What the importer needs: the product data without which your e-mail stays unanswered
A manufacturer writes to twenty importers and gets two replies. In most cases the reason is not the product and not the price. The importer opened the website, didn't find the five numbers he needed and moved to the next supplier.
Why the first e-mail is answered with a website visit
An importer receives dozens of offers a week. Before replying he spends two or three minutes on the supplier's website. If the basic commercial data is not there, he assumes the rest will be just as hard to get: samples, documents, delivery. The e-mail stays unanswered, and the manufacturer never learns why.
In September 2026 we read the websites of 84 manufacturers the way a European buyer would. 41 sites worked. Not one listed a minimum order, delivery terms or product codes. 4 showed packaging data. The products were often good. The data was simply not there.
The five numbers the importer looks for first
Minimum order quantity: per product and per shipment. Not 'negotiable', a number.
Delivery terms: which Incoterms you work with, from which port or warehouse, who pays for what. EXW and FCA are the most common starting points for a first deal.
Packaging: units per carton, cartons per pallet, carton and pallet dimensions and weight. This is what the importer's logistics and the retailer's warehouse calculate with.
Product codes: the customs code (HS code, first six digits are international) and, for retail, EAN/GTIN barcodes. Without the HS code the importer cannot estimate duty and VAT.
Shelf life and storage conditions for food, cosmetics and anything perishable, plus lead time from order to shipment.
What else makes the reply more likely
Certificates and test reports, at least a list of which ones exist. For the EU market the importer will ask for them before the first order, so showing them early saves a week.
A short company presentation in English: who you are, capacity, current export markets, photos of production. One PDF, under ten pages.
A named contact person with a direct e-mail and a phone that is answered. A generic info@ address with no name is where many first deals end.
Prices on request are fine for B2B, but the price list should exist and be sent within a day.
Where to publish it
On the website, in a section called 'For importers' or 'Wholesale', in English, with a downloadable catalogue. On industry platforms where buyers in your category actually search. In the presentation you attach to the first e-mail. The same data, the same numbers, everywhere: a buyer who finds two different minimum orders in two places stops trusting both.
This is the first step of our Trade & Supply chain direction: we collect these data with the manufacturer, put them into a website and catalogue to international standards, and only then start looking for the importer.