The transformation of traditional foreign trade enterprises into cross-border e-commerce means using Internet technology, tools and platforms to sell their products better to foreign customers, or to import and sell foreign goods to domestic customers more efficiently and conveniently. There are two ways to use Internet channels: completing import and export transactions through third-party cross-border e-commerce platforms, or building online shopping malls by enterprises. These are also two paths for traditional foreign trade enterprises to transform into cross-border e-commerce enterprises.
1. Using third-party platforms
Using third-party platforms means that enterprises use relatively mature and complete professional cross-border e-commerce platforms to sell products. Enterprises place product information on mature sales pages of third-party platforms, which can not only enable target customers to obtain the required product information, but also use the huge traffic of third-party platforms to carry out advertising, product promotion and other activities, thereby enhancing the visibility of enterprises and products and expanding overseas markets. At the same time, enterprises can also use the overseas warehousing system of third-party platforms for product storage and transit, thereby improving the logistics service quality of cross-border transactions and optimizing customer transaction experience.
Overall, traditional enterprises use third-party platforms to transform into cross-border e-commerce, which is conducive to quickly completing online transfers and better expanding overseas markets. However, this transformation path will make enterprises subject to third-party platforms, making it difficult to effectively improve brand awareness, and will also be subject to certain limitations in product marketing and promotion.
Currently, the more influential and popular professional third-party cross-border e-commerce platforms in China mainly include AliExpress, Amazon, Tmall International, etc. Many traditional small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises that do not have the ability to build their own online malls generally use third-party platforms to enter the cross-border e-commerce industry, gradually expand the market, and gradually transform into cross-border e-commerce enterprises.
2. Self-built online mall
Self-built online mall refers to traditional foreign trade enterprises integrating their own powerful human, financial, technical and other resources to establish an independent online mall that is not constrained by third parties, so as to better sell their products to overseas end customers with the help of Internet channels. This cross-border e-commerce transformation path can help enterprises obtain target market information more timely and fully, and shape brand image and enhance brand awareness through independent operation of the mall, thereby bringing more traffic and transaction realization to the enterprise.
However, building an online mall by yourself requires strong human, material, technical, and financial support, which is obviously difficult to achieve for most small and medium-sized foreign trade companies. At present, there are still very few foreign trade companies that have successfully transformed into cross-border e-commerce by building their own malls, and the overall internal and external ecological environment needs to be further matured and optimized.
In fact, for traditional foreign trade companies that are in urgent need of getting rid of the development crisis and want to transform quickly, third-party platforms are a better choice. Through relatively mature and complete third-party platforms, traditional foreign trade companies can not only become familiar with the operating model of the cross-border e-commerce industry more quickly, but also do not have to bear too much risk.
Of course, for companies with strong strength, after mastering the operating rules of cross-border e-commerce through third-party platforms, they can build an independent online mall at the right time to get rid of the constraints of third-party platforms, better enhance their brand image, and open up international markets.