Amazon platform charging items and standards and cross-border e-commerce development prospects
As one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms, Amazon not only provides a rich selection of products and a global consumer market, but also helps sellers improve sales performance through a series of tools and services. In order to better understand the operating model of the Amazon platform and its development prospects, this article will discuss the Amazon platform charging items and standards, the development prospects of cross-border e-commerce, and the future development prospects of Amazon small sellers.
Amazon platform charging items and standards
To open a store on the Amazon platform, the fees sellers need to pay mainly include monthly rent, commission, FBA fees and operating expenses. In terms of monthly rent, sellers on the US site need to pay US$39.99 per month; while on the European site, it is 25 euros. Commissions vary according to different product categories, generally ranging from 8% to 15% of sales. If the seller chooses to use Amazon’s logistics distribution service (FBA), he will also need to pay the corresponding FBA fee based on the packaging size and weight of the product. In addition, in order to increase the exposure of products, sellers may choose to participate in Amazon’s on-site promotion activities such as CPC advertising or platform activities. The former is charged based on the number of clicks, with a minimum of US$0.02 each time; the latter requires a fixed fee to participate in flash sales and other activities. The fee is currently USD 150/time.
Cross-border e-commerce development prospects
Cross-border e-commerce is facing unprecedented development opportunities. According to a report released by the China E-Commerce Research Center, the scale of China’s cross-border e-commerce transactions reached 5.4 trillion yuan in 2015, of which the scale of cross-border export transactions reached 4.49 trillion yuan, accounting for a relatively large proportion. This trend continued to maintain strong growth momentum in the following year. In 2016, China’s export cross-border e-commerce transaction scale reached 5.5 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.2%. Cross-border e-commerce not only reshapes the international value chain and industrial chain, simplifies traditional foreign trade export links, and reduces intermediate costs, it also provides Chinese companies with opportunities to “go global” with their brands. In this process, Amazon has become the preferred platform for many cross-border e-commerce sellers with its large user base and high-quality services.
The future development prospects of small sellers on Amazon
For small sellers on Amazon, the future is full of opportunities. First of all, as consumers continue to improve their requirements for product quality and services, consumption upgrades have become an important driving force for the growth of the Amazon small seller market. Secondly, the Amazon platform continues to improve its service capabilities. For example, FBA services reduce the operating costs of small sellers, and advertising and promotion services help small sellers better reach their target customer groups. Furthermore, technological advancement has also brought more possibilities to small sellers. Whether it is the precise data analysis provided by AI algorithms or the improvement of the logistics and distribution system, it will help enhance the competitiveness of small sellers. Finally, the optimization of the policy environment is also beneficial to the development of small sellers. However, to stand out in the fierce market competition, small sellers need to continue to innovate and optimize their products and services.
To sum up, whether from the perspective of the platform itself or the external environment, Amazon provides a broad stage for cross-border e-commerce sellers. As long as sellers can keep up with market changes and make full use of platform resources, they are expected to succeed in the field of cross-border e-commerce.