outside of the United States, including some Latin America markets, companies can also use ImportGenius.com to view pricing details on invoices connected to individual shipments.

Users of ImportGenius.com can search by product category or company name to pull reports from a growing central database of some 100 million worldwide shipments. Importers use the site to research trade activity by product category and find suppliers; exporters use to it find buyers. Importers, for example, can pull reports to view how frequently and for how long particular suppliers have shipped to particular companies.

Now the portal enables buyers and suppliers to also directly use AliSourcePro, a new service from China-based Alibaba Group, to conduct automated searches among the millions of suppliers listed on Alibaba.com, a B2B trading portal. By integrating ImportGenius.com with a link to AliSourcePro ImportGenius users can now research global shipment data and information on suppliers, then without leaving the ImportGenius.com click to AliSourcePro to request quotes from suppliers listed on Alibaba.com. “Alibaba validates suppliers, but we show how much a supplier has sold in the past and who they sold to,” Kanko says.

Import Genius charges users monthly fees ranging from $99 to $399, depending on the volume of daily data searches and other criteria. ImportGenius.com provides an example of an import shipment record (Singapore to the United States) consumer electronics company Sony Electronics Inc. and an export shipment (United States to India) record by state of Washington-based Domex Super Fresh Growers.

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