merchants are difficult to build cross-border stores, and Shenzhen has been exposed to large-scale layoffs. In addition, the withdrawal of major shareholder Tencent has made Shopee, known as the "Little Tencent in Southeast Asia", negatively plagued.
is becoming more and more distant from the domestic relationship, and it also makes Shopee's "cross-border e-commerce" story in China increasingly difficult to explain.
Cross-border e-commerce is difficult to "cross-border"
"You will never make a breakthrough in cross-border work, and you can make money by doing local business."
This is the "letter" learned by Shopee merchant Linlin for 8 months and lost more than 6,000 yuan. It is also a consensus explained by many merchants and institutions to AI Blue Media - as a cross-border e-commerce company, Shopee has not made the "cross-border stores" on the platform make too much money.
As we all know, Shopee is a cross-border e-commerce platform for the Southeast Asian market, and mainland China does not have its buyer market. So when you open the official Chinese website of "Shopee.cn", in addition to the introduction of relevant companies, the focus is on the investment information of the "seller".
's basic logic is to attract domestic merchants to register and deliver more "Made in China" with high quality and low price to overseas markets, so that more domestic high-quality merchants can share the cross-border dividends built by the platform.
, and you can also clearly see that the investment standards for mainland China are divided into three categories, namely "cross-border e-commerce sellers", "domestic trade e-commerce sellers", and "sellers without e-commerce experience". But no matter who is among these three categories, the standard refers to domestic sellers, requiring "to have a legal business license registered in mainland China or Hong Kong, or an individual business license."
In short, in terms of investment in domestic businesses, they are also recruiting domestic businesses, which conforms to the "cross-border" logic.
But obviously "cross-border" is not the whole of Shopee. From the user's perspective, the platform is full of "local stores" of various sites, such as stores registered in Thailand, Singapore , Malaysia , the Philippines and other places.
And behind this type of "local stores", they are often "merchants" recruited from mainland China. Their investment information has been bypassed by Shopee official and is spread throughout the commonly used social media in China such as Weibo, Zhihu , Xiaohongshu .
"Chinese people are all local." Li Bin, an official service provider who claims to serve Shopee, told AI Blue Media, "Many of our Chinese people are in Southeast Asia, and cross-border stores are difficult to make. Many people have not placed orders for three months, which is very depressing their confidence." When asked about the reason, Li Bin bluntly said: There is no traffic, and all reasons. "Platform promotion and traffic are all local preferences, such as selling headphones. Eight of the top ten products on the homepage are local stores and two cross-border stores."
Li Bin showed AI Blue Media the comparison of the advantages of the two types of stores listed by the service provider for sellers. Among them, involves the interests of merchants, in addition to the small traffic, more importantly, there are problems such as high logistics costs, category restrictions, and long collection cycles.
Photo provided by the interviewee
More important point is also the point that drags down most cross-border store sellers, which is the issue of refusal to sign for return and exchange. Under the unspoken rules that the platform tends to protect the interests of buyers, many cross-border store sellers have been dragged into the "free vortex".
Linlin, who changed from training to training to become a Shopee shop owner, was almost dragged down by this problem.
"I have been doing Shopee for more than 8 months, and there are Taiwanese stores and Brazilian stores. The training fee is 3,000, and the advertisement is thrown in 1,000. I lost almost 2,000 for free without picking up the goods. I am still losing money at the moment." When asked about the input-output ratio, Linlin seemed very frustrated.
Among them, the return and exchange problem has hit Linlin the biggest blow.
"Once a home product was released, but the user did not pick up the goods and found various reasons not to pay, so the platform directly agreed."According to the platform rules described by Linlin, cross-border stores have high logistics costs and can be returned without sending them back. So for merchants, it is a loss of money and goods. "The platform also charges commissions and freight fees. "
. This situation is not an isolated case. Among the multiple sellers and third-party service platforms that AI Blue Media Hui contacted, the impact of not sending back the return and exchange on the seller was mentioned. Jingjing, a Taiwanese seller who opened a private cake in Shopee, told AI Blue Media Hui: "I advise you not to use this in the mainland. Many people do not pick up the items when they arrive. They are not afraid of being sued, and they are not afraid of being 'successful'. "Randada, who is in Singapore, also bluntly said: "Cross-border people only refund the money, buyers can get free jobs, and sellers can help the poor. "
even recognizes it, and it is difficult for cross-border store sellers to survive in Shopee. Many Taiwanese users have confirmed to AI Blue Media: "We all use Shopee to buy things, but Shopee is now very unfriendly to sellers. "
Cross-border e-commerce is difficult to "cross-border". A after-sales problem of Shopee makes many small and medium-sized merchants who want to keep the wind accept reality.
Domestic merchants become "freight forwarding"
Is there no way to go?
not.
" So, we all recommend that Chinese people build local stores. "Li Bin said earnestly, "When directly doing local things, you will save a lot of detours. "
But bypassing the "detour", a series of new problems have come again: How can people be overseas "local stores" in China?
According to the platform regulations, local stores are only open to local sellers, and local industrial and commercial registration information is required to apply. Theoretically, sellers in China are not qualified to register for "local stores".
The method is always more difficult than the problem. At this time, you can see the functions of "service providers".
"Our local stores here + overseas warehouse spot distribution + one-piece . "A service provider Zhao Lu contacted introduced the cooperation path in this way, "In the early stage, we first get 100 yuan shops, 3 stores, and then add 880 yuan distribution discount packages, and try it first for a thousand yuan with a small cost. "
But when he heard "distribution", Zhao Lu finally realized: "This is not a recruitment business, isn't this a recruitment and operation for their own source of goods, exactly the same as domestic micro-business agents. "
According to Zhao Lu's description, the service provider first established contact with him through social platform promotion, and then persuaded him to test the waters with a low cost through their distribution platform. "When the store shipment is stable, then sell his own supply. "
AI Blue Media Hui opened the distribution platform website provided by Zhao Lu, which includes slippers, tissues, clothing, etc. sku. The purchase price ranges from 1 yuan to dozens of yuan. The platform will mark the predicted profit margin of each type of product for sellers to select products. Materials including main picture, details page and other materials have collection links. Sellers can copy them directly to the platform to avoid the tedious process of their own operations.
Photo provided by the interviewee
seems to be thoughtful, but Zhao Lu does not buy it.
" Not to mention whether there are any legal risks in using their store. I want to build a ‘cross-border store’ because I want to take advantage of the platform to sell my own goods abroad, expand sales, and increase profit margins. If follows the logic of this "service provider", wouldn't it become their "freight forwarding" and work for them? ”
A sentence reveals the real dilemma faced by more cross-border e-commerce sellers represented by Shopee.
In another group of cross-border e-commerce sellers of domestic large domestic manufacturers that AI Blue Media focuses on, similar "complaints" are often staged: " platform/third parties go overseas to build their own warehouses, and sellers ship goods from their warehouses uniformly, and they have to pay the shipping service fee. After selling them, they will get commission. Isn't working for them? ”
Cross-border e-commerce is not a game for small and medium-sized merchants to "fight alone" after all.
Whether it is used as a "freight forwarder" for third-party platforms or shipment and operation through the official warehousing of the platform, currently "crossed" the cross-border e-commerce is not simply "import and export" rules, but a lingering conflict of interests that linger between big capital and small merchants.
"breakup" is not decent
Various signs indicate that Shopee, which carved the "Chinese genes", seems not to be friendly to Chinese people. In addition to domestic merchants and agents, there have been more employees of Chinese branches recently.
layoffs.
Not long ago, Shopee was exposed to lay off employees on a large scale, and the way of breaking up seemed a bit "indecent".
On September 19, Interface News reported that Southeast Asian e-commerce giant Shopee held a full-staff meeting in China, announcing that it would initiate team adjustments and reduce some positions. According to Xin Entropy, layoffs affect all departments in Shenzhen, with the overall layoff ratio of about 30%, and the business line layoffs are about 60%. The more dramatic scene of
is that employees who had received the "N+2" were generally satisfied with the compensation amount, but a revelation on social media once again made Shopee fall into a whirlpool of public opinion.
days ago, a netizen on a workplace social media broke the news: "Shopee requested employees to be laid off on a large scale to compensate for computer damage, and Apple computers have 2,500 cases." Shopee responded that this situation was true, with about ten colleagues. This is in the normal resignation process, and this is also the process of voluntary resignation. Compensation is required for damage to the computer.
Even so, many netizens still question whether Shopee is too "calculating". Many employees of major Internet manufacturers told AI Blue Media that the company's equipment is depreciated, but most of them have not been damaged significantly, and the company will not claim compensation from employees.
AI Blue Media also verified Shopee in response to the above-mentioned layoffs, and no response was received as of press time.
The industry generally believes that the continuous expansion of 's losses are the direct reason for its optimization cost.
According to the Q2 financial report released by Shopee's parent company Sea last month, as of June 30, 2022, the company's revenue was US$2.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29%, and a total net loss of US$931.2 million, an increase of 114.7% year-on-year. Among them, the e-commerce business revenue was US$1.7 billion, an increase of 51.4% year-on-year, and the adjusted Shopee profit before amortization was US$648.1 million, an increase of US$68.3 million year-on-year.
Overall, the revenue of e-commerce is still growing, but the hematopoietic ability is insufficient. In the financial report of
, the parent company still introduced the achievements created by Shopee to investors: According to data.ai statistics, Shopee's average monthly active users in Southeast Asia, Indonesia , and Taiwan, and the total time spent on the application in the second quarter of 2022 are still ranked first in the shopping category.
However, strong growth is still difficult to help the parent company stop losses.
"The order volume has dropped sharply since the first half of the year."
"Now, many Chinese people in Shopee have 'freight forwarding'. The competition is too big and they are getting more and more popular."
" The commission is getting higher and higher, and it is difficult to make money by 7%.
Loss forces Shopee to "reduce the burden" and increasingly tend to protect the interests of buyers. When the balance is too unbalanced, tilting towards one end, the ecological imbalance at the other end may be overnight. On the other hand, Tencent’s biggest “backer” also put Shopee in an increasingly difficult situation. Merchants, employees, capital, all elements related to China are gradually drifting away from Shopee.
I just don’t know how to continue to tell the capital market this story called “cross-border” from the domestic Southeast Asian e-commerce Shopee in the future.
(Source | AI Blue Media Author | Gu Pan)
