The biggest pain point in the development of cross-border e-commerce is the high cost of international logistics. Many overweight and oversized products
cannot be delivered safely and efficiently. After arriving at the destination country, international items often need to transfer to many stations and go through a very time-consuming and complicated process before reaching the hands of consumers. Loss, missing items, and damage often occur, which seriously affects the shopping experience of international consumers. Cross-border e-commerce logistics routes are long and time cycles are long. Ordinary sellers often pay for services when they encounter logistics problems, which is not a long-term solution. The consumer market in Europe and the United States is very mature, and online buyers have very demanding shopping experience requirements. If the logistics pain points are not solved, it will eventually hinder the development of China’s cross-border e-commerce. The main methods to solve the pain points of cross-border logistics are as follows:
1. Construction of overseas warehouses.
Chinese sellers first ship the goods to the warehouses in the destination country by sea in the form of containers for storage. When foreign customers place an order, they are shipped directly from the local warehouse. This is the best in terms of delivery efficiency and customer experience. Small and medium-sized sellers can choose a third-party overseas warehouse that suits their actual situation. At present, third-party platforms have similar services, and cross-border logistics companies are also actively building overseas warehouses. Although overseas warehouses require a certain amount of investment, they are a better choice in the long run.
2. Localized operations in the destination country.
Let me share a real case. We acquired an American company two years ago. It used to be our customer. This customer has its own sales channels in the United States, including Google, eBay, Amazon, etc., and also has its own operation team and warehousing. Now, we have 3 containers shipped to the US warehouse every month, and the online sales and after-sales service are done by the US team, which is the most accurate in terms of customer experience and market positioning. Of course, localized operations in the destination country require a lot of funds and strong strength, but I think this should be an inevitable trend in the future development of cross-border e-commerce.