Many foreign trade companies sell through channel platforms all over the world. Channels (including wholesalers at all levels) purchase products or obtain information from manufacturers in various countries, and then integrate them into a product catalog to sell to their own customers. For example, the well-known one-stop shopping platform for industrial products, Grainger, can provide more than 4,000 brands and more than 900,000 kinds of goods. The company has more than 3.2 million customers from all over the world, most of whom purchase online.
In addition, independent e-commerce websites have been established in 11 countries. Grainger entered China in 2006 and launched a new official Chinese website in 2013 (as shown in Figure 3-8) to provide customers with more convenient e-commerce solutions. Today, Grainger’s products have covered six major industrial fields, with 500,000 products online, including tools, labor protection, metal processing supplies and instruments, material handling and storage packaging, mechanical parts and related products, and utility-related products. Industrial product suppliers from various countries have cooperated with Grainger to expand their sales market through its global network.