Before starting a business, the first question is what do I want to sell. There is a saying in the field of cross-border e-commerce: seven points are products and three points are operations. If you choose the right products and get ahead of a trend, you may gain a lot; if you see popular products in the market and follow the trend, you may have good order volume but thin profits. Product selection should not be based on personal preferences, nor should you just look at data reports. The consequences of choosing the wrong product are inventory backlog and wasted funds. This chapter will introduce some basic methods of product selection. These methods can only be used by readers as a means to understand the market. Product selection is not a step-by-step task, but should be based on an understanding of the product and the needs of the target market. Comprehensive judgment. After readers are proficient in using these basic methods, they should summarize the product selection methods that suit them based on their own operational experience.
Cross-border e-commerce product selection principles
Three principles should be considered when selecting cross-border products: compliance with platform rules, compliance with the laws and regulations of the target market, and suitable for cross-border logistics delivery. Cross-border transportation is expensive, takes a long time, and has many uncertain factors. You may encounter bad weather, customs detention, long logistics turnover routes, etc. during transportation. Therefore, when choosing cross-border products, you should try to choose products with long shelf life, crush resistance, etc. Items that are small in size and light in weight. In addition to the above principles, you can also consider the following points when selecting products.
Use simple products and do not require too complicated operations. If you are dealing in mass products, it is best to choose products that do not require complicated operations, otherwise it will increase the cost of after-sales explanation. Some buyers have limited patience and complain about product problems without reading the instructions. Request return for refund.
Products with high repurchase rates. It is best to use fast-moving consumer goods, which buyers can purchase repeatedly. If the repurchase rate of the product is not high due to the nature of its use, it must have sufficient profits and be suitable for word-of-mouth communication
The supply chain is stable. When goods sell out, they need to be replenished immediately. If the goods cannot be replenished in time or the quality of the goods is reduced due to rush work, the goods must be replenished immediately. This will cause great trouble to sellers.
The market capacity is large enough. Although competition in some categories is not fierce, buyer demand is also small. Even if it becomes the absolute “boss” in the market, it will not be enough to support operating costs. Although competition in large categories is fierce, due to the huge market capacity, novice sellers can easily get a share of the pie
The number of large sellers is small. If a category has been occupied by a few mature and large sellers, it will be difficult for novice sellers to participate in the competition
In market competition, we must pay attention to the life cycle of the product and maintain the competitiveness of the product. , we can learn from six points: I have what others don’t have, I have excellence when others have it, I am fast when people are superior, I am new when people are fast, I am honest about people who are new, and I turn around when people are honest.
Self-Analysis
First, analyze supplier resources. Many regions in our country have large-scale industrial belts, such as the Guangzhou women’s clothing industry belt, Yiwu small commodity market, Suzhou wedding dress industry belt, etc. The industrial belt is characterized by rich commodities, complete related upstream and downstream commodities, and obvious price advantages. If you have an industry partner you can cooperate with, working directly with the factory can not only control the price, but also enable small-batch customized production and obtain unique products. If these supply chain resources are not available, we can also seek online suppliers. For example, Alibaba’s 1688 batch platform also has a large number of supply sources to choose from.
Secondly, the team’s advantage is whether it is research and development or distribution. If team members have a background in R&D and production, they can use this advantage to develop specialized and refined product lines. Even if it is a niche category, as long as the market capacity is large enough, it is worth exploring.
Again, evaluate the funding situation and allocate funds reasonably. When allocating funds, the payment cycle and replenishment cycle should be considered to minimize inventory and avoid a backlog of funds.
Business strategy and business goals
Determine your own business strategy and business goals, and consider store positioning, product strategy, market positioning and platform selection.
Store positioning. When you walk into an offline physical store, you can tell at a glance what the store’s positioning is, whether it is a grocery store with a large variety of products, or a boutique store with a unique style. On the AliExpress platform, stores with clear positioning are more likely to leave a deep impression on buyers and increase their repurchase rate.
Commodity strategy. Some products are suitable for low-profit sales, such as rubber bands; some products are suitable for high-profit products, such as genuine leather bags. When choosing low-profit, high-volume products, you must highlight the price advantage; when choosing high-profit products, you must highlight the uniqueness of the product.
Market positioning. There are nearly 200 countries in the world. Each country has different geographical and social environments, and consumption habits are also very different. It is very unlikely that a product will be a hot seller around the world, so it is very important to adjust product characteristics according to the target market. For example, the best-selling sizes for a men’s T-shirt in the Asian market are M and L. Sellers of XL and above sizes may rarely stock them. However, in the North American market, there are often buyers who want XXL or even XXXL. .
Platform selection. The user groups of each cross-border e-commerce platform are different. Products that sell well on AliExpress may not necessarily sell well on Amazon, and vice versa. Therefore, when selecting products, you should focus on platform factors and make full use of the information resources provided by the platform to conduct market research.