For small entrepreneurs within the US, deciding what to sell and where to make it has traditionally been a slow, labor-intensive process that may take months. Now that work is increasingly being done by AI tools like Accio, which help connect businesses with manufacturers in countries including China and India. Business owners and e-commerce experts told that these AI tools are making sourcing more accessible and significantly shortening the time it takes to go from product idea to launch.
McClary, 51, who runs his business from his Illinois front room, has sold products starting from leather conditioner to camping lights, including one rechargeable lantern that brought in half one million dollars. Like many small online merchants, he built his business by being extremely scrappy—spotting demand for a product, tweaking existing designs, finding a factory, doing modest marketing, and getting the products in front of shoppers fast.
This time, though, he began by telling Accio in regards to the flashlight’s original design, production cost, and profit margin. Then Accio suggested several changes, making it smaller and barely less brilliant and switching its charging method to battery power. It also identified a manufacturer in Ningbo, China, that McClary said could cut the manufacturing cost from $17 to about $2.50 per unit.
McClary took the method from there, contacting the supplier himself to debate the revised design. Inside a month, the new edition of the Guardian flashlight was back up on the market on Amazon and on his brand’s website.
The brand new factory hunt
Although Alibaba is best known for owning Taobao, the most important shopping site in China, its first business was Alibaba.com, the first website that lists Chinese factories open for bulk orders. Placing an order with a manufacturer normally requires excess of clicking “Buy.” Sellers often spend days or perhaps weeks browsing listings, comparing suppliers’ reviews and manufacturing capacities, asking about minimum order quantities, requesting samples, and negotiating timelines and customization options.
But Accio has gained significant momentum by changing how that sourcing gets done. Launched in 2024, Accio exceeded 10 million monthly energetic users in March 2026, based on the corporate. Meaning about one in five Alibaba users consults with AI about product sourcing.
