It is learned that according to Juniper Networks research, global cross-border e-commerce transaction volume will exceed the US$2 trillion mark for the first time in 2023 .

At the same time, the latest report predicts that the scale of China's cross-border e-commerce B2B market will reach 13.9 trillion yuan by 2025. It can be seen that in recent years, both B2B and B2C businesses have developed rapidly under the influence of the epidemic.

Looking back at the development of my country's cross-border e-commerce industry over the past few years, from the initial "extensive management" to today's "intensive cultivation", the industry mechanism has been continuously improved under the upgrading of consumption trends, and the degree of competition has also deepened with the increase in the number of sellers.

As the industry becomes increasingly inward-looking and saturated, cross-border sellers are actively looking for new growth curves. They have gradually realized that simply selling goods on the platform is no longer a long-term solution, and have begun to try the "boutique + branding" route.

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At the same time, influenced by multiple factors such as the upgrading of emerging consumption patterns and changes in the industry structure, the pace of Chinese brands going overseas is accelerating, and the concept of brand globalization is gradually gaining popularity. Cross-border e-commerce has also forged an indissoluble bond with brand going overseas. It is expected that in the next 10 years, DTC brand going overseas will become a new growth breakthrough for cross-border e-commerce.

Cross-border e-commerce enters the era of brand expansion overseas

According to a survey of sellers on Amazon Global Store, 93% of Chinese sellers are very aware of the importance of building a brand on Amazon. At the same time, 75% of Chinese sellers are confident in creating and improving their brands on Amazon. This means that more and more sellers are trying to build brands, and many emerging brands are beginning to flock to Amazon.

As more and more Chinese companies pay more attention to their brands, cross-border e-commerce exports will gradually enter a new stage.

It is learned that in the "Brand China Top 50 Global Brands 2021", brands related to cross-border e-commerce include: ANKER, Lightinthebox, AUKEY, ZAFUL, etc.

Opening the recorder of Chinese brands going overseas, more and more cross-border big sellers are following the wave of brand expansion, opening up foreign consumer markets and enhancing the global visibility of their brands.

1. SHEIN

As a pioneer in Chinese brands going overseas, SHEIN's rapid development in overseas markets has posed a threat to many established e-commerce giants.

SHEIN's development model is a successful example of DTC brands going overseas. It is reported that SHEIN has successfully surpassed Amazon and Walmart to become the world's most downloaded shopping app, with annual sales of up to 100 billion yuan.

In addition, the media recently broke the news that SHEIN is planning a new round of financing, the amount of which is about 1 billion US dollars. After this round of fundraising, its valuation may reach 100 billion US dollars, which will exceed the total valuation of the famous European and American fast fashion brands H&M and Zara, becoming the world's third largest unicorn company.

If a valuation of $100 billion can be finalized, SHEIN will become the most valuable startup in the world after TikTok and Space X.

From an unknown women's clothing brand to becoming a fast fashion e-commerce unicorn, SHEIN's success is inseparable from its brand connotation and flexible supply chain. Its popularity overseas also provides a model for Chinese sellers to go global with DTC.

2. Zhiou Home Furnishing

As a representative seller of domestic cross-border e-commerce, Zhiou Home Furnishing is also one of the successful cases of Chinese brands going overseas. At present, Zhiou Home Furnishing is not only one of the largest B2C cross-border e-commerce export brands in China, but also the top home furnishing brand seller in Amazon's European and American markets.

It is understood that Zhiou Home Furnishing is mainly engaged in the research and development, design and sales of its own-brand home furnishing products. The products mainly include furniture, home furnishings, pet series and other categories. It is mainly sold to more than 50 countries and regions including Europe, North America, Japan, etc. through overseas e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Cdiscount, and eBay.

In terms of brand building, Zhiou positions itself as a global Internet home furnishing brand and adheres to the development strategy of its own brands. It owns three major own brands, SONGMICS, VASAGLE and FEANDREA. Its products have won the favor and recognition of consumers in many markets such as Europe and the United States . Many of its products have been ranked at the top of the best-selling lists of third-party e-commerce platforms such as Amazon for many years.

Zhiou, which has always adhered to its own brand development strategy, has also tasted the sweetness of going overseas, and its sales and profit scale are constantly increasing. The prospectus shows that Zhiou Technology's revenue in 2018, 2019, 2020, and the first half of 2021 was 1.595 billion yuan, 2.326 billion yuan, 3.97 billion yuan, and 3.199 billion yuan, respectively.

3. XGIMI Technology

It is learned that the main business of XGIMI Technology is the research and development, production and sales of smart projection products, and it also provides consumers with accessories and Internet value-added services around smart projection. XGIMI mainly sells through e-commerce platforms and offline channels, and its products are currently sold mainly in China.

In recent years, Xgimi Technology has been actively building overseas channels, accelerating overseas market expansion, and promoting its own brands overseas, and has achieved good results.

According to the 2021 semi-annual report of Xgimi Technology, its overseas revenue was 132.4325 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 136.51%.

It is understood that since 2019, Xgimi Technology has launched Google-certified products equipped with the Android TV system in overseas markets, enabling it to maintain a leading position in future opportunities for Chinese smart projection products to go overseas.

Currently, the overseas markets for XGIMI Technology's products have covered developed markets such as the United States, Japan, and Europe. In the Japanese market, the company's innovative product series Aladdin has been at the forefront of the Japanese smart projector market in terms of shipments just a few months after its launch, demonstrating the guarantee capability of XGIMI's Japanese market sales system.

In addition to the above-mentioned cross-border e-commerce giants that have achieved good results in the field of brand overseas expansion, some well-known domestic brands have also smelled the opportunity to go overseas and have exported their brands and sold their products through the cross-border e-commerce channel.

Domestic brands link up with cross-border platforms to expand overseas

In recent years, the domestic consumer market has gradually become saturated, e-commerce platforms have fallen into a vicious circle of sluggish growth, and under the stimulation of the epidemic, user consumption habits have become conservative.

In this context, a number of domestic brands are exploring the second growth curve and are beginning to try to go abroad to promote brand internationalization. The pace of domestic brands going overseas is accelerating, and major brands in industries including beauty and personal care, food and beverage, technology and intelligence, home appliances, etc. are gearing up to seize overseas market share.

In this process, self-built websites or overseas e-commerce platforms are often the first stop for brands to go global. Many Chinese brands have driven exponential growth in product sales and improved their international status through such links. The following list lists three representative brands in the fields of beauty, technology, and food.

1. Perfect Diary

Perfect Diary is one of the pioneers of domestic beauty brands going overseas. Looking at the overseas beauty and personal care market, Perfect Diary has targeted its brand expansion plans on a potential region - the Southeast Asian market.

In its overseas expansion, Perfect Diary adopted a model that combines independent sites with third-party platforms.

It is understood that Perfect Diary first launched an overseas official website, and then used e-commerce platforms such as Shopee and Lazada for sales. It also simultaneously started online live broadcasts and entered local TV stations for advertising and promotion, thereby completing sales of 10,000 orders and successfully entering the Southeast Asian cosmetics market.

Perfect Diary's overseas expansion has taken shape through social media marketing, KOL promotion, celebrity endorsements, and acquisition of international brands. During Shopee's Double 11 promotion, Perfect Diary ranked first in the makeup category in Malaysia and first in the cross-border beauty brand ranking.

2. Dreame Technology

In the field of smart cleaning, Dreame Technology, which was established only five years ago, has made great strides overseas. Its unique brand tone and influence of "unlimited possibilities in the future" are continuously penetrating into foreign consumer markets.

It is understood that Dreame Technology was founded in 2017. Its products cover four major categories: sweeping robots, cordless vacuum cleaners, floor scrubbers, and high-speed hair dryers. Relying on its persistence in product innovation and deep localization of its brand overseas strategy, its products are sold well in more than 100 countries and regions including China, the United States, Germany, France, and South Korea.

According to statistics, in June 2021, Dreame vacuum cleaners topped the sales list of vacuum cleaners priced above 300 euros on AliExpress Europe. In France, the Dreame T30 cordless vacuum cleaner topped the Amazon bestseller list of vacuum cleaners priced above 400 euros in August and September. The Dreame vacuum cleaner D9 swept the Amazon lists in France, Italy, and Spain, becoming the bestseller in the 200-300 euro price range.

In addition, in the first half of 2021, Dreame's shipments of handheld vacuum cleaners in the German market were three times the full-year shipments in 2020, winning the first place in sales of Chinese overseas vacuum cleaners.

3. Yuanqi Forest

As one of the giants in the domestic beverage industry, Yuanqi Forest has already occupied a place in the local food consumption market through continuous brand marketing and product upgrades, but its ambition does not stop there.

In 2020, Yuanqi Forest will set its sights on the world and officially embark on its overseas journey.

At the beginning of 2021, Hey Tea established a separate international business department; in April 2021, Hey Tea completed a strategic financing of US$500 million, and stated that the financing will be used to expand overseas markets, invest in factories, increase investment in scientific research and continue internationalization.

In May 2021, Yuanqi Forest products were officially launched on Amazon and entered the top 10 of Amazon's sparkling water bestseller list in the United States. More than 20 new products have been launched overseas. So far, Yuanqi Forest has entered first-tier supermarkets in 40 countries and regions including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Singapore, and Vietnam. On the Tmall overseas platform, Yuanqi Forest's overseas transaction volume in the first three months of this year increased by 69% year-on-year.

At present, both domestic and cross-border brands are scrambling to enter the DTC and overseas markets, actively expanding their international business, and driven by national policies and external factors, the overseas strategies of many brands have received positive feedback.

So, in the current trend of brands going overseas, how can cross-border sellers seize market opportunities and ensure positive external output of their brands while doing a good job in cross-border business?

How can cross-border sellers expand their brands overseas?

1. Independent website and e-commerce platform in parallel

On March 22, the People's Daily published an article titled "Independent Stations Help Chinese Brands Go Global", which focused on analyzing the important role of independent stations in helping Chinese brands go global: direct access to consumers, low operating costs, low logistics costs, and short logistics time.

The People's Daily pointed out that the rapid development of independent sites means huge opportunities for cross-border sellers.

However, for cross-border sellers, operating independent sites also faces three major challenges: traffic, talent and cognition. In addition, not all types of sellers are suitable for entering the independent site. Independent sites require a lot of money in the early stage and the capital return is slow, which is a great test of the survival ability of the enterprise.

Therefore, when cross-border sellers are expanding their brands overseas, they need to choose different models based on their own circumstances. They cannot rely entirely on third-party e-commerce platforms, nor can they only consider independent sites.

At that time, a new operating model was becoming popular among sellers, that is, the dual-track parallel model of independent website + e-commerce platform. Cross-border sellers can use independent website as an auxiliary channel to improve conversion rate by using off-site traffic; or they can use e-commerce platforms such as Amazon as the cornerstone and open brand independent website to achieve two-way traffic guidance.

Through the mutual promotion between independent sites and cross-border e-commerce platforms, cross-border sellers will have an advantage in the competition for brand expansion overseas.

2. Pay attention to social media KOL marketing

With the upgrading and change of global consumption trends, the ways for brands to go overseas have gradually diversified. In addition to independent websites and e-commerce platforms, social platforms and influencers have also become key tools for brand overseas marketing. Many overseas and domestic brands have gained product orders and accumulated brand popularity through this channel.

The global influencer marketing report shows that more than 40% of consumers first learned about DTC brands through KOLs and KOCs, and about 30% of consumers have the habit of searching for KOL and KOC product reviews before shopping. Compared with official brand accounts, online influencers' product promotion posts are more interactive.

As key nodes of social media, KOLs and KOCs can provide DTC brands with new ideas for increasing conversion rates at low cost. KOLs have the dual identities of online creators and consumers, and can bring buyers a more authentic consumption experience and not only bring product recommendations to consumers, but also play a positive role in brand communication.

Therefore, cross-border sellers should not only pay attention to absorbing external traffic, but also pay attention to the powerful role of influencer marketing and social platforms.

3. Continuously output brand value and connotation

It is understood that compared with the traditional overseas model, the DTC model can eliminate the middle links and reach consumers directly, thus building brand barriers.

For cross-border e-commerce companies, the most important issue for brand expansion is to learn how to build brand value by establishing emotional and personal connections with consumers, build a solid interactive bridge between brands and consumers, and establish connections and dialogues between brands and consumers. Only by strengthening brand influence over a long period of time can a brand firmly occupy the minds of consumers.

But currently, most Chinese brands, especially DTC brands, win by relying on strong sales and distribution channels, thus ignoring brand value.

To succeed overseas, Chinese brands need to adjust their brand value-building strategies according to different markets and consumer expectations by shaping brand stories and establishing emotional connections with customers.

At the same time, facing the upcoming era of brand dividends, cross-border sellers should use strong brand building capabilities as their core competitiveness, combine Chinese traditional culture to demonstrate brand uniqueness, and launch brand activities that interact with Western consumers to help brands win in the market.

Data shows that in 2021, the DTC market is expected to reach nearly US$20 billion in sales worldwide , a year-on-year increase of 15%, and this trend is expected to continue into the future.

Sun Wei, a brand marketing consultant at Tsinghua University, said that with the advancement of the Belt and Road strategic cooperation in the future, more brands will go overseas.

I believe that no matter whether it is a cross-border brand or a traditional domestic brand, more Chinese brands will step onto the international stage in the future and completely tear off the label of "OEM" . As the way Chinese companies go overseas continues to upgrade, the overseas market will become a new growth curve for cross-border sellers.