[Background of the problem]
Zhao Bin runs an integrated foreign trade company. With the changes in the global international trade situation, he needs to find a new way out. By chance, he heard a friend introduce the Amazon platform to him. It is very suitable for brands like him who have their own factories or have advantages in the supply chain. He decided to learn more about Amazon.
[Required information]
Query relevant information about the Amazon platform through literature review, online search, etc.
[Operation skills]
1. Understand the Amazon platform.
Amazon Inc. (Amazon for short) is the largest online e-commerce company in the United States, located in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1995, Amazon started with online book sales, and now has expanded to a wide range of other products. It has become the world’s online retailer with the most product varieties and the world’s second largest Internet company. Amazon’s net income for the whole year of 2017 was US$3 billion, and its annual revenue was US$177.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31%.
2. Sellers on the Amazon platform.
Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, allowing third-party sellers to sell products through the platform. At present, the sales of third-party sellers have accounted for 50% of Amazon’s total sales. In 2017, the number of sellers settled in Amazon reached 391,905, with an average of 2,996 sellers settled in every day. According to data from Amazon’s European market, Chinese sellers account for about 25% of the Amazon market share, or even higher. More and more cross-border sellers on the Amazon market are in China.
3. Buyers on the Amazon platform.
The consumers of the Amazon platform are mainly middle-class high-quality customers in developed countries, who are not sensitive to prices, so the product profit margin is guaranteed. If you are a powerful manufacturer with experience in OEM for well-known foreign brands and have established standards for product quality control, then opening a store on Amazon Global is definitely a sales channel that cannot be missed. If it is a private brand and patent, you can also register the trademark on the platform to prevent being copied and infringed by other sellers.
4. The threshold of the Amazon platform.
Amazon has a certain threshold. Not only is the procedure for opening a store complicated, but it is also relatively difficult to get started. At the same time, you must prevent problems such as account association. If you accidentally violate its rules, you will be warned at the least, and the store will be directly closed at the worst. After a store is closed, you cannot apply for a new store on the Amazon platform with the same set of information. You must replace it with a completely new set of information. Since the second half of 2016, Amazon has been strengthening its review of Chinese sellers. New sellers who have not received cross-border e-commerce training will encounter greater resistance than ever before, whether registering or operating.