After the wave of closures, a group of small and medium-sized sellers left the market at a loss on the multi-platform layout...

Image source @ Visual China

Text | Hugo crosses borders

After the wave of banning, the sellers who were originally mainly engaged in the Amazon platform had a sense of crisis: the operation of a single platform was too risky to put eggs in one basket.

As a result, these sellers began to broaden their sales channels (such as other third-party platforms and independent sites). However, after the layout of multiple channels, some sellers found that the energy spent could not achieve the expected effect, which link was wrong? Is it that other platforms are not working or are there problems with seller operations?

Judging from the current performance of small and medium-sized sellers in expanding sales channels, in addition to Amazon, some third-party platforms do not seem to be worth investing a lot of energy to do. However, in today's environment, multi-platform sales are still the future development direction of cross-border enterprises, and it is not only the platform that poses a "threat" to sellers.

Seller layout multi-channel "hit the wall"

The purpose of developing a new platform is to increase revenue while avoiding risks, but in a short period of time, sellers cannot feel the rules and regulations of the fresh platform, and it is inevitable that they will not see results.

Coincidentally, another seller who was damaged in the wave of suspensions told Hugo Cross-Border: "After Amazon has blocked a few accounts, the rest of the accounts can still operate normally, but in order to avoid risks, the accounts of Wish and Newegg have been opened." After about three or four months, it was found that the single volume of the two platforms was not very good, and the Wish platform was very unfair, and there were many overlord clauses..."

In addition, some sellers said that the company has opened a lot of new platforms, although the competition is not as fierce as Amazon, but the traffic of the new platform is relatively small, the operators are scattered, and the effect is not good.

Looking back at the years when cross-border e-commerce grew barbarically, no matter what platform and what products were made, there was a high probability that they would get a piece of the pie. However, today's cross-border e-commerce, the requirements for sellers are gradually increasing, there is no high-quality products and supply chains, no matter what platform will be very "torturous".

Looking at the entire cross-border circle, almost every platform has a big sale, and there is no shortage of outstanding brand sellers, which also confirms that cross-border e-commerce has little to do with the platform. Many small and medium-sized sellers often pay attention to the quality of the platform in the choice of new channels, but ignore the importance of the product.

Uncompetitive currency will face low-priced inner coils everywhere. For sellers, the importance of the product is far greater than the platform, if you want to achieve something on the platform, you must not only clearly understand the needs of the target audience, but also continue to invest energy to optimize the product. Ju Peiquan, VP of Huanjin Technology, once said: "DtC brand goes to sea, the most important thing is the product, and choosing a good product is the basis for the brand to go to sea." ”

The multi-platform layout of cross-border mass sales has gradually shown results

It is worth noting that since the tide of Amazon's banning, Tongtuo, Youkeshu, Zebao and other big sales have begun to multi-channel layout, and have also achieved certain results.

After being banned by Amazon, Tongtuo increased the proportion of sales on other e-commerce platforms such as eBay, Walmart, AliExpress, Lazada, etc., and increased the investment in Tongtuo Technology's self-operated websites, and actively expanded offline physical store channels in Europe and the United States.

Youshu actively cultivates through other e-commerce platforms, and vigorously develops the Wal-Mart platform in 2021, achieving an operating income of nearly 60 million yuan, an increase of 141.56% year-on-year. In 2021, the emerging market businesses such as Latin America and Southeast Asia will achieve revenue of 200 million yuan through the Shopee platform alone, accounting for more than 10% of the overall revenue of Tianze Information's cross-border e-commerce business in 2021.

Zebao parent company Xinghui Precision previously disclosed in the announcement that the company accelerated its online multi-platform business strategy, continued to increase resource investment in eBay, Walmart and other e-commerce platforms, and focused on building the company's self-operated platform (independent station), and the self-operated platform achieved sales revenue equivalent to about 39.23 million yuan in July and September 2021, an increase of 152% over the same period last year.

In 2021, Zebao Technology achieved a total operating income of about 600 million yuan through non-Amazon channels such as self-operated platforms, Wal-Mart platforms, and offline channels, an increase of 90.48% over the 315 million yuan in 2020; the total revenue of cross-border e-commerce accounted for 23%, an increase of 16.4 percentage points over 2020, gradually reducing its dependence on Amazon's single platform.

Judging from the operational data of the banned and sold, the multi-platform layout is not a wrong move, but can reduce the operational risk of Amazon's single platform through multi-platform. Liu Hong, Hugo cross-border COO, once said: "Multi-platform and multi-legged, mainstream platforms are not the only choice, and it is unrealistic to rely on a platform today to get rich." ”

As far as the current situation is concerned, it is the right choice for small and medium-sized sellers to invest their energy in Amazon, but from the perspective of long-term development, Amazon may not be able to continue to be "prosperous". Taking the e-commerce platforms we are familiar with as an example, the rise and fall of VOVA and Jollychic platforms is only between the vicissitudes of the sea. No one is sure how long Amazon can be a big company, and no one can predict what will happen to cross-border e-commerce in the future.

However, the ever-changing thing is that whether it is a single platform operation or a multi-platform operation, the product is the top priority!

Coworth IT director and cross-border e-commerce POC Peter once mentioned in the sharing: "Good brands come from good products, and good products can really bring value to users." On the basis of finding the right product positioning, the use of excellent technology to create excellent quality products is the key to winning customers. ”

For cross-border sellers, the platform can indeed create sellers, but what really determines the "life and death" of sellers is the product, and the gradual decline of the shop model is the best case to prove.

The product is the origin of the multi-platform layout

In early March, Jungle Scout released a survey on the current state of Amazon sellers, which counted 3,500 entrepreneurs, brands, and businesses from 117 countries and 20 Amazon marketplaces. More than half of Amazon sellers also sell on Walmart and Shopify, and 30 percent are exploring selling on other platforms, including eBay, Facebook and Etsy, according to the survey.

Wang Hang, head of the cross-border market, said: "In 2022, whether it is a novice seller or an old seller, I want to find a new performance growth point and try the live e-commerce and video e-commerce track. For novice sellers, doing live e-commerce is a very good idea. Live video and live video and live e-commerce are the biggest opportunities. In the future, new sellers and incremental markets will definitely be in emerging e-commerce platforms and localized e-commerce platforms. ”

Multi-platform, multi-channel layout is necessary, but for cross-border sellers, the premise of multi-platform layout is to gain a firm foothold on a platform, find their own advantages, and then gradually expand their advantages through multiple channels.

In terms of cross-border sales of Anker Innovation, it also started from Amazon initially, and after making a certain degree of brand awareness, it began to gradually expand other sales channels. At present, Anker Innovation has sales on many e-commerce platforms around the world.

It is not difficult to imagine how Anker Innovation, without excellent products and technologies, will be smooth on the road of expanding other platforms.

She is not a factory herself, just a trader, the biggest reason for her success is that no matter what platform she does, she is very focused on a certain category, very single-minded, and currently has more than 5,000 orders per day. ”

This case also proves that when returning to the essence of the product, the main focus is on the definition of the product and the supply chain, and it has made a sufficient preparation for the expansion of other markets and channels.

"At any time, the product is king, all marketing skills and sales model innovation must be based on a strong product, excellent products can make R & D investment and quality testing not discounted, away from this source, all the temporary seems to be a lively hustle and bustle is a bubble." A seller who has been engaged in foreign trade for nearly 20 years talked about his experience.

Through the sharing and cases of many industry insiders mentioned above, it is not difficult to find that most Amazon sellers are still seeking new growth points and are also carrying out multi-platform layout, but if they do not analyze the pros and cons of themselves and the target platform, they will blindly expand and will eventually end up in a dismal end... For cross-border small and medium-sized sellers, in fact, the operating model of each platform is not bad, and whether the seller can make achievements on a certain platform depends on the seller's accurate control of the target audience of the platform and the quality of the product.