The overseas purchasing model also belongs to the theoretical category of cross-border online shopping. In general, overseas purchasing refers to merchants or individuals located abroad purchasing specific products locally according to the needs of domestic consumers, and then sending the products to consumers through cross-border logistics.
Depending on the business form, there are two main overseas purchasing models:
1. Overseas purchasing platform
Platforms that adopt this model focus most of their energy on establishing cooperative relationships with third-party sellers, and pay less attention to other links, such as product selection, marketing and transportation. Sellers stationed on overseas purchasing platforms may be individuals or merchants with physical stores. Their commonality is that they are good at international trade or overseas procurement. These operators will purchase products from overseas markets according to the needs of domestic consumers or on schedule, and send the products to China in response to order requirements.
The overseas purchasing platform adopts the C2C model. Merchants who sell products through the platform need to pay a certain fee to the platform, which is also the main source of revenue for the platform.
Advantages: It enables domestic consumer groups to have more diverse choices when purchasing overseas products and can accumulate many users.
Disadvantages: Many merchants entering the purchasing agent platform are not recognized by consumers in terms of qualifications, and credit violations often occur during transactions; the platform has not carried out in-depth development in the cross-border supply chain, which may put it at a disadvantage in the competition.
Typical representatives: eBay Global Market, Taobao Global Shopping, American Shopping Network, JD Overseas Shopping, etc.
Both Taobao Global Shopping and JD Overseas Shopping have accumulated a large number of user bases, but the two platforms have not properly handled the subsequent services and transaction credit issues. Many users found that there were quality problems after receiving the goods, but they could not find a suitable way to protect their rights, which made them dissatisfied with the operation of the platform. Although there is still a lot of room for development for the purchasing agent platform, if these problems are not solved, it will have an adverse impact on its subsequent expansion.
2. Overseas purchasing agent in the circle of friends
With the continuous development and popularization of mobile social platforms, the model of purchasing overseas goods through WeChat friends and other channels has gradually emerged. Although the quality of the products has a certain reputation guarantee based on social relationships and the risk of transactions has been reduced, there are still many credit problems.
Nowadays, the threshold of import and export policies is constantly increasing, and the supervision of relevant departments is gradually strengthening, which further restricts the development of the WeChat circle purchasing model. As the overseas purchasing market develops in a systematic and standardized direction, this model may gradually fade out of the public’s view.