After Alibaba realized the use of the Internet to connect Chinese suppliers and overseas buyers in 1999, China’s foreign export trade was Internet-based. After that, it went through three stages, realizing the transformation of the cross-border e-commerce industry from information services to online transactions and full industry chain services.
1. Cross-border e-commerce 1.0 stage (1999-2003)
The main business model of the cross-border e-commerce 1.0 era was the foreign trade information service model of online display and offline transactions. The main function of the third-party platform in the cross-border e-commerce 1.0 stage was to provide a network display platform for corporate information and products, and did not involve any transaction links on the Internet. The profit model at this time was mainly to charge membership fees (such as annual service fees) to companies that displayed information. In the development process of the cross-border e-commerce 1.0 stage, bidding promotion, consulting services and other one-stop information flow value-added services for suppliers were gradually derived.
2. Cross-border e-commerce 2.0 stage (2004-2012)
In 2004, with the launch of Dunhuang.com, it entered the cross-border e-commerce 2.0 stage. At this stage, cross-border e-commerce platforms began to get rid of the display behavior of pure information yellow pages, and digitized offline transactions, payments, logistics and other processes, and gradually realized online trading platforms. Compared with the 1.0 stage, cross-border e-commerce 2.0 can better reflect the essence of e-commerce. With the help of e-commerce platforms, through service and resource integration, it effectively opened up the upstream and downstream supply chains, including B2B (platform to enterprise small transactions) platform model and B2C (platform to user) platform model.
3. Cross-border e-commerce 3.0 stage (2013 to present)
2013 became an important transformation year for cross-border e-commerce, and the entire industry chain of cross-border e-commerce has undergone changes in business models. With the transformation of cross-border e-commerce, the “big era” of cross-border e-commerce 3.0 has arrived.
First of all, cross-border e-commerce 3.0 has five characteristics: large-scale factories are online, Class B buyers are on scale, the proportion of medium and large orders is increased, large service providers are added, and the number of mobile users is exploding. At the same time, cross-border e-commerce 3.0 services are fully upgraded, the platform has stronger carrying capacity, and the onlineization of services in the entire industry chain is also an important feature of the 3.0 era.
Secondly, in the 3.0 stage of cross-border e-commerce, the user group has changed from grassroots entrepreneurs to factories and foreign trade companies, and has strong production design and management capabilities. The platform sales products have changed from online merchants and second-hand sources to first-hand sources of good products.
Third, the main seller group in the 3.0 stage is in a difficult transition period from traditional foreign trade business to cross-border e-commerce business, and the production model has changed from large production lines to flexible manufacturing, with a high demand for agency operations and industrial chain supporting services. In addition, the main platform model in the 3.0 stage has also changed from C2C and B2C to B2B and M2B models, and medium and large transactions of wholesale buyers have become the main orders of the platform.