The global epidemic is epidemic, making cross-border business difficult. “Not returning goods, or on the way to be returned.” An export trade entrepreneur complained to Pencil.
The company he works for mainly exports food, which has spread to dozens of countries in Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea. Even with the orders of old customers, he has made a lot of money. Now hundreds of millions of dollars are lost, facing a life-and-death test. To this end, the company has decided to turn its development focus to China and look for new growth points.
What’s hard to do is food exports. The founder of a cross-border recruitment company revealed to Pencil Road that orders were lost by 70%: when the domestic epidemic was severe, companies did not have recruitment requirements, and overseas talents dared not enter; when the global epidemic was epidemic, overseas talents could not enter due to “restriction of entry”. .
But it is gratifying that some cross-border import e-commerce companies have seized the opportunity, and orders have continued to increase.
A founder told Pencil that the number of small and medium B-side customers has increased by about 15%, the business volume of small and medium B-ends has also increased by 50% compared with the same period, and the overall business volume has increased by 15% compared with the same period last year. Nonetheless, these companies are affected by factors such as logistics and upstream brand suppliers.
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When the domestic epidemic is nearing its end, the overseas epidemic is getting worse. As of 5:37 am on March 27th, Beijing time, the total number of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia worldwide exceeded 520,000, and the cumulative deaths exceeded 23,000. For cross-border entrepreneurs, this makes the inflection point, which is near right now, unpredictable.
However, the more confused you are, the more you look at the road. Anything that is lost will eventually come back at the right time.
The tragic export trader: the goods are there, but the customers don’t want them
After returning to work, Liu Min is staring at foreign epidemic situation and trade policy every day. As soon as any changes occur, he must immediately think about whether it will bring a new blow to the company.
“This kind of life has never happened before, and now I’m in fear and fear every day.” He said as the head of a cross-border trade export company in Dalian.
Liu Min ’s company has previously exported to dozens of countries in Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea through food exports. Even with the orders of old customers, it has made a lot of money. Like cross-border traders, they are now facing a life-and-death test.
numberAccording to reports, China ’s exports for the first time in nearly eight years have seen a cumulative trade deficit from January to February. As a witness, Liu Min has a deep understanding of the changes. When the domestic epidemic broke out, the first problem that appeared was the delay in resumption of work at its own company, and it was difficult to deliver orders on time.
Overseas customers’ orders were originally scheduled to be received in February. If their company has not yet delivered the goods at the end of January, it will be in breach of contract according to normal logistics calculations. Although the customer expressed understanding of the domestic epidemic situation, the company’s default will also affect the customer’s default to its downstream customers. Delay in delivery may cause the company to face serial problems such as compensation for breach of contract.
But in Liu Min’s mouth, these are only minor issues, and the bigger impact is still to come. At the end of January, a U.S. customer who had worked with Liu Min for many years made it clear that he would cancel the order, and the other party even declared that he would not dare to accept any more goods from China. Since then, Liu Min has received a large number of overseas orders cancellations every day. In his words, “The order has either been cancelled or is on the way to cancellation.”
The problem is not over. After the resumption of work in February, due to the company’s delayed delivery to customers, the company let employees work overtime to produce and dispatch goods.
“The situation this month is that the goods are available, but the customers do not want them.” Liu Min was helpless. Due to the impact of the epidemic and the reduction of international routes, many countries and regions have announced that they will stop receiving mail and parcels sent by China. And goods.
Liu Min can only express his understanding of the temporary change of the client. After the outbreak of the global epidemic, many European and American countries have “closed cities” and “closed countries”, and the economy has also been under pressure due to the spread of the epidemic. These are big countries that have purchased from China. Under the influence of the epidemic, they have also started to close stores and factories. Economic shutdown. Except for masks, protective clothing and other epidemic prevention materials, basically all industries have been greatly affected, and the cancellation of orders is still intensifying.
On the one hand, the goods were rejected and the order was cancelled; on the other hand, the logistics problem also became a heavy mountain that weighed on foreign trade companies.
Liu Min’s business is mainly engaged in frozen fresh products and aquatic products, so the problems they face are particularly prominent. Under the influence of the epidemic, international logistics has also been affected, shipping costs have increased significantly, export goods are facing losses, not to mention the problem of product quality after 14 days of isolation, which has even worsened the cost risk and credibility of enterprises.
In addition, the queuing time of the port is longer than before. Due to the epidemic situation, foreign customers will require Liu Min to issue various commitments. The timeliness of the export of goods will be significantly reduced, and the timeliness may be extended by 7-10 days. Liu Min also said that while the cost of cargo transportation has increased, the capacity of vessels has been reduced due to the epidemic situation.Now rising, further increasing costs.
Liu Min estimates that compared with previous years, the company’s order volume has decreased by at least 30%, and the losses have been in units of 100 million yuan, and the subsequent impact is still expanding.
Cancellation of orders, reduction of quantity, delay in payment, and reduction of prices. These crises that have occurred in different stages before now are concentrated in one period of time, so that businesses such as Liu Min who are engaged in foreign trade business are suddenly hit. To the bottom of the valley.
Facing the uncertainty of the development trend of the global epidemic, Liu Min’s company is trying to turn its attention to the domestic market and look for new growth points. According to Liu Min’s analysis, the domestic epidemic situation is now basically under control.
“Lucky” imported e-commerce: 50% increase in business volume for small B customers
In contrast, the situation of cross-border import e-commerce is much better: during the epidemic, domestic users ’general online shopping demand broke out. But embarrassingly, the logistics and inventory aspects are at an impasse.
Xingyun Global Exchange is a cross-border import B2B company that mainly provides distribution services to various types of channel providers. In terms of product supply, this company directly establishes cooperative supply relationships with brand owners and first-line channels overseas. At home, it will connect with domestic channel vendors such as Pinduoduo, JD.com, Jumeiyoupin, and Koalahai. Purchase etc.
During the outbreak of the epidemic in China, most cross-border e-commerce platforms were in a state of “no hiccups”, and orders continued to rise. Various companies have also launched various promotional activities, and users ’enthusiasm for consumption has even exceeded the promotion period of“ Double 11 ”and“ Double 12 ”.
However, an awkward situation appeared.
“After the outbreak, there were many orders, but we were unable to send out the goods because domestic and international logistics could not meet the demand, which would also affect the consumer’s shopping experience.” Chen Hua introduced.
In addition to logistics, there is also an important problem in many e-commerce platforms is insufficient inventory. In terms of supply, Chen Hua said that in order to prevent accidents, Xingyun Global Exchange has long carried out a stocking plan to ensure sufficient supply reserves, so after the global epidemic broke out, it has not been affected by the supply side.
Just like the industry ’s opinion, Chen Hua also believes that the “opportunity” brought by the epidemic to the cross-border e-commerce industry is greater than “danger”. Whether it isFrom the national level, the enterprise level, or the consumer level, cross-border e-commerce faces development opportunities.
“At the national level, the Expo has been held for two consecutive years, and whether it is investment promotion or tax reduction, you can see the attitude of the country.” From the perspective of enterprises, Chen Hua said that the enterprises in the industry did not Affected very much, but there are some explosive growth.
He took Xingyun as an example. During the epidemic, the number of small and medium B-side customers increased by about 15%. The business volume of small and medium B-ends also increased by 50% compared with the same period, and the overall business volume increased by 15% over the same period.
“So we can see that during this time, consumer demand for imported goods and quality products has not weakened, and there will be a certain expansion.” Chen Hua said.
During the epidemic, offline purchases, including purchasing and tourism, were unavailable, so part of the demand had to be diverted to cross-border e-commerce, which also strengthened a consumer ’s spending habits in the process.
However, in the period when the global epidemic is getting worse, it is urgent for cross-border e-commerce to find new suppliers.
“We have been increasing the contact with upstream brands and the procurement layout of the global source sourcing, the company is adjusting.” Chen Hua said, the company is also constantly negotiating, hoping to obtain more direct authorization from foreign brands This can be more efficient and improve the stability and timeliness of product supply.
However, with the direct transfer of brand suppliers, the cooperation becomes more difficult.
Some people in charge of cross-border e-commerce said that foreign brands have strict requirements on quantity and account period. Generally, 30-50 days will be set as an account period. This was originally undertaken by downstream distributors, and the company directly When cooperating with a brand owner, the company must bear the responsibility. In addition, the pressure on cash flow has also soared, and SMEs are facing a life-and-death test.
Chen Hua believes that the most important impact of the epidemic on enterprises is cash flow. In the development process, enterprises should not excessively pursue scale expansion, but should also pay attention to the normal operation of the company’s cash flow. Bottom line. “In addition, we deeply feel the importance of collaboration in the upstream and downstream industry chains. In the next step, we will strengthen close cooperation with upstream brands and optimize and upgrade the commodity supply system.”
From the trend of the cross-border e-commerce industry, the supply chain and services will undergo an adjustment and upgrade under the epidemic situation, high-quality companies and service providers will settle down, and the basic ecology will be more solid.
Cross-Border Service Providers: Orders Drop 70%
Cross-border third-party service providers, some people have successfully broken the circle, and some have difficulties at home and abroad.
For example, cross-border payments. Due to the impact of the overseas epidemic, on the one hand, domestic export orders have decreased sharply, and cross-border payment flows have been affected. Some cross-border payment companies have publicly stated that transaction volume has decreased by at least 40%. But on the other hand, online financial services can meet the payment needs in the epidemic to some extent.
Minimalist exchange rate is an Internet platform that provides innovative foreign exchange financial services. Both exchange rate information services and online cross-border remittance services are purely Internet services.
“Because we have been working hard to be an online cross-border financial counter, and the epidemic has forced everyone to get rid of dependence on offline scenarios, the service just matches the demand.” The founder of Minimal Exchange Rate stated clearly.
According to him, the cross-border remittance brand “Minimum Speed Remittance” under the Minimal Exchange Rate has opened personal small remittance functions to overseas Chinese in Japan and Australia, helping local Chinese to repatriate their income more conveniently and quickly To domestic relatives; in addition, there is a remittance function for overseas students, which can help international students pay education fees to 3,000 overseas institutions, which can cover tuition, security, insurance, rent and other scenarios.
From a clear direction, the epidemic has brought more opportunities to the minimal exchange rate.
For example, a small remittance service for overseas Chinese with minimal exchange rates. In foreign countries, people are actually more accustomed to offline outlets, but during this epidemic, overseas Chinese were not convenient to go to the bank and had more opportunities to experience the online method. After users have a good experience, it is easy to cultivate consumption habits.
“Another example is our overseas study remittance service, which can help foreign students in Germany to pay security deposits. However, during the epidemic, Deutsche Bank announced in February that it closed the only counter business, and international students will naturally choose our online service. Introduction.
Compared to cross-border payments, cross-border talent recruitment is less fortunate.
Tian Li (pseudonym), the founder of a project in this field, has recently been deeply anxious. The main business of the project created by Tian Li is to help domestic enterprises to recruit foreign talents. According to his plan, 2020 should be a year of rapid growth, but due to the epidemic, the annual development plan was all disrupted.
In the early days of the outbreak, for domestic customers, because of the outbreak, some companies reduced their recruitment requirements, reduced their budgets, and delayed recruitment. “More deadly is the import of overseas talentThere were problems in the end, and after seeing the outbreak in China, these people directly expressed their unwillingness to come. “
Even foreigners who have already obtained a visa to come to China to work will need a certain period of isolation. So in Tian Li’s words, it is equivalent to the logistics of e-commerce is broken.
Due to the epidemic, domestic orders for its projects have lost 70%. In this situation, Tian Li began to find a way to help himself. He laughed at himself, “Everything is forced, because you have to make money and eat, so you have to make some transformations.”
On the one hand, the company has adjusted its customer structure in China. Tian Li decided to shift the main customer types from the tertiary industry to the primary and secondary industries, as well as some technology companies, because these companies can work remotely.
On the other hand, the company is also developing foreign markets. Tian Li found that overseas, whether in Southeast Asia or some of the more affluent countries in Central Asia, their demand for Western talent has some similarities with China, so he decided to ensure that the supply of corporate talent remains unchanged. Increase the proportion of some foreign businesses. According to him, after the business transformation, orders in these regions have rapidly increased.
During the epidemic, Tian Li felt the deepest that the spread of true and false information, which also caused great trouble to the company’s business. “When the domestic epidemic broke out, it was particularly serious overseas, including a lot of information about demonizing China, so many candidates chose not to come directly, or they wanted to raise their wages because of this.”
The staff of his company needs to answer overseas candidates one by one and provide a correct guide. Finally, it was difficult to wait until the domestic epidemic situation stabilized, and Tian Li encountered new problems. The outbreak of overseas epidemics has begun to spread out on a large scale, and problems have occurred in countries with talent transfer. These overseas talents could not come, so they had to decide to tap talents in the country.
Now, the epidemic overseas has changed the situation.
On the one hand is a turnaround. “Because the overseas epidemic situation is getting worse and worse, some overseas personnel are trapped in their country now, but he really wants to come from his heart, so this is also a turning point for our business progress.”
On the other hand, the country has restricted the entry of foreigners holding Chinese visas and blocked demand. The inflection point, which was close at hand, is now beyond sight.