Global Procurement Trends Report: Overseas Buyers Will Prefer These 3 Types of B2B Foreign Trade Suppliers in 2025!

Keeping up with the preference trends of overseas buyers is crucial for B2B foreign trade suppliers in the constantly changing global procurement landscape. In 2025, as market demand and competition continue to evolve, overseas buyers will become more discerning and have clear direction when selecting partners. After in-depth research and data analysis, it is evident that overseas buyers this year prefer three types of B2B foreign trade suppliers with specific advantages.

1、 Suppliers with strong digital capabilities

With the acceleration of global digitalization, overseas buyers have increasingly high demands for suppliers’ digital capabilities. According to relevant data, over 70% of large purchasers indicate that they will prioritize suppliers who can provide digital solutions. In the procurement process, buyers expect to use digital means to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance transparency.
For example, suppliers with advanced e-commerce platforms can enable buyers to conveniently browse product catalogs, place orders online, track order progress, and obtain after-sales service. This type of platform not only has a user-friendly interface, but also supports multi language and multi currency transactions, meeting the needs of buyers from different regions around the world. A well-known B2B supplier of electronic components has improved its foreign trade website by optimizing its product 3D display, virtual sample testing, and other functions, resulting in a 35% increase in customer order conversion rate.
Furthermore, suppliers who use big data analysis to accurately understand buyer needs and provide personalized product recommendations and solutions are also highly favored. By analyzing buyers’ past purchasing data, browsing behavior, etc., suppliers can predict demand in advance, respond quickly, and provide customized services, greatly enhancing customer stickiness.

For example, suppliers with advanced e-commerce platforms can enable buyers to conveniently browse product catalogs, place orders online, track order progress, and obtain after-sales service. This type of platform not only has a user-friendly interface, but also supports multi language and multi currency transactions, meeting the needs of buyers from different regions around the world. A well-known B2B supplier of electronic components has improved its foreign trade website by optimizing its product 3D display, virtual sample testing, and other functions, resulting in a 35% increase in customer order conversion rate.
Furthermore, suppliers who use big data analysis to accurately understand buyer needs and provide personalized product recommendations and solutions are also highly favored. By analyzing buyers’ past purchasing data, browsing behavior, etc., suppliers can predict demand in advance, respond quickly, and provide customized services, greatly enhancing customer stickiness.

Furthermore, suppliers who use big data analysis to accurately understand buyer needs and provide personalized product recommendations and solutions are also highly favored. By analyzing buyers’ past purchasing data, browsing behavior, etc., suppliers can predict demand in advance, respond quickly, and provide customized services, greatly enhancing customer stickiness.

2、 Suppliers with efficient supply chain management capabilities

The stability and efficiency of the supply chain have always been the core concerns of overseas buyers. Having experienced the impact of the global pandemic, buyers have a deeper understanding of supply chain risks and have increasingly stringent requirements for suppliers’ supply chain management capabilities. Research shows that 85% of overseas buyers consider supplier supply chain resilience as an important evaluation indicator.
Efficient supply chain management means fast delivery, flexible production, and reliable quality assurance. Suppliers who can optimize inventory management, ensure timely supply of products, and shorten delivery cycles have a clear advantage in competition. In the field of clothing foreign trade, overseas buyers of fast fashion brands require suppliers to control the cycle from order acceptance to delivery in a very short period of time to meet their rapid market strategy.
At the same time, suppliers with flexible production capabilities can quickly adjust their production scale and product types according to market demand fluctuations, making it easier to obtain long-term cooperative orders from buyers. When there is a sudden change in demand in the market, these suppliers can respond quickly, ensuring the supply of goods to buyers and avoiding the risk of stockouts. In addition, suppliers who strictly control quality throughout the entire supply chain, from raw material procurement to final product delivery, and implement comprehensive quality monitoring, undoubtedly provide buyers with more peace of mind.

Efficient supply chain management means fast delivery, flexible production, and reliable quality assurance. Suppliers who can optimize inventory management, ensure timely supply of products, and shorten delivery cycles have a clear advantage in competition. In the field of clothing foreign trade, overseas buyers of fast fashion brands require suppliers to control the cycle from order acceptance to delivery in a very short period of time to meet their rapid market strategy.
At the same time, suppliers with flexible production capabilities can quickly adjust their production scale and product types according to market demand fluctuations, making it easier to obtain long-term cooperative orders from buyers. When there is a sudden change in demand in the market, these suppliers can respond quickly, ensuring the supply of goods to buyers and avoiding the risk of stockouts. In addition, suppliers who strictly control quality throughout the entire supply chain, from raw material procurement to final product delivery, and implement comprehensive quality monitoring, undoubtedly provide buyers with more peace of mind.

At the same time, suppliers with flexible production capabilities can quickly adjust their production scale and product types according to market demand fluctuations, making it easier to obtain long-term cooperative orders from buyers. When there is a sudden change in demand in the market, these suppliers can respond quickly, ensuring the supply of goods to buyers and avoiding the risk of stockouts. In addition, suppliers who strictly control quality throughout the entire supply chain, from raw material procurement to final product delivery, and implement comprehensive quality monitoring, undoubtedly provide buyers with more peace of mind.

3、 Suppliers providing sustainable development solutions

At present, the concept of sustainable development has been deeply integrated into global business operations, and overseas buyers attach great importance to the sustainable development performance of suppliers in their procurement decisions. Data shows that about 60% of European and American buyers explicitly require suppliers to provide sustainability reports and are willing to pay higher prices for environmentally friendly and low-carbon products.
At the product level, suppliers who use environmentally friendly materials and have energy-saving and emission reducing production processes meet buyers’ demand for green products. For example, a furniture foreign trade enterprise uses recyclable wood and water-based paint to produce furniture that meets environmental standards, and the products are in short supply in the European and American markets. In terms of enterprise operation, actively promoting social responsibility, such as protecting employee rights and participating in community public welfare activities, can enhance the corporate image and win the recognition and trust of buyers.
Moreover, practicing sustainable development in the supply chain, such as optimizing logistics and distribution to reduce carbon emissions, and collaborating with upstream and downstream enterprises in line with sustainable development concepts, has become a key factor for suppliers to attract overseas buyers.

At the product level, suppliers who use environmentally friendly materials and have energy-saving and emission reducing production processes meet buyers’ demand for green products. For example, a furniture foreign trade enterprise uses recyclable wood and water-based paint to produce furniture that meets environmental standards, and the products are in short supply in the European and American markets. In terms of enterprise operation, actively promoting social responsibility, such as protecting employee rights and participating in community public welfare activities, can enhance the corporate image and win the recognition and trust of buyers.
Moreover, practicing sustainable development in the supply chain, such as optimizing logistics and distribution to reduce carbon emissions, and collaborating with upstream and downstream enterprises in line with sustainable development concepts, has become a key factor for suppliers to attract overseas buyers.

Moreover, practicing sustainable development in the supply chain, such as optimizing logistics and distribution to reduce carbon emissions, and collaborating with upstream and downstream enterprises in line with sustainable development concepts, has become a key factor for suppliers to attract overseas buyers.

In the global procurement market by 2025, B2B foreign trade suppliers with strong digital capabilities, efficient supply chain management capabilities, and providing sustainable development solutions are becoming the “hot commodity” in the eyes of overseas buyers. For foreign trade enterprises, benchmarking the advantages of these three types of suppliers and actively transforming and upgrading can help them stand out in the fierce international market competition and win more overseas orders and cooperation opportunities.

2024 China Foreign Trade B2B SaaS Research Report – iResearch Consulting: This report comprehensively analyzes the current situation of China’s foreign trade B2B SaaS industry. The development environment of foreign trade enterprises was elaborated in detail, including types and structures of foreign trade, market environment, market characteristics, business difficulties and digital differences. The characteristics of the foreign trade SaaS market, such as market classification, technology application, service expansion, etc., were deeply explored, and the market size was accurately estimated. The B2B SaaS market size of foreign trade is about 7.8 billion yuan in 2024. Considering the gradually emerging value of AI in various links and the continued popularity of cross-border payments and other tracks, the joint efforts of multiple parties are expected to bring slight growth to the market in the next 2-3 years. In terms of competitive landscape, the types of vendors have been clearly defined, and the distribution pattern of tool based SaaS has been analyzed. We have also provided highly forward-looking predictions on the future development trends of the industry, such as overseas services and the continuous application of AI. For enterprises that want to gain a deeper understanding of the B2B SaaS field in foreign trade and explore digital transformation paths, it is a rare reference material. For example, the report points out that foreign trade enterprises face challenges such as market environment differences, compliance, customer acquisition, and cost reduction. SaaS tools help foreign trade merchants reduce costs and improve efficiency through subscription based systems, process optimization, and other means, achieving refined operations. This provides direction for enterprises to solve pain points.
The Report on the Development of China’s Cross border E-commerce B2B Exports (2025), released by the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, systematically summarizes various aspects of China’s cross-border e-commerce B2B exports. In terms of scale, China’s cross-border e-commerce B2B export scale continues to grow, and according to Statista data, it is expected to grow to 6.9 trillion yuan by 2025. The category distribution presents a pattern of stable traditional manufacturing products and sustained development of emerging categories. In 2023, tools and equipment accounted for 27.6% of the total export value, while textiles accounted for 17.2%. In terms of destination countries, it presents the characteristics of stable mature markets and rising emerging markets. In 2024, under the 9710 and 9810 models, the traditional European market will continue to maintain its top three position, while Southeast Asia and the Middle East will become new growth engines due to policy dividends, logistics upgrades, and consumption potential. From the perspective of development drivers, multiple factors such as new technology leadership, changes in overseas enterprise procurement demand, national policy support, and accelerated digitalization of foreign trade enterprises are driving the development of the industry. This report provides strong support for enterprises engaged in cross-border e-commerce B2B exports to clarify their market positioning and seize development opportunities. Report link
The 2025 Cross border B2B Purchasing Buyer Behavior Analysis and Procurement Channel Research Report -36Kr Research Institute: The report focuses on cross-border B2B purchasing buyer behavior and procurement channels. In the overview of industry development, it is pointed out that China’s export trade scale has maintained a steady growth, and emerging markets and countries along the “the Belt and Road” have become new growth points. For example, in 2024, the overall export trade of countries jointly building the “the Belt and Road” will grow by 9.6%. The procurement behavior of foreign buyers is gradually becoming online, experiencing tidal fluctuations, and prioritizing stability. In terms of procurement channels, offline channels such as exhibitions and ground promotion have steadily developed due to technological innovation. Cross border B2B trade platforms in online channels have high growth potential, and the trend of global e-commerce decentralization is rising, with the rapid development of independent website models. It is of great guiding significance for B2B foreign trade enterprises to optimize channel strategies, integrate multi-channel marketing, and increase investment in independent websites and social media.
These reports provide in-depth analysis of the B2B foreign trade industry from different perspectives. Whether focusing on digital transformation, cross-border e-commerce exports, or buyer behavior and procurement channels, they can provide key insights and data support for your business decision-making, helping you seize opportunities in the B2B foreign trade field and achieve better development.