text/Reporter Liu Xiaopeng
November 3, as the global year-end promotion approaches, Dunhuang Network Group (hereinafter referred to as "Dunhuang Network ") held the 2022 peak season new growth operation summit in Shenzhen to help sellers make orders at the end of the year.
In recent years, with the gradual improvement of the cross-border e-commerce trade mechanism and the continuous unblocking of the international logistics network, cross-border e-commerce channels have accelerated their expansion, and the scale of cross-border e-commerce in my country has grown rapidly. As an intelligent logistics platform under Dunhuang.com Group, Tuo Feixia DHLink has been involved in more than 100 international logistics routes and more than 10 overseas warehouses, and its services cover 223 countries and regions around the world. The supply chain solutions provided by DHLink for sellers have greatly lowered the professional threshold of cross-border e-commerce, making a large number of small and micro businesses who "can't do it, can't afford it, and cannot do it" become new types of international trade operators.
(Pictures from the Internet)
Innovative upgrade of cross-border logistics solutions
Entered the fourth quarter, and the hottest overseas sales peak season of the year has also been announced, but the volume of cross-border logistics is not as hot as in previous years.
" According to the current data, the volume of goods in this year's peak season is only equivalent to the third quarter of a normal year, rather than the volume of goods in the peak season. " On November 3, Wan Song, head of the DHLink logistics business department of Dunhuang.com, admitted in an interview with China Logistics and Procurement magazine that although the overall volume of cross-border e-commerce orders has shrunk, DHLink business volume is still in a growth trend.
In order to deal with the fourth quarter promotion, DHLink has long locked out the export cabin, including binding the cabin space for peak season with large airlines and ship owners.
At the same time, during the big promotion, DHLink's product package resource pool solution also provides all-round and timely cross-border logistics services for e-commerce platform sellers and independent websites. Wan Song introduced that " On the one hand, DHLink has launched three products, "Jisubao", "On-time Bao" and "Special Bonus" for product packages with a weight of 0.1 to 2 kg, giving customers different logistics freight rates and corresponding service timelines; on the other hand, for medium and large shipments of 2 kg and above, international express service and dedicated line service for logistics products of B buyers (wholesalers). "
"In addition to online logistics products, starting from the beginning of this year, we have also carried out business innovation and upgrading of cross-border logistics solutions, bringing value-added experience to users through two aspects." Wan Song further added that is the logistics tracking service (DHLink Tracking) , while providing full-link tracking services, helps cross-border e-commerce sellers through email marketing , and provide their buyers with shipment location and related product push services at different shipping logistics points.
The second is the intelligent "combination" service (DHLink DPC) . Through big data, it identifies orders placed by the same overseas buyer at different merchants, and can merge parcels and ship them in China to achieve "order coupons". It is estimated that it can not only save 8% to 10% of cross-border logistics freight for buyers and sellers, but also support the green development of logistics , which can reduce the usage rate of cross-border logistics parcels by 50%.
In terms of the selection of logistics partners, DHLink has joined hands with mainstream international express delivery such as UPS and FeDex, 4PX ( delivery Sifang Express), Jitu Express , Yanwen Logistics and other cross-border e-commerce dedicated lines, as well as China Post and other international and domestic leading enterprises, providing sellers with stable, reliable and cost-effective international logistics channels.
Overseas warehouse value further highlights
Since this year, under the influence of the new crown epidemic, the stability of cross-border logistics and supply chains has withstood challenges and tests. In response, DHLink and Dunhuang.com DHgate chose to layout in advance to deal with it. "In the case of severe domestic epidemic situation, early warning and publicity for merchants is the main solution, and the merchant pool is further expanded to replenish the supply, thus avoiding the risk of chain breakage caused by the closed production of the domestic light industrial belt due to the epidemic."Wan Song introduced that compared with other supply chains, the Dunhuang Network supply chain has suffered a smaller impact, which can basically ensure the normal production and supply of mainstream commodities such as daily necessities, home furnishings, clothing, etc. .
In addition, overseas warehouse stocking has reduced the risk of supply chain breakage to a certain extent. "Overseas warehouse provides fast fulfillment services for overseas buyers, which is an important solution to enhance the buyer's experience. "Wan Song said that although the current supply and demand tension in the international transportation market has slowed down and the demand for overseas warehouses has decreased compared with last year, in the context of the international situation this year, cross-border supply chains face many uncertainties, which still highlights the value of overseas warehouses.
Speaking of DHLink's overseas warehouse layout, Wan Song introduced the main considerations in two dimensions: 1 is the location of the mainstream target market. At present, DHLink's 10+ overseas warehouses are mainly distributed in the eastern and western United States, as well as Germany, France, Spain and other major in Europe. Streaming market; second is the characteristics of mainstream products. For example, Dunhuang.com's furniture, household appliances, energy storage power supplies and other large batches, life cycle relatively long, and the sales ratio continues to increase is the primary category for stocking in overseas warehouses.
"" From the perspective of overseas warehouse usage and investment prospects, the prospects of overseas warehouses are still improving, but cross-border enterprises must plan their own needs and make comprehensive judgments based on market supply and demand situations. ” Wan Song analyzed and revealed that in the US market, Dunhuang.com's use of overseas warehouses is currently in a balance of supply and demand, so there is no plan to expand investment for the time being. The reasons are, first, since 2021, Chinese and local investors have increased their investment and construction of overseas warehouses in the US market, and the supply of overseas warehouses has increased compared with the same period last year; second, since this year, the volume of goods exported to the United States has shown a downward trend.
Cross-border logistics service providers are deploying overseas
A complete cross-border e-commerce logistics system, including The five links include: hiring, doing, closing, warehouse and distribution. For Chinese cross-border logistics providers, the difficulty lies in the "closing" and "distribution" of the backend. Wan Song pointed out that is that the construction force of logistics infrastructure in various countries is relatively weak, which limits the delivery guarantee and service quality of goods after they arrive at overseas destinations; second, the logistics costs in different countries are different, which are specifically reflected in labor costs, land costs, warehouse costs, electricity costs, etc. He said bluntly, Compared with e-commerce logistics in China, cross-border logistics costs still have obvious room for improvement. Therefore, cross-border logistics needs to be considered to further reduce costs while ensuring timeliness.
Although the weak links in cross-border logistics still exist at this stage, many Chinese companies and entrepreneurs who dare to try have launched new layouts in overseas destination countries. For example, domestic logistics and express service providers such as SF Express , Jitu and YTO have continued to increase their layout in cross-border logistics in recent years. In this regard, Wan Song said that he has noticed it and in his It seems that the overseas routes of domestic logistics service providers mainly adopt the strategy of "surrounding cities in rural areas", that is, extending to developed countries such as Europe and the United States from developing countries such as Southeast Asia as the starting point.
At present, in the order demand of mainstream market countries such as Europe and the United States, DHLink mostly cooperates with local logistics service providers. However, he also said, "As domestic logistics service providers continue to expand overseas, I believe that in the near future, we can reach a strategic cooperation with Chinese companies in the 'last mile' of the European and American markets . ”
In addition, Wan Song expressed confidently that in the future mainstream overseas markets, there will be more and more infrastructure and enterprises under the background of Chinese capital in terms of "closure" and "distribution". Therefore, the improvement of my country's overall cross-border logistics efficiency and informatization level, as well as the ability to control in cross-border logistics cost is worth looking forward to.
"There is no doubt that the development of cross-border e-commerce logistics at this stage can be said to be 'the right time, place, and people'." In the cause, Wansong analyzed and summarized three points: first . Since this year, relevant domestic departments have repeatedly issued policies to promote the development of cross-border e-commerce and bring new opportunities to the development of cross-border logistics; second , TikTok ( Douyin overseas version) and other emerging Internet tools in overseas markets; third , cultivation of online consumption habits of overseas users during the epidemic. Specifically, at present, the penetration rate of in China's e-commerce has reached about 37%, and the mainstream overseas markets are far lower than this proportion. However, as emerging Internet tools such as TikTok expand their influence overseas, overseas consumers, especially young people, are more willing to shop online, so the e-commerce penetration rate in overseas target markets is expected to increase.
At present, under the increasing international uncertainty factors such as the Russian-Ukrainian war, inflation , currency depreciation, and rising raw material prices and the overall environment of domestic epidemic prevention and control, production supply chains and cross-border logistics are facing challenges, which has also weakened the cost advantage of China's manufacturing to a certain extent.
"I hope that government departments will introduce some protection policies for cross-border e-commerce supply chain and cross-border logistics to eliminate the current epidemic obstacles." Wan Song hopes to provide practical support from the policy side, because this will help my country's cross-border e-commerce and cross-border logistics to achieve greater potential and allocate more "cakes" to the international market. (This article was published in the cover topic of the 22nd issue of China Logistics and Procurement magazine, 2022)
