ExportPro

Connect to trade beyond borders

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Inspiration

Micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) play a critical role in driving economic growth within the APEC region. While there is significant interest among MSMEs to expand their businesses and tap into new markets globally, many MSMEs lack the resources and expertise to do so, especially when it comes to navigating complex trade regulations and processes. Studies show that digital tools can assist small businesses with international exports, reducing costs by up to 82% and time by up to 29%, but adoption rates remain low - even in developed countries such as the US with rates at less than 6%.

A variety of digital tools already exist on the market that have the potential to assist with the global export process, but accessibility and knowledge gap barriers prevent MSMEs from using them to stay competitive, compliant, and efficient. Significant pain points MSMEs might experience include:

  • Lack of digital literacy: MSMEs may not have the knowledge or skills to navigate complex websites and other digital resources, limiting their access to important trade information and opportunities.
  • Unreliable data sources: MSMEs may struggle to obtain reliable, accurate, and complete information in the first place due to vast amounts of data from various sources.
  • Needing support to understand and use data: The complex nature of trading and exporting industries require MSMEs to sift through and analyze large volumes of data - from monitoring global trends to dealing with regulatory requirements across different countries and regions.

Goals of the project

Our digital tool, ExportPro, is designed to bridge the existing knowledge gap and provide every MSME - regardless of revenue, location, or expertise - with equal access to the export information and trade opportunities they need to succeed in the global market.

Our tool gathers all relevant export and trade data in one centralized location, allowing users to quickly search for information related to their product such as HS codes or tariff rates in different countries/regions. Users can access market trends for a country of interest and identify potential opportunities in real-time through trusted data sources such as Google Trends. We also offer a list of importers within any chosen country, helping them connect with potential leads and start their export journey. The user interface is simple, clear, and easy to understand, reducing the technological barriers that might prevent users from using the digital tool.

Our solution encourages MSMEs to take the first step towards global export but is actually applicable to any business that wants to export globally. ExportPro promotes an inclusive trading environment by leveraging digital technology, and achieves our mission of leveling the playing field for all.

How it works

Here is how ExportPro works:

  1. When you open ExportPro, it will automatically set the exporting origin based on your phone's locale settings. Of course, you can also manually change the origin if neccessary.
  2. Enter a keyword or search with a photo to get a broad category of the product you're interested in exporting.
  3. Completing follow-up questions to narrow down the specifics of your product.
  4. Access all the necessary trade information categorized by different target countries, enabling users to gain market insights and understand export regulatory policies.
  5. Explore emerging trends and potential market demand in real-time and learn about interests related to the product based on Google Trends data.
  6. Find potential business leads to jumpstart your export journey with our list of importer contacts within the country of interest.

See our demo video for more details on how ExportPro works:

https://youtu.be/HL98V3SHX34

How we built it

Leveraging the solid technical foundation of Alibaba.com, ExportPro uses machine learning technology to help users quickly and accurately match their export products with the appropriate customs tariffs and other relevant information in one consolidated place. Users can learn about export regulation policies without having prior professional knowledge in the intricate field of export.

An initutive, easy to use, and visually appealing user experience is at the heart of ExportPro. We made sure that principles from the Google Material Design system were implemented in every step of the design process. We used shadow and depth elements to make the UI design more visually appealing by giving it a textured and realistic quality. Responsive and animated effects within the app help create a better navigation experience, giving users feedback, control, and overall ease of use.

Accessibility was a top priority in the design of ExportPro. Image recognition technology has been built into the app so that users can take a snapshot of their product with their phone, greatly reducing the time and effort required to describe the product in text. Importantly, this feature is useful for those who may find it difficult to use written technology to search or communicate their intentions, such as the elderly or people with writing disabilities. We have also added the "android:contentDescription" attribute to all buttons in the app so that the Android screen reader (TalkBack) can correctly read the content of each button, making it accessible for the visually impaired.

Try it Yourself

Want to try the app yourself? We’ve made the APK file available so that those with Android devices can try out the app. Important details:

  • Due to time limitations, please expect to run into some bugs depending on your specific device.
  • Currently, only the query of tax regulations related to China is supported. Therefore, please make sure that China is selected as the export economy before experiencing it.
  • As data acquisition is involved and limited by time constraints, some of the data is obtained through the use of Mock data.
  • Try it out here: https://icbu-app-apk-us.oss-us-east-1.aliyuncs.com/ExportPro_v1.0.1.apk

What comes next

There are a number of directions in which we think ExportPro can be improved:

  • Increase support for other countries: ExportPro currently takes data from People's Republic of China for demonstration purposes. We plan to increase our support to provide a more comprehensive data set for multiple countries.
  • Support for multiple languages: To provide a better experience for non-native English speakers, we plan to expand ExportPro beyond English to support other languages.
  • Strengthen accessibility features: We think adding features such as assistive touch, switch control, dynamic type, and more can enhance ExportPro by making it more open and accessible to diverse users.
  • Expand to iOS devices: By using cross-platform development technologies, we plan to expand to iOS devices and reach a wider user base.
  • Integrate social media and industry news data: We think including social media and relevant industry news can enrich the existing Google Trends data, helping users quickly identify and jump on export opportunities.
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