Meaning & use
direct exporting
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablebusiness
The practice of a company selling its goods or services directly to foreign buyers without using an intermediary.
Grammar: Uncountable; used with 'the' or no article, e.g. 'Direct exporting requires...'
Patterns
- direct exporting of something
- engage in direct exporting
- direct exporting to a country
Small firms often start with indirect exporting before moving to direct exporting.
Direct exporting gives the manufacturer more control over pricing and customer relationships.
The report compares direct exporting with using a local distributor.
Common combinations
- direct exporting strategy
- Their direct exporting strategy targets three European markets.
- engage in direct exporting
- The company began to engage in direct exporting last year.
- direct exporting costs
- Direct exporting costs can be high because of shipping and tariffs.
- switch to direct exporting
- After gaining experience, they switched to direct exporting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- direct export
- Often used as a shorter, countable form; 'direct exporting' focuses on the activity, while 'direct export' can refer to a single shipment or the goods themselves.
- direct sales
- Similar but not limited to international trade; 'direct sales' can be domestic too.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: direct exporting or direct export?
direct exporting vs direct export
As a noun, 'direct export' is often countable and refers to a specific export deal or the goods; 'direct exporting' is the general process.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'direct exporting' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Direct exporting' is an uncountable noun phrase and works as the subject in option B. Option An is wrong because 'does direct exporting' needs 'of' or a different verb. Option C uses it as a verb, which it is not. Option D has a plural verb 'are' with an uncountable subject.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “direct exporting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.