From plastic flowers to robots, from traditional foreign trade to smart warehouses and display platforms——
Overseas warehouses witness the vigorous development of Sino-European cross-border e-commerce
At 6 o'clock in the morning, in the small town of Słubice on the border between Germany and Poland, the overseas warehouse operated by MBB logistics company founder Gao Song is already bustling. The goods here are mainly sold through e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Yibei. About 70% of the parcels are sent to Germany. Poland, the United Kingdom and France are also important markets. "Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in Europe, the orders for anti-epidemic materials such as masks, and then various household products have been soaring." Gao Song recalled.
The new crown pneumonia epidemic has brought an impact on the global physical retail industry. Part of consumers' offline life and consumer needs have shifted to online, and cross-border e-commerce business has grown against the trend. "Chinese sellers have continuously improved their ability to respond quickly to changes in the overseas environment and consumer demand. They can quickly identify global consumer trends and flexibly adjust their product selection strategies to fully demonstrate the advantages of a flexible supply chain." Amazon released in August about 2020 China Export Cross The report on the trend of international e-commerce said.
Orders surged——
High-quality epidemic prevention materials and daily necessities are the most sought-after
“Generally, July and August are the off-season for sales, with about 200,000 packages per month, but the shipment volume for the same period this year is more than 600,000, exceeding the hottest Christmas sales season in previous years.” Takamatsu said, due to time difference, every morning every morning Afternoon is the time for him to communicate with customers in China. Recently, he is often too busy to have lunch.
In previous years, employees could take vacations at this time, but orders soared this year, requiring overtime to complete. The biggest headache for Gao Song right now is underemployment. "I have been hiring for these months," he said.
In Schwelm, North Rhine-Westphalia, a forklift in the overseas warehouse of Zhejiang businessman Chen Jianjun was in full swing. His own brand focuses on home gardening products and is the 34th seller on Amazon Europe.
"As soon as the epidemic came, people had fewer opportunities to go to shopping malls, and they spent more time at home. It happened to be online shopping to decorate houses." Chen Jianjun said, during this period, the sales of household goods rose by an average of 50%, and China's domestic supply was once hot enough to keep up. , Had to limit online shopping traffic.
Johannes Fisher, a digital economy expert at the German Federal Trade and Investment Agency, told our reporter that since April, the German e-commerce business has stopped falling and rebounded. According to the May report of the relevant analysis agency, compared with before the epidemic, the overall growth of German e-commerce business was 36%. According to statistics from Germany’s second largest e-commerce platform, Otu, dumbbells, office chairs, electric hair clippers, table games and other commodities have all set sales records.
"Dumbbells are almost out of stock. One of my domestic customers sold one container (container) in the past year, and has sold 5 containers this year." Gao Song said, "Some dumbbells are even pulled directly from China by truck. I came here and drove more than 6000 kilometers."
In addition to dumbbells, sales of yoga mats, rackets, bicycles, etc. have all increased significantly, and shipments of electric hair clippers have increased by 10 times. As the Amazon report pointed out: During the epidemic, Chinese sellers provided global consumers with high-quality anti-epidemic materials and daily necessities in a timely manner.
Fast delivery——
Provide customers with localized services and stable supply chain
Fisher said that from 2013 to 2019, the German e-commerce market grew by 85%. In 2020, the German e-commerce market is expected to exceed 80 billion euros. According to data from the European Electronic Commerce Association, the European e-commerce market will reach 717 billion euros by the end of this year.
The role of Chinese sellers is becoming more and more important. According to a report issued by a world-renowned Internet survey agency, in 2019, 37% of German consumers purchased goods from foreign e-commerce sellers, most of which were from China. According to data from e-commerce research institution Market Pulse in January this year, Chinese sellers accounted for 49% of Amazon's top 10,000 sellers, an increase of 11 percentage points from last year, ranking first.
In Fisher's view, fast delivery is the key to winning customers. Germany is located in the center of Europe. The establishment of overseas warehouses there to provide customers with localized services and stable supply chain is a decisive competitive advantage. At present, Alibaba has established two large logistics centers in Germany, followed by other Chinese companies.
"Delivery from overseas warehouses, generally within 24 hours within Germany, generally within 48 hours within the EU." Gao Song said.
Today, MBB's overseas warehouse covers an area of more than 50,000 square meters, which is like a miniature Yiwu market: needles, thread brains, household goods, electronic products, and mechanical parts are all available. Among the hundreds of thousands of inventory units, the total number of products exceeds 5 million-they come from nearly 300 Chinese e-commerce partners, and thousands of Chinese manufacturing companies are behind them. Chen Jianjun's warehouse has also grown to 60,000 square meters, serving more than 1,000 domestic suppliers.
Last year, MBB's overseas warehouse built a new robot smart warehouse, and Polish Rosick was appointed as the manager, which made him quite proud: he is one of the rare managers of similar warehouses in the entire German-Polish border.
"Standing at the work station, take the goods out, scan the code, and put them in the distribution box. Then the order is processed." Under Rosick's guidance, the reporter tried to process a batch of orders. The storage robot shuttles back and forth along the planned route. From the moved shelves, the reporter took out 12 mobile phones, scanned the barcodes of the box and the delivery box respectively, and the 12 delivery orders were automatically generated, which took less than a minute.
The robot drive software and warehouse management system of the smart warehouse are all independently developed by Takamatsu's domestic team. "Workers used to walk 15 to 20 kilometers a day in the warehouse, picking about 170 pieces per hour. Now the robot can pick 700 pieces per hour." Rosick said.
Scientific management——
China's export cross-border e-commerce gradually shifts to intensive farming
From traditional foreign trade to smart warehouses, Gao Song has experienced the huge transformation of the industry, but he always remembers his experience in the plastic flower trade in the 1990s: "The plastic flowers made in China were shipped to Rotterdam and then distributed to all parts of Europe. At that time, distributors promoted sales. Sometimes it is only vaguely saying that the flowers are shipped from the Netherlands to show that the quality is good. Everyone knows that the Netherlands is a big country of flowers." Nowadays, whether it is on e-commerce platforms or overseas warehouses, "Made in China" has long been commonplace. Behind this is the increasing value of Chinese brands.
"China's export cross-border e-commerce is gradually shifting to intensive farming. Sellers pay more attention to the long-term development of the business and continue to invest in product development, brand registration and construction, and brand protection." said Dai Lingfei, vice president of Amazon China. Between 2017 and 2019, Amazon.com The number of Chinese sellers who have completed brand registration has increased by up to 10 times.
The establishment of the MBB smart warehouse is also related to the brand: the robots that shuttle between them are transported the most by OnePlus mobile phones. This Chinese brand, which has successfully entered the mid-to-high-end market in Europe and the United States, has seen rapid sales growth in recent years. MBB overseas warehouses must improve turnover efficiency.
"Every new mobile phone launch day, there will be many fans waiting in line in advance." Gao Song said. While acting as an agent for other brand logistics services, Gaosong also registered more than 10 daily-use brands to sell on the online platform.
"Nowadays, the profit margins of OEM production are getting smaller and smaller. Chinese e-commerce companies must establish their own brands and take root in the market." Chen Jianjun also feels the same. After making his own brand a top seller on Amazon, he is also thinking about how to expand into new ones. Space.
Next to the Schwelm warehouse, a brand-new brand exhibition center is being renovated. Chen Jianjun plans to show samples to German customers here, and provide customs clearance, warehousing and logistics, and marketing for more Chinese small and medium-sized brands to enter the German and European e-commerce markets. , Channel expansion equals one integrated service.
"At present, the German e-commerce business is still growing. I look forward to the innovative development of Chinese companies to further stimulate the German e-commerce business, especially the creation of new platforms and solutions." Fisher said.
(Our newspaper, Berlin, August 29)
Li Qiang, our reporter in Germany