Many export businesses send out hundreds of emails each month but receive no replies. One of the biggest reasons: they don’t know whether the recipient actually imports their type of product or not.

Without access to real transaction data (customs shipments), every lead evaluation is based on guesswork. You can’t tell if a company has ever bought similar goods, who they’ve bought from, how frequently, or at what scale.

This is the biggest gap in B2B customer acquisition — and why many businesses waste time without ever closing a deal.

1. “Fake” Leads – A Common Problem Without Trade Data

Imagine you’re a cashew exporter. You find a list of the "Top 100 Food Importers in the UAE" on some website. You send emails to 20 companies. Three respond, and one agrees to continue the conversation. But two weeks later, you find out that the company doesn’t even import cashews — they specialize in frozen foods.

The problem is: you had no way to verify if they had ever imported your product, how often they do so, or whether they’re still buying.

Without real trade data, everything is just speculation. And getting it wrong means:

• Wasting time on irrelevant leads
• Sending mass emails with no response
• Spending money on ineffective lead services

2. What Is Trade Data and Why Is It Valuable?

Customs shipment data refers to the records collected during the export/import clearance process. It typically includes:

• HS Code (Harmonized System Code)
• Product name
• Quantity, unit, and weight
• Transaction value
• Exporting and importing countries
• Names of buyers and sellers
• Transaction date

With this data, you can:
✅ See that Company X in Japan imported cashews in the past 12 months
✅ Identify top buyers in the Middle East
✅ Compare import frequency between competitors

This is the clearest form of “commercial evidence” to determine if a potential customer is genuinely relevant.

3. Why Most Businesses Don’t Access This Data

Despite its importance, this type of data is often hard to access because:

• Scattered by country: Some countries like the U.S., India, and Peru publish customs data openly, but others like China, Japan, and South Korea do not.
• Hard to search: Often raw format (Excel, PDF) with no filters for industries.
• Language barriers: Searches must be done in the right keywords in English, Chinese, Japanese, etc. — not Vietnamese.
• Expensive: Platforms like TradeAtlas or ImportGenius charge hundreds to thousands of USD per year.

As a result, many SMEs completely skip this type of data — and continue selecting leads based on gut feeling or luck.

4. TradeAtlas – Traditional Trade Data Lookup Tool

TradeAtlas is a platform that allows users to search customs data and import history of millions of companies globally. Its biggest strength is its massive database, extracted from real customs declarations, which includes:

• Shipper and consignee names
• Product descriptions
• Number of containers
• Port of departure and destination
• Transaction history by HS code

TradeAtlas’s interface is designed for those already familiar with trade data. All information is presented in English and requires users to have some skills in data analysis and basic knowledge of international trade. This is a suitable choice for experienced exporters or companies with a dedicated export-import team.

5. EximGPT – Simplifying Customer Data

Built on AI and global trade data, EximGPT helps businesses:

5.1. Search in Vietnamese – Get Accurate English Results

You can simply type:

• “nhà nhập khẩu hạt điều ở UAE”
• “doanh nghiệp mua cà phê Việt ở Nhật”
• “ai đang nhập trái cây nhiệt đới tại Hàn Quốc”

The system automatically converts the keywords into the correct trade terms in local languages, queries international trade databases, and returns standardized English results.

5.2. Results Based on Real Trade Data

No more vague lists or questionable leads. You’ll only see:

• Company name
• Country
• Product(s) previously imported
• Frequency of import
• Most recent transaction date

→ You can quickly assess whether the lead is actively buying what you’re selling, how often, and whether the transaction size is significant.

5.3. Built-In Contextual Email Writing

After identifying the right customer, EximGPT also helps you:

• Draft professional trade emails in English
• Adjust tone for different cultural contexts (Korea, Japan, Middle East, etc.)
• Avoid sensitive wording that could harm negotiations