Closing all stores worldwide, another cross-border seller leaves the market sadly

The cross-border market is ever-changing, and various challenges emerge one after another. Even top sellers with annual revenues of hundreds of millions may lose everything if they are not careful.

Another big seller announced the suspension of operations

Cross-border Knowledge has learned that Womow , the top seller in the cleaning appliance category on Amazon, has removed all its products from the shelves.

Opening Womow’s Amazon store, all products are marked “ Currently unavailable ”, including product links that once accumulated numerous reviews, which are now shown as unavailable for sale. This seems to mean that the brand’s store has basically ceased operations.

Not only that, the related product links on the Walmart platform have also been removed and show " out of stock ".

When searching for Womow's parent company on Tianyancha, the page shows that the company's status in the industrial and commercial registration system is " closed ".

Womow's products are mainly concentrated in the cleaning category, including smart floor scrubbers, fabric cleaning machines, mite removers, cordless vacuum cleaners, etc. As of the end of last year, its product sales channels have covered more than 20 countries and regions including China, the United States, Japan, and Germany.

Among them, Womow has gained many loyal users in overseas markets with its highly cost-effective cordless vacuum cleaners. The product is priced at about US$200, and some of its products rank high in the "Vacuum Cleaners" category on Amazon, especially portable vacuum cleaners and handheld vacuum cleaners, with an average rating of 4.2 to 4.5 stars. Users generally recognize its cost-effectiveness and functionality, and its sales performance is outstanding.

In addition, Womow is also a big seller both at home and abroad, with more than 1,000 domestic and foreign patents, including more than 300 invention patents. Womow's domestic brand name is " Wamowmoor ", and it has its own official flagship stores on e-commerce platforms such as Tmall and JD.com.

However, when I searched for its stores in China, all of them were closed . It seems that Womow has hit a wall this time.

At present, Womow has not made any official explanation for the specific reasons for its sudden closure. However, industry insiders analyzed that it may be closely related to the cruel reality of fierce competition in the cleaning appliance category.

Competition in the cleaning appliance category is fierce

The cleaning appliances category has a large market size on any e-commerce platform, but against the backdrop of the global economic downturn, the cleaning appliances category is also facing a new wave of reshuffles.

In 2024, the global cleaning appliance market will reach $56 billion, of which smart cleaning equipment such as sweeping robots and floor scrubbers account for more than 30%. Despite the huge market size, competition is extremely fierce. Since last year, a number of well-known brands have announced their withdrawal from this market.

Even as one of the largest overseas brands of sweeping robots in China, Roborock Technology cannot escape the constant squeezing of its living space in this fierce market competition.

Financial report data shows that Stone Technology's net profit in the first three quarters of 2024 was only 1.472 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of only 8.22%. Some industry insiders predict that Stone Technology's full-year net profit growth rate last year is likely to be negative.

Under such market conditions, the incremental space left for sellers is becoming increasingly limited, and the top sellers have to re-examine their strategies. Transformation may become an option they have to face. Not to mention, as the online bonus gradually peaks, price wars and rising marketing costs have also made it difficult for other small and medium-sized sellers in this track.

In the end, more brands will regretfully exit the market.

Survival of the fittest is an unchanging law

In the past two years, with the gradual disappearance of the online traffic dividend and the escalating tensions in global trade, high inflation and intensified cost crises have led to a significant decline in consumer demand in the e-commerce market. Even industry giants with deep expertise in product categories are not immune. The collapse of billion-level sellers such as Womow has also brought inspiration to cross-border sellers who are selecting products.

For example, when a certain category suddenly becomes a red ocean, with a large number of strong sellers pouring in within a short period of time, or when a price war suddenly breaks out, sellers need to re-examine whether this category is still worth doing.

Just like the cleaning appliance category, on the one hand, the brand concentration is high, the leading brands continue to occupy a dominant position, and the competition among them is becoming increasingly fierce; on the other hand, after seeing the potential of this track, traditional home appliance giants such as Haier, Midea, and Gree have also continuously invested a lot of manpower and material resources to enter the smart cleaning track, and the market space has been further squeezed.

As a result, competition in this industry is becoming increasingly fierce. Various price wars have turned the category upside down. It is impossible to win the fight, but it is also hard to leave. The final outcome is that a group of brands that cannot compete are "squeezed" out by the tremendous pressure.

Even big sellers like Womow can’t survive in this red ocean, let alone small and medium-sized sellers like us. Compared to making a lot of money, it is more important to survive.

Cross-border e-commerce has entered the era of stock from rapid growth, and the survival of the fittest is also an unchanging law in the industry. The only way for sellers to survive in this fiercely competitive industry, or even make a lot of money, is to polish their products carefully and bring unique value to consumers.