“I heard that someone has already placed an order on Pinduoduo’s overseas platform.” Wang Xiangxiang, a senior cross-border e-commerce practitioner in South China, told Huxiu that he had previously received invitations for Pinduoduo’s overseas projects, but so far he has not Waiting and watching.
Recently, the biggest news in the overseas market is that Pinduoduo launched a cross-border e-commerce platform. On September 1, the platform Temu was officially launched, with both PC and APP terminals. The first stop is for the North American market. According to Huxiu’s understanding, the 1st to 15th is still in the testing period, and the platform will be fully open for sales after that.
On Temu, the role of sellers is more like suppliers, with Pinduoduo unified pricing. In a Duoduo cross-border introduction provided to Huxiu by industry insiders, its benefits include: 1. 0 yuan to settle in, low threshold and high efficiency; 2. 0 commission, 0 rent, no pressure supply; 3. Sign for receipt Daily +1 payment, friendly settlement method; 4. Partial delivery fees are reduced and reduced to reduce fulfillment costs.
Some insiders believe this is a huge blue ocean market.
“If it is really implemented, Pinduoduo’s model will be very accurate.” A senior cross-border e-commerce person told Huxiu, “Pinduoduo, as a general contractor, completes all overseas fulfillment. It’s a huge system, but Pinduoduo, as a platform, has the ability and funds to implement it.” he added.
Some people in the industry also expressed concerns about its development.
“It seems that Pinduoduo’s idea is to replicate SHEIN, but the development and growth of SHEIN at that time can be said to be the right time, place and people.” Long Chuhai Research Institute, which focuses on Sino-US logistics and is familiar with the US market, told Huxiu .
Mixed with expectations and doubts, many cross-border merchants went to register as soon as possible. “It’s done. If you can’t withdraw,” the seller Lin Xiaoming said to Huxiu readily.
Can SHEIN be reproduced
Although it has been reported many times before that Temu plans to cover all categories, and some cross-border sellers have told Huxiu that it will start to break through the 3C category, but from the current Temu page, it can be seen that women’s clothing is still its main focus.
On Temu’s PC homepage, gorgeously dressed models occupy a larger space, and Temu’s logo includes icons of short skirts, wooden horses, high heels and bags. In terms of product prices, most of its summer women’s clothing prices are below 20 US dollars, and the prices of necklaces and rings are mostly between 5 and 10 US dollars.
The platform’s unified pricing model, product prices, and the obvious 20% discount logo on Temu’s homepage are somewhat similar to SHEIN in the eyes of industry insiders.
In fact, not only Pinduoduo, but also with the rapid growth of SHEIN in the past two years, there are not a few people who regard it as a target, and many major manufacturers are also among them. Even SHEIN’s success once made the independent station model popular.
However, in the eyes of many people in the industry, SHEIN’s success is difficult to replicate. The right time, place, people and many factors are indispensable.
The first is the wave of online consumption at the beginning of the epidemic.
Catalyzed by the epidemic in 2020, the demand for online shopping in Europe and the United States once surged. SHEIN has also taken advantage of this trend and grown rapidly. According to data, its revenue exceeded the US$10 billion mark for the first time in 2020, a 250% year-on-year increase from 2019. Not only SHEIN, many domestic cross-border sellers thought that their business would be bleak, but unexpectedly it turned out to be the best year in recent years.
But back to 2022, many cross-border e-commerce practitioners have felt the chill slowly passing by. According to cross-border logistics practitioners, since this year, the demand for Sino-US maritime logistics has also been greatly reduced, which also reflects the cross-border e-commerce industry. business situation.
“Many sellers have entered the inventory clearance stage this year.” Industry veterans revealed to Huxiu that these excess inventories were prepared in large quantities for the good market conditions in the previous two years.
Looking back at SHEIN’s revenue, according to people familiar with the matter, its growth rate has dropped sharply in 2021 compared with 2020, from 250% to 60%. In the first quarter of 2022, the growth rate will continue to decline, with a year-on-year growth of 57%, which is far lower than The market’s expected revenue growth range for the same period in 2021 is 105% to 264%.
In addition, SHEIN’s rapid growth also enjoyed the traffic dividend at that time.
SHEIN’s rapid growth in the past few years was partly due to its close cooperation with a large number of overseas Internet celebrities and KOLs. Many KOLs were in the early stages of development at that time, and their quotations were not high, and many were even “tap water”. Moreover, the traffic cost of major social platforms back then was not as expensive as it is now.
“SHEIN has its own platform account and continues to channel traffic to its own solidified group through KOLs. Only with a fixed fan base can it have sustained profits and its dependence on KOLs can also be reduced.” Long Chuhai Research Institute said.
But today’s North American traffic environment is not what it used to be.
According to data, in 2021, Amazon Advertising willSuch large sellers often have mature systems and do not need to expand new channels. They are also worried that the introduction of multiple lines will divert the original customers, just like the left hand is the right hand.
“Pinduoduo’s current more suitable targets are people with certain foreign trade experience, funds, and no mature industrial chain.” Long Chuhai Research Institute said.
People who have funds, experience and a mature industry chain will most likely consider independent websites, where the profit potential is higher; people who are particularly short of funds will find it difficult to easily join a new platform due to poor risk tolerance. In contrast, this group of people may be able to start over again and find new opportunities with the help of Pinduoduo.
In addition, traditional foreign trade companies that have not deeply penetrated cross-border e-commerce may also be easily attracted by Pinduoduo’s overseas expansion. The platform can bring them into the game, which can make up for their lack of e-commerce experience. In addition, foreign trade companies whose orders have begun to decline will pay more attention and find a new way out for themselves.
Currently, merchants on Pinduoduo’s overseas platform do not have pricing power, and most of them act as suppliers. The current pricing range of the platform also tests the cost control capabilities of suppliers. You must know that SHEIN’s supplier payment period is short, which has always been one of its advantages. Whether Pinduoduo’s overseas platform can give suppliers a good payment period is also particularly critical. In the cross-border introduction, it is stated that payment will be settled one day after the receipt date, which is a friendly settlement method.
“If the early results of Pinduoduo’s overseas expansion are good, it will definitely attract a large number of sellers to follow up.” Wang Xiangxiang said, after all, there are still many cross-border merchants looking for new ways out.
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