New Opportunities in the Global E-commerce Retail Industry

Cross-border e-commerce new trends

In the past two years, affected by the epidemic, the global e-commerce retail industry has developed rapidly, and the scale of China's cross-border e-commerce transactions continues to grow, providing Chinese enterprises with tremendous opportunities for brand globalization.

New strategies for brand globalization

For cross-border enterprises, cross-border payments are not simple, involving various credit cards, digital wallets, and third-party payment institutions in various countries, which are very complex. Stripe, a financial technology company founded in 2010, provides a simple and complete solution, allowing companies to embed a few lines of Stripe code on their websites to easily start cross-border payments.

Global supply chain advantages

Xu Ruicheng believes that by continuing to tap into the advantages of the supply chain and utilizing global resources and supply chains, companies can bring new opportunities. No longer confined to the traditional Chinese supply chain, but utilizing the advantages of the global supply chain to provide more possibilities for brand globalization.

New opportunities for cross-border globalization

In terms of brand internationalization, Chinese companies can choose to expand domestic well-established brands to overseas markets, or establish new brands overseas and eventually return to the domestic market. Although many companies are going global, only a few are truly able to enjoy brand premium, with many opportunities still waiting to be explored.

Future Trends: Independent Sites and Emerging Markets

The future trend of cross-border internationalization will see the emergence of independent sites and emerging markets. Many domestic retailers have begun to focus on boutique independent sites, forming a situation where independent sites and e-commerce platforms coexist. In addition, emerging markets such as Southeast Asia are still blue oceans, where advanced internet models from China can be quickly replicated.

New Opportunities in Mature Markets

Although many people believe that growth opportunities in mature markets like the United States and Europe are limited, the penetration rate of e-commerce is still increasing, indicating a broad market scope. With the improvement of logistics and payment infrastructure, there are no restrictions on the development of e-commerce in mature markets, making it a continued growth trend.

New Challenges in Cross-border Payments

It is crucial to solve one of the biggest pain points in cross-border e-commerce, the payment issue. Enterprises should focus on risk control and customer service, plan payment costs in advance, and choose the right payment provider. Payment success rate and coverage are important factors to consider when choosing a payment method, ultimately impacting overall transaction volume and enterprise revenue growth.

The Amazon account suspension incident has sparked merchants' interest in independent websites.

Recently, one of the hot topics in the cross-border e-commerce community is the Amazon account suspension incident. As some well-known cross-border brands were suspected of brush orders and had their Amazon accounts suspended, many Chinese enterprises were also affected, prompting many merchants to pay attention to independent websites.

The pros and cons of independent websites compared to large platforms

In the view of Xu Ruicheng, Amazon account suspension is not a new occurrence but has been happening all along. Chinese sellers need to understand the rules of overseas major platforms to avoid being suspended due to various marketing tactics. At the same time, they also need to consider breaking free from platform dependence, establishing their own independent websites, and achieving a two-pronged approach.

Independent station refers to a website with its own domain. Compared to e-commerce platforms like Amazon, sellers can have their own private traffic without being restricted by large platforms. The biggest advantage of independent stations is the ability to control user data and information, and build their own traffic pool.

When companies choose between large platforms and independent stations, they should decide based on the category and team strengths. Some categories are suitable for selling on platforms like Amazon, while others are more suitable for promotion on independent stations, such as fashion categories.

The coexistence of platforms and independent stations in the future

Overall, e-commerce transactions are increasing in any country. In the future, platforms and independent stations will complement and influence each other, rather than a single replacement. Companies can have 'private traffic' and 'public traffic' on both independent stations and large platforms.

How to effectively operate an independent station

For sellers, the core of e-commerce lies in products. Therefore, how to choose products, build brands, and achieve differentiation is the most important. Successful sellers not only operate e-commerce or independent stations, but also need to become a consumer goods company and establish a close connection with consumers.

Connecting with consumers is the core of consumer goods companies, including product quality, shopping experience, payment process, as well as pre-sales and after-sales services. Establishing high-quality traffic, reducing customer acquisition costs, will lead to higher profitability and create a virtuous cycle.