Zhang Li, deputy director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said today that in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic, the import and export of cross-border e-commerce will increase by 3 1. 1% in 2020, and the total market procurement trade will exceed 1000 billion US dollars. More than 10000 traditional enterprises went online, and the number of overseas warehouses of cross-border e-commerce exceeded 1800. Last year, the growth rate reached 80%, and the area exceeded1.2000 square meters.
The share of China sellers in Amazon's head sellers has reached a record high.
The annual report released by e-commerce data company Marketplace takes stock and analyzes the performance of Amazon and other platforms in 2020. According to the report, in 2020, 62% of Amazon's global GMV came from third-party sellers, up from 60% in 20 19 and 58% in 20 18. Specifically, more than 360,000 sellers contributed 90% of the GMV of the platform, among which 850 big sellers contributed Amazon 10% and more than 38,000 small and medium sellers contributed 50% of the GMV.
It is worth mentioning that the report points out that by the end of 2020, the share of China sellers among Amazon head sellers will reach a record high, reaching 42%. Sales contributed by sellers in China accounted for the second place in Amazon's total sales, while domestic sellers in the United States ranked first.
Some experts believe that cross-border electronic commerce is likely to become the mainstream foreign trade export model in the future and an important driving force of China's foreign trade economy. Strictly speaking, cross-border e-commerce itself is a trade method, but the trading method has changed from offline to online. It is a complementary relationship with traditional trade, without any conflict, and belongs to an increment of traditional trade.
Before long, traditional foreign trade enterprises will find that the sooner they embrace cross-border e-commerce, the greater the gap will be. At present, the mainstream cross-border transaction mode is B2C or B2SB (small B). As a traditional supplier, how should we use the new cross-border model to expand the market and business volume? Today, let's analyze the four platforms of cross-border e-commerce.
In the choice of cross-border e-commerce platform, some large enterprises choose self-built platforms, while most small and medium-sized enterprises choose platforms provided by third parties with strong marketing capabilities and subsequent related export services. At present, foreign traders in China mainly choose B2C and B2SB e-commerce platforms represented by Wish, Amazon, Yi Bei and AliExpress, with end consumers and small retailers as the main customer groups. These mainstream cross-border e-commerce platforms have their own characteristics, and how to choose the most suitable cross-border platform for export enterprises must be seriously considered.
Many foreign traders have a misunderstanding that casting nets to catch more fish is a shortcut. As long as all four platforms are ready, you can wait for business at home. In fact, an enterprise's energy, resources and experience are limited. If there is no very strong professional team, you may eventually lose sight of one thing and draw water with a sieve.
How to choose a cross-border platform suitable for focused research? Let's first understand the advantages and disadvantages of these four platforms.
AliExpress
1) sales model: B2B+B2C vertical sales model is mainly aimed at corporate customers, and 75% of overseas markets are located in Russia, Brazil, the United States, Spain and Turkey.
2) Platform advantages:
All Chinese operation interface;
Publish most categories for free;
There is no initial publication deadline;
The fault tolerance is relatively high (the cycle of the merchant rating system is naturally 2 months).
3) platform disadvantages:
The price competition is fierce and the promotion cost is high (there is a through train function to use bidding ranking);
Operating policies are biased towards big sellers and brands;
Basically do not provide customer service;
Buyers are not loyal to the platform.
4) Influencing factors of platform ranking:? Seller rating, price, product sales, product rating.
Applicable merchant type:? Vertical trader, factory transformation B2C, traditional wholesaler.
AliExpress's low price strategy is related to Alibaba's seller-customer strategy of introducing Taobao. Many people think that running AliExpress now is similar to Taobao store in previous years. AliExpress focuses on emerging markets, especially Russia and Brazil. According to the statistics of AliExpress 20 14, nearly160,000 Russians log on the AliExpress server every month, and on average, more than 60,000 purchase orders are completed every day. At the same time, because AliExpress is the platform product of Ali series, the full-page operation of Chinese and English versions is concise and neat, which is very suitable for beginners to get started.
Summary: Suitable for sellers in emerging markets (Russia, Brazil, etc.). Whose products have supply chain advantages and obvious price advantages, it is best to sell them directly in the factory. The advantage of traders in small orders is not obvious.
Amazonas
1) Sales model: B2B model, mainly aimed at corporate customers, with diversified business.
2) Platform advantages:
The originator of e-commerce, earlier than other platforms, has a huge customer base and traffic advantages, with a monthly traffic of 80 million and is known for its excellent service;
It has powerful warehousing and logistics systems and services, especially in North America, Europe and Japan. Sellers only need to be responsible for selling products. Amazon provides a unified standard service model for later packaging, logistics and return, which will generate some service fees including storage fees and delivery fees, or you can choose to deliver them yourself.
Site linkage, such as Amazon Europe site can be sold to the whole European market only by having an account in one country;
Provide Chinese registration interface.
3) platform disadvantages:
Sellers require high quality products, and enterprises are the best;
Have research and development ability;
The seller must be able to issue invoices;
Have certain requirements for product brands;
The procedure is slightly more complicated than other platforms;
Only one account can be logged into the same computer;
The account number of the receiving bank needs to be registered in the United States, Britain and other countries.
4) Platform service scheme:
Two main sales schemes:
Personal sales plan and professional sales plan. The difference is that the number of uploaded products is divided by 40. Personal sales plan is free, but only products within 40 can be uploaded. Professional sales plan needs to pay $39.99, but more than 40 products can be uploaded. It takes 90 days for a personal plan to have a gold shopping cart to buy a box, and a professional sales plan is to buy a box as soon as an account is opened. In addition, according to its customer service, there are also differences in sales, that is, when sales increase too fast, personal solution sellers are relatively vulnerable to account audit.
Value-added services: Amazon has achieved that more than 50% of Amazon customers are gold members. You need to pay 99 dollars. As a gold medal member, you can enjoy accurate marketing push service and fast logistics service, and cross-border trade can be delivered to customers within 2~3 days.
After the newcomer registers Amazon account, the bank account needs to be in the United States, Britain and other countries. Here are several options: register an American company or find an American agency, and then apply for a federal tax number; As foreign traders, we generally have some overseas customer resources, so we might as well solve this problem through them; No, there are also some institutions in China that provide this service.
Summary: Choosing Amazon platform requires suppliers to have stable and reliable product resources, certain financial strength, local contacts in the United States and long-term commitment to research. It is best for newcomers to register with Amazon suppliers, receive professional training, and understand the policy and knowledge of opening stores. Amazon's store opening is more complicated and has a very strict audit system. If you violate the rules or don't understand the rules, you will not only close the store, but also have legal risks.
Buy through eBay
1) Sales mode: B2C vertical sales. Mainly aimed at individual consumers, it is more popular in developed countries.
2) Platform advantages:
Relatively fair ranking and professional customer service support;
New sellers can be exposed by auction;
The threshold for opening a store is relatively low, but the rules are cumbersome and need to be learned.
3) platform disadvantages:
The buyer's protection policy is strong, and most of the sales disputes are biased towards the buyer, and the seller suffers heavy losses;
English interface is not friendly, not easy to use;
The cost is not low, the store is free, and the products on the shelves need to be charged. Transaction cost and publication cost of commodities * * *17%;
Strict seller standards (for counterfeit goods and other commodities), and stores will be closed in case of complaints;
Paypal is generally used for payment, which has certain risks;
The audit period is long, and it can only be auctioned, and the number of products is limited by the starting price. It needs to accumulate credibility to sell more and more, and the billing cycle is long, which needs to be accumulated slowly.
4) Factors affecting platform ranking: seller's performance, product quantity and update speed, and product price.
5) Applicable merchant types: traders, factories with certain B2C experience and brand dealers.
The understanding of Yi Bei can basically be equated with Taobao in China, and Taobao was able to dominate the country only after it was squeezed out of Yi Bei in China market. For international retailers, the potential of Yi Bei should not be underestimated, because its core mature markets are in the United States and Europe.
According to an experienced person, the key to Yi Bei's success lies in the choice of products. Since Yi Bei's main markets are the United States and Europe, it is best to do market research before doing Yi Bei. Generally speaking, we can adopt the following methods:
First, study the whole market through Yi Bei, select some best-selling products in Yi Bei, carefully study product channels and product prices, and analyze their advantages in combination with the characteristics of their own supply chains.
Secondly, considering the culture, population, consumption habits, consumption level and other factors in European and American markets, we should choose potential products to make Yi Bei. To study the market advantages and future sales potential of hot-selling products, once we invest energy and money, we need to consider the profitability and sustainability of the market.
Summary: product first. Whether to choose Yi Bei or not depends on the product itself. If the target markets of our products are in Europe and the United States, we can choose Yi Bei. Compared with Amazon, the operation is relatively simple, the investment is less, and it is suitable for people with certain foreign trade sources.
hope
1) Sales mode: B2B+B2C vertical sales. Data analysis started with mobile buyers, and products can be pushed according to customers' interests.
2) Platform advantages:
Good localization support;
Shelf goods are very simple, mainly with labels;
The profit rate is high and the competition is relatively fair;
Precision marketing, peer-to-peer personalized push, customers;
High satisfaction rate;
Facebook drainage, clear marketing positioning.
3) platform disadvantages:
Commodity review time is too long, ranging from 2 weeks to 2 months;
High cost, 15% transaction cost and 1.2% cash withdrawal cost;
Logistics solutions are not mature enough;
The trading dispute rules of the platform are vague.
4) Factors affecting platform ranking: label accuracy, product quantity, description and pictures, and product price.
5) Applicable merchant types: traders, factory transformation B2C, brand dealers.
According to Wish's latest report, the average daily download volume of APP is stable at 6.5438+million, with a peak of 200,000. Currently, the number of users has exceeded 47 million. Accordingly, 97% of Wish's orders come from mobile terminals. Judging from the advantages of the current mobile Internet, Wish has great potential in the future.
Summary: Wish is a cross-border platform based on APP that has just emerged in recent years. At first, it was just a tool for collecting and managing goods, mainly relying on cheap and good quality to attract customers. It has a high reputation and market followers in the American market. Core product categories include clothing, jewelry, mobile phone gifts and so on. Most suppliers are from China. Wish's main competitiveness is that the price is very cheap, and the precision marketing model leads to a very high customer satisfaction rate, which is also the reason why the platform has developed in just a few years.
(This article was selected in Focus Vision magazine)