Scout Private Beta: The First Cohort Is In

This month, we started onboarding the first group of users outside our team into Ordinex Scout.

Not many people. We want to get it right before we move fast. But this is an important milestone, and we think it is worth documenting.

Where Scout stands

After months of internal use and adjustments based on our own real workflows, Scout is at a stage where we are confident enough to let others try it.

What works well:

• Batch import from 1688 files: Upload your export file, and Scout processes and prepares it for filtering in under a minute, even for batches of 500 products
• Keyboard-driven filtering: Pass / Maybe / Fail without leaving the keyboard. Internal users average 200 products in 25-35 minutes
• Annotations and decision history: Notes attached to products, not stored in a separate file. When a product reappears in a later batch, you see exactly how you evaluated it last time

What is still being built:

• Export shortlists in a format suppliers can use directly
• Additional filters based on real sales data
• Faster import for files with more than 1,000 products

Who is testing

The first beta group consists of shop owners sourcing from 1688 and selling on TikTok Shop or Shopee. These are people who have outgrown the "spreadsheet is good enough" phase and are processing at least a few hundred products per month.

We are not scaling fast. We need real signals from real users before adding more.

What we want to learn

When outsiders use Scout for the first time, the most important question is not "do they like it" but "how do they use it compared to how we think they will."

Everyone's workflow is different. Some people filter large batches once a week. Others filter small sets daily. Some are selling 5 SKUs, others 50. Scout needs to serve those workflows, not just ours.

What comes next

Over the next few months, we are expanding beta gradually. Still invite-only, still careful.

If you source from 1688 and want to try it, request access here or write to thinh@ordinex.io. We will reach out when a slot opens up.