Views: 22 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2022-08-25 Origin: Site
In 2021, the e-commerce market scale gradually returned to the growth rate before the epidemic, global supply chain disruption, soaring freight prices, Amazon brand acquirers, platform advertising and other diversified "play" debut, Shopify's "pan-platforming" attempts, various platforms In the year of 2020-2021, the market of cross-border e-commerce is expected to grow steadily with the help of various platforms, sellers and service providers.
From 2020 to 2021, the e-commerce market will experience explosive growth. Taking the U.S. market as an example, from the second quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021, the quarterly year-on-year increase in U.S. online retail sales were above 40%. By the first quarter of 2022, U.S. online retail sales reached $231.35 billion, up a modest 6.7% from $216.74 billion in the same period last year. Compared to the second half of 2021, the growth rate has slowed, gradually returning to pre-epidemic levels.
When discussing the cross-border e-commerce market, e-commerce platforms must be our first topic. 2021, in terms of GMV of each e-commerce platform, the cross-border e-commerce market is dominated by Amazon, followed by eBay, Walmart and other platforms. In terms of their growth rates, Shopify and Walmart achieve rapid growth, with growth rates far exceeding Amazon, with huge potential for future development. after 2021, market demand returns to normal growth rates, and the e-commerce platform landscape remains basically unchanged.
From the perspective of the number of sellers, thousands of sellers join Amazon every day, and this number has remained unchanged for five years. According to Marketplace Pulse research, more than 2,000 new sellers have joined Amazon's global marketplace every day since 2016. By January 2021, 75 percent of new sellers in Amazon's four core marketplaces (U.S., U.K., Germany and Japan) are from China, and the share of Chinese sellers in other marketplaces is no less impressive.
In 2021, because of Amazon's crackdown on Chinese sellers, global supply chain issues and a number of other reasons, Chinese sellers have diversified their layout even more, continuing to flock to Walmart, Shopify and other platforms, and their share of the Amazon marketplace shrunk for a while, as U.S. sellers seem to regain the market. In fact, for reasons such as high advertising costs and Amazon's unjustified crackdown, U.S. sellers are also working hard to develop other channels in an effort to get rid of their over-reliance on Amazon.
But such a decision may not get great results in the short term. Today, the ratio of Chinese sellers to U.S. sellers on the Amazon platform has not changed dramatically, and Amazon still maintains its position as the industry leader, just as we mentioned at the beginning of the article about the platform pattern.
According to Amazon's earnings disclosure, Marketplace Pulse estimates that Amazon's sales (also known as first-party sales) will reach $210 billion in 2021, up 11% year-over-year, while third-party marketplace sales will reach $390 billion, up 30% year-over-year. Total global GMV is $600 billion, up 22% year-over-year. It more than doubled in three years from $277 billion in 2018. Amazon has grown more GMV than Walmart and eBay combined, and is expected to reach $10,000,000 in GMV within five years.
Therefore, the layout of other e-commerce platforms and independent sites is an inevitable and reasonable choice, but do not choke and reduce the investment in the Amazon platform. Amazon, Walmart and other e-commerce platforms are supporting brand sellers through a variety of programs and activities. And those who can become the platform's top big sellers have undeniable brand value. Unfortunately, the percentage of Chinese head sellers to Amazon head sellers has been declining for most of 2021. As of October 2021, only 38% of top sellers are from China. So who exactly are Amazon's top sellers in 2021?
Marketplace Pulse is a statistical survey of Amazon sellers based on the number of feedbacks they have received over the past 12 months. while the number of feedbacks differs from a seller's actual sales performance, it is also a means of quantifying the evaluation.
Among Amazon Top 1000 sellers, 434 are from the U.S. station, about 1.6 times more than the UK station (273). The U.S. is also a key market for cross-border sellers, so in view of space limitations, we only show the top 30 sellers from the U.S. site here, and briefly analyze the top 5.
Pharmapacks: The products offered include health and beauty aids, cosmetics, and medical supplies. Operated by Pharmapacks, LLC, it has its own independently operated website and has stores on Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Target, and Google Shopping. According to information published by Pharmapacks on its website, it ships 1.8 million orders per month and reaches 2 million reviews across the mall.
AnkerDirect: Sells computer and cell phone accessories such as USB chargers, portable chargers and cables. It belongs to Anker Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. and was established in 2011. The enterprise business started from online, and the main sales channels are Amazon, eBay, Tmall, Jingdong and other online platforms at home and abroad. Successfully built the smart charging brand Anker, and successively launched Soundcore, eufy, Nebula and other independent brands. 2019 revenue reached 6.655 billion yuan; 2020 revenue of 9.353 billion yuan; 2021, the company continued to maintain a good growth trend, revenue of 12.574 billion yuan, an increase of 34.45% year-on-year, net profit of 982 billion yuan, an increase of 14.70% year-on-year.
EPFamily Direct: Sells products for organizing homes and home offices, including clothing racks, cabinet racks and bathroom organizers. Part of EP FAMILY CORP. the company was incorporated on August 25, 2015, with a registered agent of Asian descent and a registered office in California. It operates under the Simple Homeware, EPAuto, Cozy Up, EPAUTO, Cha4TEA and other brands. Apart from Amazon, no other platforms are known to have been entered. It is worth mentioning that all EPFamily corporate suppliers are from mainland China.
Utopia Deals: Dedicated to serving customers in the fields of bedding, home improvement, towels and kitchen accessories. According to the data disclosed on its official website, Utopia Deals sells more than 20 million products and has more than 6 million customers worldwide. In addition to its official website, it also sells its products on Amazon, Shopify, Google Shopping and eBay platforms.
VM Express: Sells housewares, kitchen appliances, pet supplies, backyard pools, storage units and more. Information from the web indicates that the brand is operated by Spreetail (a professional e-commerce operation). The brand now appears to have changed its name to VMInnovations, with the following brand logo.
The new brand shares website links with the original VM Express. In addition to the official website, VM Express also had a record 80% sales growth at Walmart.
From the above top 5 sellers, we can see that the high sales still come from necessities, such as kitchenware, consumer electronics, household products, cosmetics, etc. This is also consistent with what we know about U.S. consumer preferences, the basic market trends. In addition to products, service is also an extremely important element for the big sellers, and is a crucial factor in achieving brand reputation. Almost all of the official websites of the big sellers will clearly state words such as "Free 1-3 Day Shipping on EVERYTHING!", offering free shipping and fast delivery.
It's too hard to become a top seller. But further optimizing product selection, improving service, gaining higher unit volume and market share, and building a more recognized brand are indeed more specific and concrete policies for most sellers.
According to Digital Commerce 360, in-stock inventory (43 percent) and speed of delivery (35 percent) are key factors for consumers considering repeat purchases. U.S. consumers are also becoming more demanding in terms of logistics timelines, with most expressing a desire for delivery within 1-2 days. Therefore, securing logistics timelines is a vital need for product sales.
