How to find out who your competitors buy from

You can find out who your competitors buy from in foreign trade shipment data: it names the importer and the foreign supplier of each shipment, and the company profile adds them up. Open a competitor's company profile to see its product groups, partner countries and suppliers, or start from the product: search for suppliers of your code to your market and see whom each of them sells to. This works for imports into countries where such data is available, and it shows what was shipped, not the terms of the contracts behind it.

Why it is worth knowing

• A tested supplier. If a competitor has bought from the same supplier for years, the supplier can deliver to your market. That is a strong candidate for your own shortlist.
• Your purchase price. The average price per kilogram a competitor pays tells you whether you are paying too much, or buying a different grade.
• Risks and changes. If a competitor depends on one supplier, or switches from one supplier country to another, that is a sign that something in the market is changing.
• If you are a supplier, the same data shows which importers buy from your competitors, and from where.

Is it legal and ethical?

Looking at a competitor's trade history is normal market research, much like reading its price list or annual report. The limits come from how you use what you learn. Do not misrepresent who you are when you contact its suppliers. Respect any non-compete or confidentiality clauses you have signed, for example as a former employee or distributor. Handle the personal contact details of employees according to the data protection rules of your country. If you are unsure, ask a lawyer.

Step 1. List your competitors and find their legal entities

Write down the companies you compete with in your market. For each one, find the legal entity that imports, which is not always the brand you see in stores:

• a retail chain may import through a separate trading company;
• a group may have several importing companies with similar names;
• some goods are imported by a logistics or agent company on someone else's behalf.

Search on Company profiles by name or tax ID. If you find several companies of one group, look at each of them.

Step 2. Read the competitor's profile

A company profile is built from foreign trade shipment data for the 14 countries Orion Markets covers; the list and periods are on the data coverage page. Companies from other countries appear in profiles as suppliers and buyers of these markets.

On public company profiles, the "In brief" block at the top is open without signing in. It says whether the company imports, exports or both, how many shipments were recorded and over which period, its main goods by HS code and its main partner countries. The HS code is the international product code used in foreign trade; its first 4 digits are enough to see the product group.

The full profile has sections such as:

• Foreign suppliers and top counterparts: who the company buys from, with volumes;
• Products and Countries: what it buys and from where, over time;
• Producers and Trademarks: manufacturers and brands of the goods it imports, which helps when the supplier is a trader;
• Incoterms: the delivery terms it buys on, for example FOB (the supplier loads the goods on the ship) or CIF (the supplier also pays freight and insurance to the destination port);
• Competitors: other companies trading the same products in this market, with their shares.

After free registration you see the full profile structure with some figures hidden. On a paid plan the profile opens in full: suppliers with their registration details, volumes, products and how they change over time. How to read a profile when checking a partner is covered in How to check a foreign company before a deal.

Example: a fruit importer in Armenia

Take the public profile of Best Fruits AM LLC, Armenia. Its "In brief" block shows, without signing in:

• the company is an importer, with no export shipments in the data;
• from October 2025 to May 2026 over 2,200 foreign trade shipments were recorded;
• its main goods by HS code are 0805 (citrus fruit), 0803 (bananas) and 0810 (other fresh fruit);
• its main partner countries are Georgia, Iran, Ecuador, South Africa and Armenia.

How to read it if you import fruit into Armenia yourself:

• The partners range from neighbouring Georgia and Iran, at the top of the list, to distant Ecuador and South Africa, both large fruit exporters. So the company buys both close to home and far away, and you can compare this with where your own purchases come from.
• The partner country is the country where the selling company is registered, not where the fruit was grown. Armenia in the list means some goods were bought from companies registered in Armenia itself.
• For the names of the suppliers, their volumes and the producers behind them, open the full profile. Then compare these suppliers with your own: do you buy from the same countries, and at what price per kilogram?

Step 3. Start from the product instead of the company

Sometimes you do not know all your competitors, or you want to see the whole market at once. Then start from the product code.

• On Find suppliers, enter a 4–6 digit code and choose your market. The list shows the foreign companies that shipped this product there over the last 12 months. For each supplier you can open its buyers: who buys from it and how much. You can see this buyer list before you open the report; the amounts and shipment counts in it stay hidden until you do. If your competitors import this product into that market themselves, you will find them among these buyers.
• If you are a supplier, use Find buyers: for each buyer the results show its current suppliers, that is, your competitors at that customer.
• For the overall picture, the market report in Analyze markets by product shows the importers and suppliers of a product in one country, with their shares, and the countries the product comes from.

Step 4. Watch for changes

A one-time look gives you a snapshot. Suppliers change: a competitor finds a cheaper source, adds a new country or loses a supplier. The Trade Intelligence section sends notifications about changes in a company's trade: new markets and product groups, new buyers, suppliers and competitors, changes in market share, prices and volumes, shipping routes, and appearance on sanctions lists. It is included in paid plans, within the plan's quota of tracked companies.

What you will not see

• Contract terms. Discounts, bonuses, payment terms and exclusivity are not in shipment data. The recorded value of shipments can differ from what was finally paid.
• Local purchases. If a competitor buys from a local distributor that imports for it, the data shows the distributor as the importer, not your competitor.
• Countries outside coverage. Shipment data is not available for every country. A competitor that imports into other countries will not show those purchases.
• The real producer behind a trader. If the supplier is a trading company, check the Producers and Trademarks sections to see whose goods it sells.
• The latest weeks. Data arrives with a lag, and the latest month differs by country.

What is free and what needs a plan

• Without signing in: the "In brief" block on public company profiles; in Find suppliers and Find buyers, company names, countries, registration details and brands.
• After free registration: the full profile structure with some figures hidden, and free sample profiles and reports opened in full.
• On a paid plan: suppliers with registration details and volumes in profiles; amounts, number of shipments, average prices, contacts and Excel export in Find suppliers and Find buyers; notifications in Trade Intelligence.

To start, find a competitor on Company profiles or enter your product code on Find suppliers. If you then want to approach one of these suppliers, our guide How to find and check a foreign supplier describes the next steps.