By Rieva Lesonsky
Previously, I told you about the innovative new tool, Alibaba.com introduced that helps level the playing field for SMEs, competing with larger retailers.
Let’s review how it works: Source Now is a Google Chrome browser extension. It makes sourcing products for your business as simple as snapping a photo—seriously. All you need to do is:
- Download and install the Source Now extension. It’s free, and works on any desktop or laptop that uses the Google Chrome browser.
- Start browsing e-commerce websites, social media, online videos—any site that has product images.
- See something you want to order for your store or website? Use Source Now to capture the image—and instantly find hundreds of similar products on com.
- Select the suppliers you’re interested in, compare them, contact them and start sourcing.
I wanted to test the extension and see if it indeed was as easy “See it, Capture it, Source it.” (Spoiler alert. It is.)
So, let’s go shopping.
Since my business doesn’t sell products, I approached this experiment from a consumer perspective. One of my nieces is getting married in September, on a beach in Massachusetts. My sister and I decided we needed to get pashminas for the female guests. I shopped several websites, ending up at a department store’s site. I “captured” the picture, and was worried because the image showed a dress as well as a pashmina.
I instantly ended up on a page that showed both. I wrote pashmina in the search bar and, within seconds, was taken to a page full of beautiful pashminas and the suppliers who sell them. I filtered on the ones that offered a minimum order of 50 (it’s not going to be a huge wedding) and sent the list to my sister.
Then, to be fair, I found a better picture of pashminas, captured that image and was taken to a page on Alibaba.com that offered a wide variety of the wraps.
On to the next item. I am a makeup junkie. I found an eye makeup palette I liked on a cosmetics site. I must admit I was skeptical that the extension would be able to match the colors I had picked. But, to my surprise, it did—and now I want almost one of everything on the page.
Then I remembered a bookcase I’d seen in a magazine that was too expensive. I found the furniture store’s site, captured the image with Source Now and was quickly taken to a page of bookcases at a fraction of the cost of the one I’d seen.
And then I found a page of sneakers my boyfriend and I would both love. And computer bags I’ve been eyeing, as well as phone cases and earrings.
Source Now is so fast. It’s instantaneous wish fulfillment. If I owned a store, it would quickly become my go-to method of sourcing. I can’t imagine a tool that would increase sourcing efficiency and productivity, cutting hours off the search for products.
The tool is ideal for all types of business owners. Looking for equipment for your restaurant? You can find it in seconds.
For now, Source Now is only available for the Chrome browser, but expansion to more browsers is planned for the future. If you don’t have Chrome, you can download it for free. It’s worth it—just to use this tool.
Try it for yourself. This video explains how Source Now works.
