The evolution of cross-border e-commerce marketing concepts and its production progress reporting strategy

The concept of cross-border e-commerce marketing has gone through multiple stages of development, from the earliest production concept to the later sales concept, marketing concept and social marketing concept. Each step of change is to better adapt to market demand and Consumer changes.

1. Historical evolution of cross-border e-commerce marketing concepts

1. Sales concept

Selling Concept appeared after the product concept and is still used by some companies today. It believes that without proactively influencing consumers, they won’t buy enough. Therefore, sales can be increased through aggressive promotions. However, no salesmanship can change the basic needs of consumers; even the best salesmen cannot sell products that consumers do not need.

2. Marketing concept

The introduction of the marketing concept is a major breakthrough from the traditional sales concept. At its core, it is about achieving corporate goals by accurately identifying the needs and desires of target markets and delivering products or services that meet those needs more efficiently than competitors. This concept emphasizes the importance of customer orientation and competitive awareness.

3. Social marketing concept

With the reflection on the pure pursuit of economic interests, people have begun to pay attention to how companies can protect broader social interests while meeting the needs of individual consumers. The social marketing concept advocates that companies should consider environmental protection, social responsibility and other issues while pursuing profits, and strive to find a balance between company profits, consumer needs and social well-being.

2. Production and product concepts in cross-border e-commerce

1. Production concept

The production concept is the oldest business philosophy, advocating that consumers prefer products that are easily available and cheap. Therefore, companies should focus on improving production efficiency and expanding distribution channels. However, this concept ignores the real needs of customers and may lead to marketing failure.

2. Product concept

In contrast, the product concept pays more attention to the quality of goods rather than pure quantity. This theory believes that high-quality products will naturally have a market, which is the so-called “the fragrance of wine is not afraid of the depth of the alley”. Nonetheless, over-reliance on product quality may cause companies to ignore market trends and fall into “marketing myopia.”

3. Production progress reporting skills in foreign trade

In foreign trade transactions, it is crucial to maintain good communication with customers. Especially during the production phase, regular progress reports to customers help build trust and ensure on-time delivery.

Salespersons should pay close attention to the production process and inform customers of the latest situation, such as the amount of work completed, estimated completion date, etc. via email. For example, in a standard production progress update email, you might write: “Dear [Customer Name], regarding your product with order number 518-A, the production is currently going smoothly. Attached are photos of the processing process. About half of the total project is currently completed and it is expected to be completed in another two weeks. We will take a trial run video for you to review the quality before shipping. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

The above is the evolution of cross-border e-commerce marketing concepts and some basic guidance on how to effectively report production progress in actual operations.