1. Interest is the best teacher
As the saying goes, “Do what you love”, you can observe carefully that there are generally no major problems with any product you choose carefully, and the test of whether you are careful in the product selection stage is whether you have invested 100% of your energy. If you find a category or product that you like, your internal drive will be very strong. At this time, you don’t need any external constraints or restrictions, and you naturally want to do better. I often tell students that so far, I have been struggling in the field of cross-border e-commerce for 15 years. During this period, the ups and downs and setbacks I have experienced are beyond everyone’s imagination. I have experienced what you have experienced, and I have also experienced what you have not experienced. The only thing that supports me is my love for this industry, because cross-border e-commerce has allowed me to see the realization of the life creed of “hard work can succeed”, so I have been determined to keep doing it. Therefore, for novices in cross-border e-commerce, in the stage of product selection, you can try to start with interest, or slowly cultivate your feelings for this industry or target category, and return to the original intention of providing value to customers. I believe that in time, you will experience the happiness of it.
2. Fully understand the industry background
“There are mountains beyond mountains, and people beyond people.” The world is too big, and it will definitely not work if sellers stick to their own products. So you need to have a full understanding of the industry ecology and the data of your competitors, such as sales trends, new product plans, customer reviews, brand influence, etc., learn from others’ strengths and make up for your own weaknesses. Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle.
3. Pay special attention to product quality
No matter how the platform gameplay of cross-border e-commerce changes, its core is to provide value to customers, including products and services. In order to gain long-term recognition from customers, product quality must be the first priority. This is the foundation of everything. If the product is “1”, then all other platforms, channels, and marketing strategies are the “0” behind “1”. Especially in mature consumer markets, customers have extremely high requirements for the product itself, and anything else outside the product can only be icing on the cake, not timely help.
4. Keep a normal mind, failure is the norm
Nowadays, many sellers are thinking about choosing a hot product all at once, making a steady profit of 100 orders a day. It may be a bit too much to describe these people as “daydreaming”, but this unrealistic idea is not acceptable. Especially for novices, you have to know that product selection is also a probabilistic event, and there are many factors that affect your product. Good or bad selection, even if you have selected a good target product in the product selection stage, we may exclude it during FBA testing if the data is not good. But it doesn’t matter, this is normal, we just need to continue to follow the product selection process step by step, don’t doubt yourself and lose confidence in yourself because of 1 or 2 failed product selections, believe that only you know yourself best, if this path is right, just keep doing it.
5. Earn your share of money
As a seller, it is inevitable that you will have some anxiety after starting to do business on Amazon, such as product selection anxiety, account anxiety, and payment anxiety. Many people say: “The competition in cross-border e-commerce is fierce, and it is not easy to do business on Amazon. “I have heard this for many years. Many sellers are too anxious. They are anxious to open a European site for fear that the bonus will disappear; they are anxious to create new products on the list for fear of missing the opportunity to make money; they see others making money, so they follow suit for fear of being left behind. In the end, they often encounter the dilemma of having their stores blocked due to infringement and other violations. I have seen too many such things during training. When I chat with novice sellers born in the 1990s and 2000s, I often say: “In a few years, you will all be millionaires.” Don’t be too anxious. Your share of money is waiting for you. You need time to gain experience and walk steadily and step by step in the direction of your choice. You don’t need to take “shortcuts”. The road to success is not crowded. If you persist, you will win.