The ideas and principles of product selection
The so-called “product selection” means choosing the right products and uploading them to your store. In the cross-border e-commerce circle, there has always been a popular saying: “The success of cross-border e-commerce depends on product selection and operation!” This sentence accurately summarizes the importance of product selection in cross-border e-commerce. effect. As we all know, the height of a building is often determined by the depth of the foundation, so product selection is the “foundation” of cross-border e-commerce, and it will determine the “height” of cross-border e-commerce!
So what are the ideas for cross-border e-commerce product selection and what principles should be followed? The author has summarized the following ideas and principles based on past operating experience, which can be summarized as: one center, two eliminations, and six principles.
1. One center
With the big data of the Lazada platform as the center, the front-end display effect of the platform and the real data of the back-end are used as standards to guide the product selection work. For example, if we want to understand the current popular products and mainstream trends on the Lazada platform, we can first search for corresponding keywords at the front desk, find products with higher sales, and then analyze the common elements and characteristics of these products. These elements and features can be added to our product development, and we can also use these elements and features to select products that will be put on the shelves next.
2. Two things to avoid
Put an end to the thinking of “I am the main one” and “Taobao sells best”. The “me-first” thinking is to select products from the seller’s own perspective. Many sellers often have a preconceived liking for their own products because they have been immersed in their own vision for a long time, but the products they like are not necessarily the buyers. Like the product. The “Taobao hot-selling” thinking means that many sellers believe that products that are hot-selling on Taobao will definitely sell well on Lazada, so they upload them directly to the Lazada platform. As everyone knows, we are engaged in cross-border e-commerce sales, and products that sell well in China may not necessarily sell well among Southeast Asian consumers.
3. Six Principles
(1) “I have what others don’t have”
“I have what others don’t have” considers the scarcity of products. We can find some subdivided blue ocean categories, or products that are rare or even absent on the Iazada platform, but have certain market demand. When we upload these products to our store, they will naturally get enough exposure and traffic.
(2) I am superior to others
The consideration of “I am superior to others” is the quality of the product. If you cannot find a blue ocean category or you can only compete with homogeneous products due to supply chain constraints, you must do better than your peers in terms of quality. The same price matches the quality. When buyers buy similar products from different stores at the same price, the quality of the product often determines the repurchase rate. Especially for some purchasing agents or small wholesale buyers, if merchants can win on product quality, they can retain these high-quality buyers, thus increasing store sales.
(3) “People are superior and we are new”
“People are superior and we are new” considers the design of products. Merchants can combine some existing old hot-selling items on the platform with popular elements and create new hot-selling items through “micro-innovation”.
(4) When people are new, we are fast
“When people are new, we are fast” considers the speed of product development and order delivery speed. Can the design team complete product development and design faster than its peers? When everyone has a certain amount of orders, can I send the parcel to the sorting center faster than my peers? “The only martial arts in the world is speed.” If merchants have this martial arts spirit of pursuing speed, then the road to cross-border e-commerce will start faster and more steadily.
(5) People are fast and we are cheap
“People are fast and we are cheap” considers the price of the product. “The same quality is better than the price.” One of the reasons for the rapid rise of cross-border e-commerce in recent years is that e-commerce products are highly cost-effective, which requires merchants to reduce costs as much as possible while ensuring quality, because reducing a A profit of one hundred cents for a dollar cost.
(6) People are honest and I transfer
“People are honest and I transfer” considers product categories and styles. When all merchants of a certain product have used the above product selection principles, the product will enter the stage of red ocean competition. If businesses want to continue to compete in this field, they will “do twice the result with half the effort.” What you need to do at this time is to try to avoid entering this category and avoid operating this product; if you have been operating in this category for a period of time and find that profits continue to decrease or there is no profit, you must move your position to discover new blue ocean categories. projects and blue ocean products.
After understanding the above-mentioned product selection ideas and principles, it is time to start selecting products for real. Product selection methods can be summarized into the following three types: on-site product selection, off-site product selection, and domestic purchase website product selection.