Deep Sound Original · The author | Zu Yang
The hour hand points to 4 p.m. on November 26. After completing the last round of checking and filling in the gaps, the members of the steady cross-border e-commerce operation department jointly counted down in their hearts and waited for the "Black Five" promotion, which is also the arrival of the biggest hard battle in the cross-border e-commerce industry every year.
Before that, they were ready for the sprint more than 100 days in advance: from inviting Amazon Advertising professionals to explain the focus of advertising, to estimating whether inventory was enough, and comprehensively screening whether the website involved sensitive words. But one minute passed, three minutes passed... There was no growth in the order page, and Dylan, deputy director of the Steady E-commerce Division, immediately decided to concentrate all his advertising resources on the classic explosive items, and the three-hour period from seven o'clock to ten o'clock strived to set the traffic word card to the top four.
Finally, at 10 p.m., looking at the noticeable increase in product sales, Dylan lamented: "This trick is done right... Didn't sell well. ”
This is the content of the last issue of the first season of "Mariner Project" jointly launched by Amazon Advertising and Amazon Global Selling, which records the steady preparation for the "Black Friday" promotion this year. In addition, "Mariner Project" also filmed two Chinese companies, Tim Ke and UsMile, respectively, how Tim Ke coped with the "big test" in the first half of the year - Amazon Prime Membership Day, and the problems and growth experienced by USMILE from zero to build overseas teams.
Tianke, usmile, and prudent three companies are from different fields such as intelligent technology, oral care, and medical consumables, and are in different stages of enterprise development and going to sea. The observation and record of these three "sailors" in the "Mariner Plan" is a profile of the current development stage of the entire Chinese cross-border e-commerce industry, and also a guide to the next voyage.
Wind and waves and reefs
The wind direction has changed suddenly, ups and downs, and China's cross-border e-commerce industry has been full of uncertainty in the two years under the epidemic. First of all, a large number of manufacturers were forced to stop work and stop factories at the beginning of the epidemic, but then the outbreak of overseas market demand opened a window of opportunity for cross-border e-commerce, when a large number of players rushed to enter the market, the soaring logistics costs this year and Amazon's rectification of violations made speculators more than worth the loss.
However, it is worth pointing out that although facing the storm, China's cross-border e-commerce industry is still in the upward stage.
The epidemic is still not over, and the effective prevention and control measures of the Chinese government have increased the dependence of the global market on Chinese exports, providing a continuous increase for China's cross-border e-commerce. The latest statistics from the General Administration of Customs show that in the first half of this year, China's cross-border e-commerce retail exports amounted to 603.6 billion yuan, an increase of 44.1% year-on-year.
At present, going to sea is still the consensus of Chinese brands, and more and more start-ups and small and medium-sized manufacturers have joined the track. The "2021 Cross-border E-commerce Industry Development Report" released by Ebang Think Tank mentioned that in the field of cross-border e-commerce exports, 55% of enterprises have been engaged in cross-border e-commerce for less than three years, and less than 20% of enterprises have carried out cross-border e-commerce business for more than five years.
The three companies filmed in "The Sailor Project" are typical samples of China's overseas merchants at present.
For example, Focusing on the field of high-end smart life appliances, Tianke is an experienced strength "sailor", just a few years after the launch of Amazon, a number of star items have become Amazon's Choice; oral care brand usmile is a new player who goes to sea for the first time, after accumulating word of mouth and achievements in China, starting from a person, gradually building a special team to anchor the global market; steady is a national brand with a history of 30 years, We want more overseas consumers to realize the power and value of Chinese brands.
The sea is big and the fish are big, and China's "sailors" have not been forced back by the wind and waves, but they have bravely marched towards the vast blue ocean - but as cross-border e-commerce enters the deep water area, it is becoming more and more difficult to "go to sea".
Selling products overseas, this simple action is actually a very cumbersome chain behind it. For example, the usmile brand, when deciding to develop cross-border e-commerce business, there is only one Amazon operation, and the new products on the platform are mostly revisions of domestic products, and there are few sales orders for several consecutive days.
According to Usmile Overseas Promotion Cassie, at that time, most of the overseas products were the revision of domestic products, and the re-customization of products according to overseas consumer habits was more in line with the needs of overseas markets, but in fact, molds, research and development, and production costs were a lot of expenses.
On the basis of "selling", to "sell well" also requires Chinese merchants to explore overseas marketing methods and delivery models. Tianke, who has many years of experience in going overseas, also fell into the predicament of increasing advertising volume and decreasing conversion rate on the eve of this year's Amazon Prime Membership Day.
In addition to the inexperience of the "sailors" themselves, the "reefs" in the external environment may always allow the sails to overturn.
The global supply chain is in an epic chaos, with port congestion, soaring shipping costs, and difficulties in "coming in" overseas goods and "going out" domestic goods. In order to ensure a series of complete consumer experiences from purchase, logistics to after-sales, higher requirements are put forward for the ability of domestic brands to build warehouses overseas and the ability to manage inventory.
China's "sailors" are faced with wind and waves and reefs, opportunities and dangerous paths. Going to sea is still promising, but in order to develop for a long time and improve the ability to resist risks, it is necessary to achieve a change of thinking from blindly focusing on sales to refining the operation of the brand.
Therefore, the current cross-border e-commerce has shown a new development trend: the trend of brand cross-border e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce branding occurs at the same time, and Chinese brands have come to the transition stage of "product going to sea" to "brand going to sea".
The role of bridges
Whether it is a product going to sea or a brand going to sea, Amazon is a bridge that Chinese merchants can't avoid.
In the stage of product going overseas, Amazon is more to provide transaction scenarios and infrastructure such as warehousing and logistics to help more Chinese merchants sell their products smoothly. However, in the stage of brand going overseas, Amazon's responsibilities have also changed, and its "bridge" role is also reflected in the recognition, recognition and recognition of Chinese brands overseas.
Many of the new features provided by Amazon Advertising reflect Amazon's perception of the brand building needs of merchants.
For example, borrowing from the domestic live broadcast model, Amazon's live broadcast function has brought rich live marketing scenarios to Chinese brands and given sellers continuous traffic support; there is also Amazon's newly launched brand analysis function - brand indicators, which better help sellers understand the degree of interaction and brand value of each stage when brands and target consumers interact at different stages.
In addition, the "Mariner Plan", which records the practical experience of Chinese brands going overseas, also places a vision of Amazon Advertising to help and influence more merchants to build brands overseas.
Through the tracking and shooting of the three enterprises, the "Mariner Plan" provides a demonstration of "brand going to sea" for the wider number of Chinese merchants, and the pits stepped on in the program and the experience summarized can be precipitated into assets that the brand has been reused for a long time.
For example, the conversion rate of Prudential Medical in Amazon Advertising is between 40% and 60%, according to the review in the program, the secret of its high conversion rate is to seize the dividend of advertising tools, every new tool, Prudential Medical will take the lead in trying, widely spread, in the eyes of students in the Steady Cross-border E-commerce Operation Department, "to be the first batch of people to grasp the dividends."
In addition, targeting target groups and adjusting delivery strategies according to delivery effects and market feedback are also key points to improve conversion rates. Before the Amazon Prime Membership Day, Tim can increase the delivery of Amazon DSP and display promotion, and timely monitor the brand search volume and category word search volume, and when the monitored data reaches a significant peak, then synchronously increase the advertising investment in the site, and then realize the conversion from traffic to sales.
The construction of the brand can not only rely on advertising, product design, inventory management, after-sales service and other aspects also affect the consumer's impression of the brand. These links are also presented in the "Mariner Plan", such as usmile prepared two packages for random delivery at the time of sale, but the return rate of one relatively simple outer packaging is higher than that of the other, which also makes the operators of the brand cross-border e-commerce realize that they must fully understand the preferences and habits of consumers in different regions, and then quickly correct.
Along with the broadcast of the program, Amazon Advertising also planned the offline roadshow of "Sailor Project", inviting more Chinese "sailors" to communicate face-to-face and build a methodological framework for overseas brand building for brands.
At the Ningbo roadshow in November this year, Huang Ziqian, head of Amazon Advertising's Asia Pacific marketing department, and three Amazon Advertising instructors came to share dry goods for brands. Huang Ziqian distilled the three key factors for enhancing brand power through advertising, Reach (wide reach), Relevance (strong correlation), and Results (obvious results), and combined with methodology, specifically explained how to use Amazon Advertising to reach consumers, increase conversion rates and obtain accurate feedback.
In addition, Amazon Advertising also invited Sally, the international brand and marketing director of Timco, a participating brand of the "Sailor Project", to the scene to share his actual trading experience in the brand's overseas operations; as well as Wu Bofan, a well-known scholar and business thinker, to enlighten the "sailors" to think deeply and foresight on the market.
Whether it is the series of short videos "Sailor Plan" created online, or the offline roadshow activities that face to face with Chinese brands, they are using real stories and experiences to lead more Chinese "sailors" into the "era of great navigation".
As Wu Bofan summed up, Chinese brands go through three stages when they go global - "going out", "going in" and "going up". Going to sea is only the first step, and what Chinese brands need to do is to take root and deepen their roots in the field of overseas e-commerce, strengthen their own product strength and brand power, in order to truly cross the wind and waves and cross the cycle.
The past is the prologue, and the era of Chinese brands has just begun. Ruan Xueqing, founder of Moxingren Cross-border, once said: "I think that until now, the development degree of the brand has only accounted for 2% to 3% of the whole process, and there is still 50 times the future industry volume." ”
"Mariner Project" is the record of this voyage, and it is also expected that the second season of "Mariner Project" can show the style of more Chinese brands going to sea, as well as the evolution of brand building methodology in the process of going to sea. The second season of the "Sailors" recruitment program has been launched, you can click on the end of the article to read the original text to register, leaving a footnote of the era in the wave of Chinese brands going to sea.
The continuation of this show also means that the journey of Chinese brands overseas is far from stopping.