Food And Agriculture Products
Alcoholic Beverages
Health And Medical
Apparel & Fur
Industrial Raw Materials
Machinery And Equipment
Additives And Auxiliaries
Cultural ProductsIn recent years, new formats and models of China's foreign trade have developed rapidly. In 2021, China's cross-border e-commerce import and export volume will reach 1.98 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15%.
However, cross-border e-commerce platforms also have some limitations, and many sellers have begun to look for new business growth channels - independent stations. Under this model, businesses face consumers directly, reducing costs and improving efficiency, which is also conducive to establishing a brand image, which is welcomed by small and medium-sized enterprises.
What is an independent station? What are the advantages of opening an independent station compared to entering a third-party e-commerce platform? How does the independent station help Chinese brands go overseas?
A new direction for the development of cross-border sellers
——A new type of official website with independent domain name, private content, data, and rights and interests, independent management sovereignty and responsibility of the main body of operation.
Heidis is a Chinese company that independently develops portable music products such as lossless music players. Before 2018, the Amazon platform and offline distributors were the main sales channels of Hidis.
Although it already has a certain brand awareness overseas, the relevant person in charge of Heidis said: "We don't want others to think of a certain product when they think of Heidis. In the long run, this is not conducive to the establishment and depth of the brand. Operation. The traffic obtained by entering the third-party e-commerce platform is always in the pool, not completely belonging to the brand, so we have been thinking about how to effectively lead the traffic to our own pool.”
From 2018, Hidis began to plan to open an independent station. In March 2021, Heidis cooperated with Dianjiang Technology to use the independent station as the main position of the brand and users, use the exquisite landing page to present the new product warm-up, create an event atmosphere, conduct social media channel operation, talent marketing, etc. In half a year, the sales of Heidis' independent station doubled, and the brand awareness continued to deepen at the user level, achieving the goal of integrating quality and efficiency.
What are the characteristics of an independent station? "Independent stand in the cross-border e-commerce industry refers to a website with an independent domain name. Generally speaking, it means that the seller builds a website, uploads products for sale, and conducts independent marketing and promotion. Independent stand in user operation, consumer experience, platform Attributes and traffic acquisition can be formulated according to needs." The relevant person in charge of Dianjiang Technology told this reporter.
In the past, Amazon was one of the important channels for Chinese companies to deploy overseas. Now, more and more cross-border sellers are seeking new directions for overseas layout, and independent websites have become the choice of more people. According to the "2021 Cross-border E-commerce Financial Services Report" released by Yibang Think Tank, in 2021, 28.5% of cross-border sellers have established independent stations, and 8.6% of cross-border sellers said that the channel with the largest sales is independent stations. On the consumer side, according to the "2021 China Cross-border E-commerce Development Report" jointly released by Google and Deloitte China, 75% of the respondents maintained or increased their consumption on independent brand websites, indicating that consumers already have a certain level of brand awareness. .
In July last year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Development of New Formats and New Models of Foreign Trade" to support the development and growth of the foreign trade subdivision service platform. These include "encouraging foreign trade enterprises to build their own independent stations, and supporting professional website building platforms to optimize and improve service capabilities." "At present, China has very developed manufacturing and supply chain advantages, laying a solid foundation for the realization of brand globalization of Chinese products. Independent stations are an important way for Chinese enterprises to transform to branding and refine operations." said the person in charge of Dianjiang Technology.
On March 7, a container ship was loading containers at the Lianyungang terminal in Jiangsu.
Build a brand and save costs
——Direct-to-consumer, low operating and logistics costs, and higher logistics efficiency
AlloyWorks (Shanghai Hengde Auto Parts Co., Ltd.) is mainly engaged in auto radiators and other accessories. Its products are sold well in the United States, Canada, Australia and other places around the world, and are ranked in the forefront of similar items on eBay, Amazon and other platforms.
Although they have achieved good results on cross-border e-commerce platforms, enterprises also feel the constraints and limitations of the platform. The person in charge of AlloyWorks said that, on the one hand, the price of platform traffic is increasing, the cost of user acquisition is high, the brand awareness of users within the platform is weak, and competitors are emerging one after another. On the other hand, the heavier weight of auto parts products leads to a continuous rise in transportation costs, and the increase in product raw material costs also leads to a continuous rise in overall costs.
How to consolidate the market position and obtain long-term and stable development? Some businesses are starting to experiment with stand-alone sites.
"To build an independent station, you need to complete brand LOGO design, website design, website construction and establishment of overseas brand marketing system. Different from cross-border e-commerce platforms, currently everyone mainly shapes brand IP through social media operations and talent marketing. Improve industry visibility, user stickiness and repurchase rate." said the above-mentioned person in charge of AlloyWorks.
Why do SMEs prefer to set up independent stations?
Direct-to-consumer. According to reports, third-party cross-border e-commerce platforms have generally formed a fixed consumer group, but independent standing face-to-face with consumers can obtain first-hand data, which is more conducive to cultivating users' brand loyalty. In addition, by establishing emotional links with consumers in overseas markets, independent website sellers can allow consumers to generate brand perception and value recognition, so as to achieve brand premium and repurchase.
Low operating cost. The reporter saw a variety of package prices for opening an independent station on the official website of Dianjiang Technology, ranging from the basic version of $28/month to the Pro version of $218/month, which can meet the needs of beginner sellers to professional-level sellers with large sales orders. different needs of sellers. Under different packages, the platform commission ranges from 2% to 0.2%, and the number of employee accounts ranges from 6 to 100. In general, the operating cost of setting up an independent station is relatively low, and it will not cause an excessive burden on small and medium-sized enterprises.
The logistics time is shortened and the cost is relatively low. Cainiao has deployed 6 digital logistics centers around the world, opened more than 1,800 international sea and air freight routes, and operates more than 3 million square meters of cross-border warehouses to serve new foreign trade formats including independent stations. Infrastructures such as distribution centers, overseas warehouses and self-pickup cabinets have been deployed. Among them, the "5 USD 10 Day Delivery" logistics products have covered 20 countries and regions around the world, including Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Portugal, allowing more independent station merchants to enjoy the efficient logistics of "a cup of coffee money sent to the world" Serve.
"The continuous development of cross-border e-commerce enables Chinese-made and Chinese brands to reach overseas consumers more effectively, and also provides a broader stage for domestic merchants with supply chain foundations." Li Yaping, Deputy General Manager of Cainiao International Export Division Introduction, DianJiang Technology provides convenient website building tools and a systematic e-commerce management platform for global cross-border merchants and cross-border brands. The cooperation with DianJiang Technology is Cainiao International's new attempt to serve cross-border merchants. The service speeds up the cost reduction of domestic products going overseas.
Cainiao, Spain's Madrid overseas warehouse staff is packing logistics express.
Two-track parallel, let 1+1>2
——Draining traffic outside the station is the biggest problem, requiring a large number of professionals and facing cognitive problems at the same time
The development prospects of independent stations are broad, and companies that explore the way first have tasted the sweetness, but also reflected that there are three major problems in operating independent stations, such as traffic, talents and cognition.
Traffic, especially off-site drainage, is the biggest problem. Independent sites face a vast public domain traffic, with more sources and higher conversion rates, but it is not easy to obtain. Social media, search engines, and talent marketing are currently the source channels for independent website traffic. How to obtain and convert these traffic into private domain traffic of their own website and form a virtuous ecological cycle is an important factor for independent website sellers to successfully build their brands.
Talent problem. The independent station is a brand new thing. Under the independent station model, the warehousing and distribution system, online shopping process, advertising system, etc. all need to be built by sellers themselves, which requires a large number of professionals.
Cognitive Difficulties. Investigations by relevant agencies show that there is a general lack of systematic marketing awareness among sellers. Traditional brand sellers have their own marketing attributes, but the growth of consumer conversion rate and retention rate is slow, and the demand for marketing and traffic integration is high. Compared with brand marketing, small and medium-sized sellers pay more attention to the distribution of goods on the shelves and the high return rate of traffic in the short term, and the marketing service market is still in the early stage.
"In general, an independent station is conducive to foreign trade enterprises to build a brand, but the threshold of the independent station itself is not low. Enterprises should build and develop an independent station according to their own positioning, development stage, and target market. After the independent station develops to a certain stage, In addition to the need to more precisely measure the cost of acquiring traffic each time, it is also necessary to consider how to increase their unit price. Not only the current returns and value, but also the polishing of brand value, which means that sellers need to focus on talents, technology , continuous investment in services." said the person in charge of Dianjiang Technology. Industry experts generally believe that although the operation mode of the independent station is very different from that of platforms such as Amazon, in fact, the two are not opposite and can work together completely to exert the best effect of "1+1>2" and promote business development.
The "Amazon + Independent Station" Dual-Track Mode Overseas Strategy Report recently released by the Dianjiang Overseas Research Institute believes that for cross-border sellers, dual-track parallel can play the greatest role.
Specifically, the dual-track mode can be subdivided into two cases: one is to use independent stations as auxiliary channels for the acceptance and screening of off-site traffic, to improve conversion rates and repurchase. The other is to take Amazon as the cornerstone, independently expand the brand independent station, be directly consumer-oriented, and push back the development of the supply chain, which is conducive to shaping and precipitating the brand. It is understood that the market size of independent stations in 2020 is 0.8 trillion yuan. Since last year, it has entered a period of rapid development. It is expected that the market size of independent stations will rise to 5.5 trillion yuan by 2025, which means a huge opportunity for cross-border sellers.
Platform Introduction
Gansu Yimaotong Digital Technology Co., Ltd. was established in August 2021 and is mainly responsible for the operation of Gansu e foreign trade digital trade platform and some cross-border e-commerce business.
The company actively develops digital trade, and has established a cross-border B2B network platform with localized characteristics - Gansu e foreign trade digital trade platform. Businesses can complete trade orders with minimal time and cost. At the same time, through the use of 5G, Web3D, VR/AR, big data and other modern information technologies, it provides foreign trade enterprises with services such as overseas promotion, online exhibitions, online live broadcasts, online negotiation, and online orders, helping enterprises to carry out "cloud display". , "cloud docking", "cloud negotiation", "cloud signing", improve the company's ability to display publicity, help companies grab orders and secure customers.
