Amazon settles accounts! Stores that violate regulations are closed directly｜Cross-border headlines of the week

Amazon's big overhaul!

Violation of the regulations will result in direct closure of the store

Recently, a wave of store closures swept across Amazon’s US site. Many sellers suddenly received store closure notices without any preparation, on the grounds of abusing Vine reviews and repeatedly creating variants.

This really caught the sellers off guard. With the arrival of this wave of account blocking, it also means that the "splitting variants to get comments" method used by many sellers before has completely become history. In this regard, some sellers bluntly stated that this account blocking action is very strong and can be regarded as the most stringent policy adjustment of Vine in recent years.

Speaking of the Vine program, it is actually a review management tool specifically provided for brand sellers, which aims to help sellers obtain high-quality product reviews. Through the Vine program, sellers can obtain more quality feedback, which is also one of the key factors affecting product sales and conversion rates.

In 2016, before Amazon changed its review policy, sellers could give away their products for free or at a discount in exchange for product reviews. In 2023, Amazon launched the new Amazon Vine program. After the structural adjustment, Amazon provides Vine reviewers with up to 30 products for free and 2 completely free Vine reviews for each parent ASIN.

As for illegal operations, some sellers will split one product into multiple independent links, each of which can "grab" 2 free reviews, and then merge the old products under the new products, using the free quota of the old ASIN to brush reviews for the new products.

Accelerate global expansion,

TikTok Shop will be launched in five new markets

Recently, there have been reports that TikTok plans to expand its e-commerce business in five countries this year, including Italy, Germany, France, Japan and Brazil. At the same time, people familiar with the matter revealed that its in-platform shopping function has begun to contact Chinese sellers, inviting them to open online stores for new markets.

In detail, although TikTok has not yet made an official announcement on the expansion plan, Italy is expected to become the first stop of TikTok Shop in Europe. It is expected to be launched before the end of this month, and the "yellow shopping cart" icon in this market will be activated in late March or early April, allowing merchants to display and sell goods through short videos and live broadcasts. Germany and France are expected to be launched later this year.

There is a situation in the Mexican market.

Sellers’ costs are going to rise again

According to reports, the Mexican government recently introduced a new legislative proposal aimed at regulating streaming platforms and digital companies such as Netflix, Amazon, Google, and Meikeduo, proposing to increase taxes on these platforms. This move has attracted widespread attention in the e-commerce circle.

Specifically, the legislative proposal was put forward by the Mexican Agency for Digital Transformation and Telecommunications (ATDT), with the main goal of establishing a "solidarity fund" to be taxed by platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, and Meikeduo according to a certain proportion. The collected taxes will be used to maintain and develop Mexico's telecommunications infrastructure. In addition, if these platforms are unwilling to comply with the new regulations, the Agency for Digital Transformation and Telecommunications will block the services of these platforms.

However, according to Mexico's Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency, the legislative proposal has not yet been passed, and it is not yet known whether the platforms will be forced to pay taxes.

Vietnam plans to cut taxes

Giving the green light to cross-border sellers

According to reports, the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance recently proposed in the "Draft Regulations on Customs Management of E-commerce Imports" to exempt import tariffs on goods imported through cross-border e-commerce platforms with a value not exceeding 2 million Vietnamese dong (about US$78) in order to enhance foreign cooperation.

However, the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance has also added restrictions on the tax exemption policy, requiring each person and each organization to enjoy this tax exemption within a purchase amount of up to 96 million VND per year. In addition, if the value of the goods exceeds 2 million VND or exceeds the limit of 96 million VND, import tax will be paid on the entire order.

Although the proposal has many restrictions and has not yet been implemented, it is indeed good news for cross-border sellers. As one of the hottest markets in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has become an e-commerce treasure land in the minds of cross-border sellers in recent years.

A dark horse appeared in the pet market and sold well.

Single product earns $4 million in revenue

As the global pet economy is booming, many pet product companies have turned their attention to overseas markets, embarked on the road of going overseas, and created a place for themselves.

The domestic cat lifestyle brand "Furrytail Life" is one of the players that has gained a share of the global pet products market. The brand was founded in 2018. In just a few years, it has gradually gained a foothold in the domestic pet products market and has received investments from a number of capitals including Xiaomi Strategic Investment, Morningside, and Volcano Stone. In 2021, the brand officially went overseas, using "Furrytail" as its overseas brand name, and mainly sells smart cat litter box products.

After going overseas, Furrytail has focused on localization strategy, and has achieved localization in R&D, production, design and packaging, brand promotion, etc., trying its best to meet the actual needs of consumers in overseas markets. At the same time, Furrytail is also vigorously expanding its product line, expanding dog staple food and related peripheral products, in order to provide different pet owners with more product choices.

With this combination of measures, Furrytail has successfully achieved some success in the overseas market. One of its smart cat litter boxes has achieved sales of over 10,000 in the overseas market, with cumulative sales of more than 4 million US dollars, or about 29.135 million RMB. Today, Furrytail's smart cat litter box maintains a monthly sales volume of over 2,000 on Amazon, and has even topped the Amazon BS list.

*The above information is compiled from online resources