How to Record Supplier Information at the Canton Fair

When recording supplier information at the Canton Fair, the most important thing is not remembering as much as possible, but ensuring that each supplier's booth, products, business card, terms discussed on-site, and pending items correspond correctly. After visiting dozens of booths in a single day, it is very easy to get confused if you rely solely on memory. The most practical method is to use a standardized recording format for all suppliers and complete basic information archiving before leaving the booth.

What Information to Record for Each Supplier First?

Whenever you visit a booth of interest, record at least:

• Company name
• Booth number
• Contact person and contact details
• Interested products or models
• Main terms discussed on-site
• Unresolved or pending questions

Booth numbers are particularly important. If you are left with only a product photo a few days later, you will likely forget which company it came from; with a booth number, it is much easier to re-match the day's materials.

There is no need to write long paragraphs when recording. The key is to keep the format consistent so that information from different suppliers can be quickly identified.

How to Match Product Photos with Suppliers?

Avoid taking many consecutive product photos and trying to recall which company they belong to later.

When entering a key supplier's booth, you can take a photo of the booth number or company name first, followed by products, nameplates, specification labels, and other information you need to keep. After leaving the booth, move on to the next one and start a new set of photos.

This way, the order in your phone's gallery will naturally form:

Booth information → Product photos → Parameters or details → Next booth.

If you receive a paper catalog or quotation materials, you can also take a picture of the cover or business card at the same time to keep digital photos and paper documents aligned.

Do Not Store Business Cards Separately

One day after the Canton Fair ends, you may have many business cards in your pocket. If all business cards are mixed together, it is very easy to forget which product was discussed the next day.

A simple method is to immediately write down the contact person's name in your recording sheet upon receiving a business card and take a photo of the card.

If the other party also sends digital catalogs, WhatsApp, WeChat, or emails, make sure the company name matches your on-site records.

The key is not to collect more contact methods, but to instantly know when looking at the contact later: where you met, what products were discussed, and what remains unconfirmed.

What Should Meeting Minutes Include?

On-site meetings do not require verbatim notes.

Record only the information that is easy to forget after leaving the booth and that affects subsequent procurement decisions, such as:

• Product models or specifications
• Available materials or configurations
• Preliminary production lead time instructions
• Packaging methods
• Certifications or document status
• Materials promised to be provided later on-site

If certain information is only mentioned verbally without document confirmation yet, you can mark it as "pending confirmation" rather than writing it down directly as confirmed terms.

This helps you distinguish between materials already obtained and content that was merely discussed on-site when sorting out materials after the exhibition.

Create a Separate "Pending Items" List

When seeing interesting products, buyers often think of questions that cannot be answered immediately on-site, such as needing to confirm certain technical parameters, packaging dimensions, certificate versions, drawings, or whether adjustments can be made according to project requirements.

Do not scatter these questions across different photos or chat apps.

List "pending items" separately for each supplier, centrally recording questions that did not receive clear answers.

This way, when you hand over on-site materials to your colleagues, procurement team, or China sourcing agents later, they can directly see which matters have not yet been confirmed.

Do a Quick Organization Before Each Day Ends

After attending the Canton Fair for a few consecutive days, the most common problem is not having too little data, but having an increasing volume of information.

At the end of each day, you can group that day's supplier records, photos, business cards, and digital files together by company name or booth number.

For example, you can archive by: "Supplier A: Booth number, contact person, product photos, on-site records, pending items."

Use the same format when continuing your exhibition visits the next day.

This way, even after contacting a large number of suppliers by the end of the Canton Fair, your data remains fully usable rather than turning into a pile of unmatchable photos, business cards, and chat histories.

How Easysail Can Help

Easysail China long assists overseas importers and project buyers with attending the Canton Fair and subsequent China sourcing. For buyers who need to contact machinery, furniture, building materials, lighting, bathroom fixtures, or multiple suppliers simultaneously, we can help organize booth data, product info, and pending items collected on-site so your subsequent team can continue the work smoothly.

If your China procurement itinerary also includes factory visits in Guangzhou, Foshan, and the Pearl River Delta, you can send your procurement list or priority Canton Fair products to us in advance. Easysail can help coordinate exhibition visits, factory inspections, and follow-up procurement coordination to minimize information omission or confusion in multi-supplier projects.

To plan your Canton Fair procurement itinerary, contact us via the Easysail China website, WhatsApp, or email.