New podcast interview out! I, (John-Kyle), had a blast sharing top tips for sourcing products from China with Kunle Campbell on the 2xE-Commerce podcast.

You truly don’t want to miss this one! 

Kunle asks great questions and I share openly about things that often trip up brands, best practices, and ways to save cost.

Catch the episode here, or on your favourite podcast app. 

Specifically, we talk about:

Sourcing and Supplier Management

➡️ The sourcing process and the best way to sample

➡️ Things to watch out for when sourcing on Alibaba

➡️ How to avoid being a factory’s guinea pig on a new product

➡️ The difference between working with a trade company and factory

➡️ Why you should find a “plan B” factory

➡️ The “negotiation” environment in China now

➡️ Why you MUST talk to your factories more often

➡️ How often you should be talking to your factory

Product Design and Development

➡️ Whether you should pay outright for your product’s mold

➡️ Is it better to design your product or ask your factory to do it?

➡️ What adjustments we made when scaling our own home goods brand

➡️ How we overhauled our product packaging to lower our COGs

Brand Strategy and Market Positioning

➡️ Thoughts on brand differentiation

➡️ Which service we use to do A/B customer testing

➡️ How we find ways in our brand to make fewer emotion-based decisions

Communication and Negotiation Strategies

➡️ Why it’s important to get sampling right

➡️ Why you shouldn’t be afraid to “rock the boat” with your factory

➡️ Why you want to consider setting up a return compensation strategy

➡️ How we (China Product Pros) help brands source from China

Overall, I hope some of these are helpful to you!

Let me know if you found anything useful or if you have some tips of your own to add.

PS. I finally updated my headshot photo after my kids kept telling me “you look too young in that photo.” 🤣 Hence the difference in what’s shown on the podcast and here (updated) on my LinkedIn profile.

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