There has been much talk around the office cooler lately about this Global Financial Crisis thing and how it will affect our industry of global and wholesale product sourcing.

After lengthy debate and overall, very little resolve, we certainly agree that whilst no part of our industry is likely to go untouched, this “crisis” we face is also a great opportunity to capitalize on certain markets.

Take what has happened in the US and other parts of the world after the global financial crisis was officially declared; consumer sentiment and retail spending took a dive. According to Bloomberg reports based on data from the Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index, during the months June through to November 2008, the US experienced a 28-year low in consumer sentiment. Without boring you like an economics lecture, a nation’s retail sales figures account for a large percentage of its gross domestic product. Amongst other indicators, the retail spending figures (or sentiment; attitudes towards spending) of a country, assist in the forecast of future economic growth. All things being equal, if a country expects higher than average growth levels in the coming year it can be said that its economy is strong. Conversely, if it is expecting lower then average figures, it can be said to be weak.

Now with all that being said, just because your country is expecting an economic contraction in the near future, it certainly doesn’t mean that there are no more ways to make money. The thing with this global crisis is that it affects most of the large players in the world’s society – some more than others. Exchange rates fluctuate, and whilst some markets become too expensive to source and profit from, others will open up presenting new opportunities to product source. If you regularly purchase from the Asia region and now find that your dollar is too weak to profit, why not look towards other regions to source items, even look within your own country or region?

Understand that it is not only us traders that feel the pinch of this decline in global spending, it’s also the manufacturers. More often than not a manufacturer or wholesaler would rather clear their items at a reduced rate than have unsold items collecting dust in factories and/or warehouses or worse still, close down their operations altogether. This may be an opportunity to grab a great deal from desperate wholesalers.

You must also be wondering how I could see this opportunity to grab a bargain as a good thing, knowing fair well that people simply aren’t buying like they used to. But they are. Just as your supplier markets change across product types and locations, so should your buyer markets, if you are to be a successful wholesale product sourcer.

Regardless of your current outlook and what the people around you are saying about this global financial crisis, it’s certainly not a reason to pack up shop and hide away in your basement. See the unrest as a real opportunity to profit and tackle this crisis head-on!