In recent years, there has been a surge of overseas expansion of Chinese enterprises, covering retail, catering, games, entertainment and other fields, and 2023 is regarded as the "first year of Chinese enterprises going overseas". However, going overseas is not an easy task, and it is necessary to build business management and digital infrastructure that can adapt to overseas operations.
Chen Peng, Vice President of Best Group and General Manager of Best Software, pointed out that going overseas has brought new opportunities to both brands and service providers, and Best Software, as an important achievement of the Group in the SaaS field, has become a strong force on this track. Since 2021, Best Software has rapidly launched three major products, Qianyi ERP, WMS and TMS, covering the Southeast Asian and United States markets, with a strong R&D team and a wide customer base. Behind its rise, the key lies in the successful cross-border logistics supply chain to the SaaS industry, overcoming industry bottlenecks and forming capacity barriers.
This article will analyze how Best Software seized the opportunity to go overseas to meet the needs of cross-border merchants for business flow and logistics management solutions, as well as the challenges and coping strategies they faced in the process of turning from domestic to overseas.
01 Relying on logistics genes, rapid iteration seizes the opportunity of the SaaS market in Southeast Asia
Although Best Software is a young department within the group, its parent company, Best Cloud Division, is one of the earliest departments established in the group and has long been committed to digital technology services. In the process, the Best Software team gradually emerged and formed its own organization. Its transformation from an in-house solution provider to an independent SaaS service provider is closely linked to the development of overseas markets, especially the strong rise of the Southeast Asian market.
Chen Peng said that the astonishing rapid growth of the Southeast Asian market is an important opportunity to promote software overseas. From 2019 to 2023, the penetration rate of cross-border e-commerce in Southeast Asia continued to rise, becoming the region with the largest growth rate in the world. Compared with China, which has entered a stable period, Southeast Asia is entering the fast lane of e-commerce development, replicating and verifying the e-commerce upgrades that China has experienced. This wave has also led to a boom in Chinese enterprises, including small and micro businesses, traditional sellers, and medium and large brands.
However, in the face of volatile cross-border business, it is inevitable that the supply chain management level will not adapt to the situation. How to efficiently manage business flow and logistics information in overseas markets, realize the digital transformation of the whole process, optimize the cost structure and other problems have raised the threshold for going overseas, but also created opportunities for Best Software.
Best Software positions itself as the "most logistics software company" in the SaaS field, and its core advantages are inseparable from Best Group's deep logistics genes. Compared with competitors who only do software development, Best has the experience of building a supply chain system from zero to one, and has a deeper understanding of the pain points and stuck points of business flow and logistics management. Since 2007, Best has accumulated a large number of customer needs and created a large number of technical solutions in the run-in with customers.
Chen Peng said that the R&D team of Best Software has formed the ability to respond quickly and iterate products. This is due to the fact that most of its customers are private enterprises and the fast-paced nature of the cross-border e-commerce industry. Private enterprises are changing rapidly, and they are thinking about how to improve their processes every day; The trend and platform model of the cross-border e-commerce industry often change rapidly, generating a large number of new demand. For service providers, whoever can adapt to changes in the industry faster will be able to seize the opportunity overseas.
Chen Peng pointed out, "This is where BEST's strength lies in this – we are accustomed to this kind of iterative rhythm and are confident that we can overcome the enemy through our products." "With its deep logistics genes, deep understanding of customer needs, and the ability to quickly respond to and iterate products, Best Software is emerging in the SaaS field, providing efficient and reliable business flow and logistics management solutions for overseas enterprises.
02 Deeply rooted in Southeast Asia, how does Best Software conquer the local market by localization?
Localization is a key label for Best Software.
Chen Peng told Ebang Power that although China's e-commerce market is developed, going to Southeast Asia does not mean that it can easily achieve dimensionality reduction. Each market has its own unique consumption habits and social customs, and localization is far more than simple language translation or product translation.
After more than 10 years of market exploration and setbacks, Best Software has formed a set of localized methodology. Respecting the market and local cultural customs is the key to winning users. Taking the transformation of WMS warehouse management system in the Southeast Asian market as an example, Best Software has demonstrated its localization capabilities.
When we first entered the Southeast Asian market, the local logistics industry ecology was similar to that of China more than 20 years ago, and many overseas warehouse users still used the original way to manage goods and inventory. This leads to inefficient warehouse management, and the management of goods and human efficiency is chaotic. After gaining insight into the customer's pain points, Best Software decided to transform the warehouse management system through digital technology. Tools such as picking records, multi-code management, and location optimization are introduced to help warehouse managers achieve a major transformation of their operating models such as real-time counting and avoiding lost parts.
However, in the process of promoting localization, the biggest challenge is often not the generational differences at the technical level, but the differences in perceptions brought about by different stages of social development and workplace culture. Employees in Southeast Asia have a different mindset from Chinese employees in that they prefer to follow the rules and follow the rules. Therefore, the high degree of flexibility and freedom of the Chinese version of the WMS operating system is not fully applicable to Southeast Asian employees.
In response to this problem, the Best software team launched a work order transformation according to local conditions. Complex operation processes are split into simple and clear work instructions, and local workers are given more intuitive guidance to lower the threshold for learning and operation, and help them quickly get started with business. The renovation was a success on the ground.
"Instead of forcing the local people to adapt to the existing management system, it is better to design a new management model according to the working habits of the local people, which is a valuable experience in the localization process." Chen Peng said to Ebang Power. This is the valuable experience of Best Software in the localization process. By respecting the market, respecting local cultural customs, and doing a good job in localization, Best Software has successfully won the trust and recognition of users.
In fact, Best Software has achieved remarkable results in localization. Through an in-depth understanding of the local market and culture, as well as the flexibility to adapt products and management models, Best Software has successfully adapted to the specific needs of the Southeast Asian market.
03 To escort the whole link of overseas sellers, both "technology" and "experience" should be hard
Different from the "short, flat and fast" domestic e-commerce ecology, for a long time, cross-border e-commerce operations have faced four major pain points: long links, many links, difficult connection, and scattered information. This poses a huge test for merchants who are new to overseas markets. Chen Peng said that the important product strategy of Best Software is to provide a "package of solutions" covering all aspects of the daily operation of merchants and helping to break through the key pain points of business flow and logistics.
In terms of logistics, cross-border merchants often face the challenge of flexible and accurate inventory management. Compared with the domestic market, cross-border business needs to anticipate and respond to market changes earlier. According to Chen Peng's analysis, small and medium-sized businesses often rely on experience and intuition for inventory management, but when the scale of business expands, this method is unsustainable. To this end, Best Software provides management tools based on AI intelligent algorithms to provide customers with order forecasting and intelligent inventory management suggestions through data analysis.
In terms of business flow, financial chaos is the biggest problem. Cross-border transactions involve multiple links, with layers of accounts and complex cost calculations. Best Software's financial calculation module excels in this regard, thanks to the management experience accumulated by Best Group over a long period of time. Chen Peng pointed out that financial calculation relies more on the "hard work" of long-term trial and error within BEST, and uses the exhaustive method to formulate algorithm rules for all scenarios. It's a long cycle of hard work that requires researching a large number of customers.
In order to verify the reliability of the product, Best Software's "Experimental Object Zero" is always the other brother departments within the group. Chen Peng said that the product needs to be fully verified and assessed internally before it can be delivered to users with confidence. Best shares the digital management system with customers and systematically exports overseas capabilities.
Talking about future planning, Chen Peng emphasized that as a SaaS software service provider with logistics genes, Best Software will maintain its down-to-earth and practical corporate nature. He said to Ebang Power: "Respect is our consistent attitude towards customers, and we hope that Best can work with more companies to go overseas and make the cake of the global market bigger together." ”
Best Software helps cross-border merchants meet their logistics and flow challenges by providing a "turnkey solution". In terms of logistics, it provides management tools based on AI intelligent algorithms; In terms of business flow, the financial confusion problem is solved through the financial calculation module. Best Software pays attention to product verification and assessment, shares digital management systems with customers, and is committed to working with more enterprises to go overseas.
Next, Best Software will enter the Americas with customers, and continue to maintain a down-to-earth and practical corporate nature, respect customers, and jointly promote the development of the global market.