A written deliverable
Real categories, channels, footprint, commercial terms, the brands they have worked with, and our view on each name.
Twenty years on the ground · Distributors · Tmall TPs · Douyin Partners
A contact list tells you who exists. We tell you who fits.
We did the sourcing already. You do not have to start where most brands do.
beyondcompass.bearingbridge.com
Coverage Tmall TP · Distributor · Douyin · Importer
Categories Beauty · F&B · Fashion · Wellness · Pet
Sourcing depth
Twenty years of meetings, vetted into one private database.
A directory cannot protect you from a wrong-partner mistake. A database built one meeting at a time can. Almost every name in BeyondCompass is someone our team has met, briefed, or worked with on a real brand project.
Partner sourcing, in three shapes.
We use BeyondCompass to draw you a list of distribution and channel partners worth talking to, validated against what we have seen recently and what we know about your category.
Shortlist
Three to five vetted names, briefed in depth, ready to meet. For brands that already know what their distribution should look like.
- Curated names. Three to five partners that match your category, your stage, and your channel mix.
- In-depth briefs. Footprint, brands they have worked with, commercial terms, our view on each.
- Working session. Senior people walking through every name. Why this one, why not that one, where we would push in negotiation.
- Warm introductions. You walk in with a relationship behind you. You tend to get the senior team, not the pitch team.
Market map
Fifteen to twenty names, structured for comparison. For brands still working out what their distribution should look like. Followed by a focused shortlist when you are ready.
- Longlist coverage. Fifteen to twenty names, mapped by category, channel, and footprint.
- Structured comparison. Same categories on every row, so you can compare options on the same axes.
- Channel logic. Cross-border versus domestic, Tmall TP versus distributor, B2B versus DTC. We say which fits.
- Sequenced shortlist. The most common shape for first-time China entries. Map first, then a focused shortlist drawn from the names that survived it.
Replacement
For brands that already signed with the wrong partner. The shortlist work is the same. The constraints are tighter and there is usually a contract to unwind.
- Replacement shortlist. Same vetting, same warm introductions, but built around an active operation.
- Transition planning. How to move inventory, channels, and content without losing the launch window.
- Contract unwind support. We help on the resourcing side. Finding a replacement, comparing options, running the transition.
- Discreet by default. No public noise. We have done this enough times to know when to keep quiet.
A list is not worth much if you do not trust the thinking behind it.
A working session
Senior people walking through every name. Why this one, why not that one, where we would push in negotiation.
Warm introductions
Almost every name in BeyondCompass is someone our team has met, briefed, or worked with on a real project. You walk in with a relationship behind you.
Honest assessments
Who we would recommend without thinking twice, who we would warn you off, and who only fits a very specific kind of brand.
Manifesto
China rewards brands that pick the right partner first. It punishes the ones that do not. The punishment is rarely loud.
Inventory sits in a warehouse for eighteen months. A flagship store gets run by a team that has never moved your category. Two years of your China entry, gone.
A database built one meeting at a time, over twenty years, can protect you from that.
Three things this is not.
The lines we keep clean. So you know what you are paying for, and what you are not.
We do not sell access to the database.
No login, no seat license. The value is the context around the rows, and that does not export to a CSV.
We do not run the partnership once it is signed.
BearingBridge does that work separately, when you want it.
We do not promise outcomes two years out.
What we can do is make sure the names on your list deserve to be there.
Ready when you are
Find the right China partner first.