B2B or B2C, which one is right for me?

Question 1: B2B or B2C, which one is right for me?

Li Xiaoyong, Marketing Director of Shenzhen Aidu Technology Co., Ltd. asked: Today's foreign trade business is getting more and more difficult. Many friends around us suggest that we go to overseas e-commerce platforms to do B2C business. What should foreign trade companies on overseas e-commerce platforms do? Is it really possible to get out of the B2B foreign trade business with low price competition?

Former CEO of Huawei Philippines, and now CEO of Onelink Technology Co., Ltd. Dai Zhihua: Precision marketing in the era of big data includes three aspects: listening, interaction and participation, and sales through overseas e-commerce B2C platforms The biggest advantage of own brand products is that they can interact with customers. After the product has received user feedback, the enterprise can use big data analysis to try the research and development and iteration|development of innovative products. Customer|data should be divided into two categories: basic attributes and dynamic data. Basic attributes include customer age, income, occupation, gender, etc., while dynamic data includes transaction process, transaction records, transaction behavior, etc. Personalized service, find the most efficient marketing method. This new business not only helps you understand local consumers, but also gets some orders from new buyers. Of course, the premise is that logistics, warehousing, after-sales service and even unconditional returns must be done in place in the local market. Foreign trade companies that are accustomed to doing B2B business will find that each consumer will have different views and needs for products. Once a problem occurs, the ability to serve customers becomes very important.

Zhang Yushi, General Manager of Zhongshan Pinneng Battery Co., Ltd.: We do B2C first, and then B2B. In 2012 and 2013, we used to be the sales champion of Tmall's digital industry single product. At the peak, there were as many as 40 e-commerce customer service personnel, and we have branch warehouses in five major cities across the country. However, since the end of last year, the entire e-commerce industry has become a common practice. It costs more than ten yuan to purchase an order. Basically, 1,000 of the 2,000 products sold a day are sold at a loss.

Since 2014, we have increased investment in the foreign trade B2B platform. At present, B2B business has accounted for 80% of all sales. However, we still retain sales on the Jingdong platform, as long as there is no loss, as a brand image promotion.

Yao Sheng, General Manager of Shenzhen Xinweitel Technology Co., Ltd.: It may be easier for us to do B2B. Many buyers who come to Global Sources website and exhibitions are B2B. The country can find 2 to 3 agents, and everyone can do it very easily, without thinking that I have done business all over the world.

B2C is a terminal, and the problems it faces will be more complicated. The more complex the business, the more risks and pressures it brings to you. Only 10% of our company's revenue comes from B2C cross-border e-commerce. I think B2C brings real information about consumers to our company and urges us to develop products that are closer to consumers, which forces B2B buyers to be more Know and like our products, integrate his customer needs, and promote B2B business.

Question 2: How to cooperate with overseas B2C e-commerce platforms?

Su Min, Sales Manager of Shenzhen Hongju Electronics, asked: Besides Amazon, which other overseas e-commerce platforms are trustworthy?

Dai Zhihua: In fact, the development level of e-commerce platforms in different countries and regions in the global market is very different. For a long time, it has been difficult for Chinese products to go overseas, not only because of lack of popularity, it is difficult to enter the market. The biggest obstacle to overseas channels is that it is not easy to do overseas, with large investment, high cost, high risk, low efficiency, and long expansion time. After our research, we found that the development opportunities of e-commerce in Southeast Asia are good, with an annual growth rate of 70% to 80%, and because it is in the early stage of development, the competition is not fierce. Many Chinese-made own-brand mobile phones, power banks and other products have been successfully penetrated through local channels and are deeply loved by local consumers.

Zhang Yushi: We are in the Malaysian market by cooperating with a large local distributor to sell our own brand products. They not only have offline stores, but also online e-commerce platforms, solving two problems at the same time. In fact, overseas e-commerce platforms must do a good job of localization, especially when returns or bad reviews occur, it is more troublesome to deal with. In addition, the pricing of B2C e-commerce platforms must refer to the prices of similar products, and cannot quote according to the B2B habit at once, otherwise it will die miserably.

Yao Sheng: We are doing cross-border e-commerce through Amazon. During this process, we found that buyers in different regions have different preferences. Buyers provide relevant suggestions in a targeted manner at the point of inquiry, reflecting our professionalism. Now the homogeneity of various products is very serious. If you do not have a prominent selling point on the product, you must be professional. have unique advantages.

Of course, doing B2C is sometimes very troublesome. Recently, our Twisted Cars have been taken off the shelves by Amazon. Some products that have already been sold have to be refunded and returned, which is very painful. At present, our team is communicating with Amazon about the solution, and we believe that the problem will always be solved.

All the questions and some answers in this article are from the CEConline "Outsmart the Future Export Forum"