From 2016 to 2018, the scale of China’s cross-border e-commerce transactions continued to rise, from 6.3 trillion yuan to 9.1 trillion yuan. It is expected that this growth trend will continue.

1. Cross-border e-commerce?

Cross-border e-commerce refers to transaction entities belonging to different customs territories that conclude transactions, conduct payment settlements through e-commerce platforms, and conduct cross-border e-commerce transactions. It is an international business activity in which cross-border logistics delivers goods and completes transactions.

How do individuals do cross-border e-commerce?

1. Distinguish the difference between foreign trade and cross-border e-commerce

Although foreign trade now uses the Internet, it is understandable For foreign trade e-commerce: However, the entire foreign trade transaction process has not changed much, including inquiry, quotation, order, production, transportation, chartering and booking, customs declaration and commodity inspection, foreign exchange collection, settlement and verification, etc. Foreign trade e-commerce transactions have all It's offline.

Cross-border e-commerce is sold through a third platform, just like domestic sales on Taobao. The difference is that with the help of foreign platforms or domestic-to-foreign sales platforms, cross-border e-commerce is completed directly online. Compared with traditional trade, cross-border e-commerce orders are mostly small batches or even single pieces.

2. What are the cross-border e-commerce platforms? What can individuals do?

The mainstream ones are Amazon, eBay, wish, and AliExpress; in Southeast Asia, there are lazada and shopee. Etc.

Most platforms now require businesses to do cross-border e-commerce, but it is still difficult for individuals to do cross-border e-commerce. Now, individuals can still do cross-border e-commerce on Amazon, eBay, and wish.

3. Market selection

The editor believes that you still have to look at the market first before choosing products. Although many people who are doing Lazada now feel that there is no order, the main battlefield for most people now is America and China. Europe, but the editor believes that the Southeast Asian market, India, Africa and other potential markets are relatively large, but now it seems that it would be a bit of a way to support oneself if we specialize in two places, so we should mainly focus on Southeast Asia and Africa for the time being!

4. Select products and open a store

It is recommended to use a company to open a store. Like trademarks, it is a trend. I feel like a few individuals can still open a store, but in a few years they might also be a company! Then it will be troublesome. When selecting products, you can pay more attention to the hot-selling products on some platforms, or pay more attention to their markets and develop your own products!

5. Logistics, collection, and operations will not be discussed in detail. In addition, various countries now have VAT regulations. Tax is also a more important item!

2. Product selection!!!

Product selection: is always the first step in marketing

Product selection has always been It is the most talked about and core topic of cross-border e-commerce. For product selection on different platforms, the most important thing is to make product selection after understanding the platform. The same product can have different platform marketing methods that can learn from each other. Refined product selection thinking is the core! Here is an example of the Amazon platform’s product selection thinking. .

Amaon’s product selection

When it comes to Amazon, the first thing that comes to mind is that it is suitable for branding, high gross profit and other topics! However, for many of our Chinese sellers, Amazon remains The routes for selling products to us are just “selling LISTING” and “self-building LISTIN”; the self-built LISTING method is suitable for the current brand and pseudo-brand strategies that everyone is keen on; of course, if it is a simple OEM, this route is actually very Tired.

So, in this environment, how should we Chinese sellers choose products?

3. Warehousing

Warehouse: Pay attention to the risks of overseas warehouses

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The editor will talk about this matter from the aspects of storage space specifications, product information management specifications, and process design. The first two are infrastructure construction, and the latter is system application.

1. Shelf space specifications in storage space

Shelf space information refers to the arrangement of inventory storage locations according to location, using unified signs to mark the sequence numbers, and making clear signs. Scientific and reasonable shelf space information is conducive to the scientific maintenance and storage of inventory goods. During the process of goods entering and exiting the warehouse, operations can be completed quickly, accurately and conveniently based on the shelf space information, improving efficiency and reducing errors.

When writing shelf space information, you should ensure that the shelf spaces in a warehouse are numbered in the same way to facilitate search and processing.

2. Product Information Standards

The standardization of product information here mainly refers to the organization and clarity of product SKU information, product specifications and sizes, and Chinese and English customs declaration information. The standardization of product information is conducive to the scientific management of inventory products. Reasonable SKU coding is conducive to achieving refined inventory management. It is also conducive to timely and accurate picking, improving efficiency and avoiding picking errors.

Among the several contents of product information, product specifications and sizes, Chinese and English customs declaration information can be improved with a little bit of existing data. As the smallest inventory unit of a product, product SKU is the most important and most important in product management. Basic data, but because it is not existing information, many sellers have no SKU or incomplete SKU.

3. Process design

The process here does not refer to 4S or 5S, but refers to the seller’s order and purchase, sale and inventory management process every step of the way under the conditions of the above two points. The sequential connection of node work.

To put it simply, the daily back-end management of cross-border e-commerce sellers can be roughly divided into: order acquisition, order allocation, order placement and inventory maintenance. As for how these entire processes can be connected in series to maximize efficiency, it would take a long time to write. Here I will talk about how the ERP currently on the market circulates this series of work.

Order acquisition, automatically import platform orders into the management system through the official API interfaces of eBay, Amazon, AliExpress, and Wish platforms;

Order distribution, access to mainstream international platforms on the market Logistics channel, through user-defined distribution rules, all orders are automatically assigned to the corresponding warehouse for distribution according to the rules, and the corresponding logistics obtains the order and tracking number;

Orders are placed for distribution, and the orders are automatically distributed according to the rules Obtain logistics information and generate the order form and tracking number. The picking information is also printed simultaneously with the order form; for simple packages, you can scan the goods and issue the order form;

Inventory maintenance, the system automatically maintains inventory according to the order delivery status. And automatically generate purchasing recommendations based on inventory stock and average daily sales volume of nearby dates combined with the purchasing cycle.

Purchasing back can support the continuous generation of orders, forming a closed cycle in the process.

About overseas warehouses, overseas warehouses are suitable for goods that are high in price, large in size, fragile, and cannot be transported through traditional logistics channels.

When building an overseas warehouse, you also need to consider the financial strength and risk resistance of the merchant itself. Because overseas warehouses have a characteristic, it is easy to send out but difficult to come back. The returned goods are considered imported, and in many cases the cost of return freight and customs duties will be far higher than the value of the goods themselves. This product is easy to sell in this country, but it is not universally available. The goods that cannot be sold will cause inventory loss.

4. Platform

Platform: Clever combination of three-party platform + self-built mall

For merchants who are just getting involved in cross-border e-commerce, it is recommended to choose the first Three-party platform. Third-party platforms have mature rules, which are based on the platform’s long-term experience accumulation. It first best protects the interests of buyers and then maintains fair competition to the greatest extent.

For sellers, the advantage of third-party platforms is that traffic can be free of charge. The disadvantage is that the bigger you play, the greater your strategic risks. It’s hard to tell when one of your inadvertent mistakes will close your store.

However, these hidden dangers do not exist for cross-border B2C in self-built malls, because self-built malls do not seek traffic but brand endorsement. If users can search for your brand online, they will feel that your brand has a foundation, which is good for remembering and trusting your brand. The meaning of a self-built mall cannot simply be understood as sales, because being online means being in a state of promotion and information dissemination. Therefore, the first function is information dissemination, and the second is closing transactions.

We have also seen that many merchants have made a very clever combination of third-party platforms and self-built B2C malls: putting a leaflet of the B2C mall in the shipped package, which also achieves Free promotion of own mall.

5. Promotion

Promotion: The basis is to have a good product

There are mainly five types of product promotion:

For different For products, different platforms should choose one or two appropriate methods, which will not be detailed here. If it is to attract traffic outside the site, I recommend an article written by blues to everyone. This article is deeply thoughtful and high-level. It is the best article of this type that I have read so far, and I was deeply moved.

6. Logistics

Logistics: 4 aspects to choose a suitable logistics company

Mainly measure whether this logistics company is suitable for you from four aspects.

1. Look at the company’s history

2. Look at whether the company’s service channels are comprehensive

Different goods require different logistics methods, such as small packages Two kilogram limit. Logistics companies have a wide range of channels, so merchants no longer need to look for other logistics companies and make judgments. In addition, the more shipments you make with a logistics company, the more services you can enjoy.

3. Look at the price

Logistics costs will erode the seller's profits, so the price is what the seller is most concerned about. However, blindly lowering prices will bring serious consequences, such as abnormal operations, packet loss, unstable delivery time, etc. Pursuing only economic benefits will inevitably harm the customer experience. Most sellers will understand this only after they have suffered losses in this regard.

4. Look at the overall strength of the company

For example, whether the distribution of outlets is wide enough, whether there is a system that seamlessly connects upstream and downstream, etc.

7. Collection

Collection: Take care of the last step

The safety of funds is the first priority. If the safety of funds is not guaranteed, no matter how easy the channel is to use, The more money you collect, the greater the risk. Just like PP, it is easy to use, but there is a risk of funds being cleared, and the safety of funds is not guaranteed.

Secondly, the stability of the channel. If there is a problem with the channel every three days, this will greatly affect the collection, especially during peak times. Not to mention a day's delay, a delay of one hour will result in the loss of many orders.

Third, the success rate of the channel, because the success rate is directly related to the actual conversion rate of the order. The higher the success rate, the higher the actual conversion rate. Others, such as account opening fees and annual fees, are secondary. On the contrary, the more attractive the conditions, the greater the risk.

Don’t be limited to one collection channel. For you, the safety of fund transfer is important, and the customer’s online shopping experience is even more important. Therefore, don’t get too entangled in this issue. Currently, cross-border RMB payment is the choice of many foreign trade e-commerce companies. Because the payment page is fast, it also conforms to the shopping habits of foreign consumers. Cross-border e-commerce should always pay attention to these. Users have improved value experience, which is beneficial to foreign trade and stable market share.