The seller started a business in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, and now has annual sales of hundreds of millions!

"Sales through cross-border e-commerce channels in the first quarter of 2023 were close to 60 million, an increase of 80% year-on-year." In 2023, a year when many sellers complained about the difficulties, ANRAN Security (hereinafter referred to as ANRAN) achieved outstanding results.

Starting from a "one-meter counter" in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen , to gradually owning its own company, brand and factory, and using cross-border e-commerce as a springboard, ANRAN has been climbing high in the field of security monitoring.

Motivated sellers "run into" the cross-border track, and their performance doubles year after year!

ANRAN is deeply engaged in home security monitoring, and its products include low-power WiFi and 4G solar cameras, wireless WiFi network monitoring systems, POE network monitoring systems, DVR/NVR high-definition recorders, smart doorbells, etc. Now its business has penetrated into the United States, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom and other regions.

Like many dreamers in Shenzhen Huaqiangbei, Lin Tong ( General Manager of ANRAN)'s business tentacles naturally did not spread so widely at the beginning. He only sold traditional security monitoring products through offline channels.

It wasn’t until 2008 that I “smelled” a new track and my career started to take on new opportunities!

During a chat with his fellow countrymen, Lin Tong first heard about cross-border e-commerce, so he joined the eBay platform with a try-it attitude. What surprised him was that the online market demand for security monitoring products was huge. He uploaded and published the products on the first day of joining eBay, and immediately received orders on the second day. Later, Lin Tong gradually expanded the scale of investment in the eBay platform, and the first pot of gold for entrepreneurship was easily obtained. "eBay's global customer base is very large. For start-ups, the cost of starting a business is relatively low, and the platform provides good guarantees in terms of funds, etc., so the risk of starting a business is extremely small." Lin Tong said.

Soon the business development ushered in the second turning point!

As cross-border sales gradually increase, more issues need to be considered. As the order volume increases, the cost control and quality control of the entire product are put on the agenda. In 2011, Lin Tong established Shenzhen Anran Security Technology Co., Ltd., established a small factory with standardized production processes, and strictly controlled products and quality from the source ; and began to work on brand layout to build a strong "moat" for deep cultivation of security monitoring.

The advantages of self-built factories and brand layout have once again widened the gap between it and its peers. The revenue from cross-border e-commerce channels has ushered in a new round of growth, prompting the company's annual GMV across all channels to exceed hundreds of millions of yuan year after year. Currently, the annual GMV of the eBay channel alone has reached 4-5 million US dollars, and the highest monthly sales can reach 500,000 US dollars.

Lin Tong, General Manager of ANRAN Security (second from right)

Strengthen product advantages, seize the new energy trend and rejuvenate the new year

With more than ten years of cross-border business, ANRAN has witnessed the transformation of cross-border e-commerce from wild growth to intensive cultivation, and has also witnessed the development and changes in the security monitoring industry.

In the past 10 years, the global security monitoring industry has maintained a rapid growth trend . With the acceleration of urbanization, security monitoring technology has been widely used in various fields, such as public safety, commerce, transportation, medical care, smart home, etc. According to a report by ResearchAndMarkets, the global digital video surveillance market was US$50 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach US$93 billion in 2025.

At the beginning, ANRAN mainly dealt in traditional cameras. As competition intensified, product homogeneity dragged down the company's revenue. ANRAN once again stood at the crossroads of an important decision: how to break through and achieve a sales leap? Through a lot of market research and analysis, Lin Tong discovered new energy business opportunities. In 2020, ANRAN officially shifted from the traditional security track to the new energy security track, focusing on the production and sales of low-power security products.

The data confirms the high prosperity of new energy. Since 2021, the search volume for solar monitoring products on the eBay platform has continued to surge, among which the search volume for related products such as solar panels, solar cameras, and solar monitoring systems ushered in a new round of growth at the beginning of this year .

ANRAN's products are among them. After switching tracks, ANRAN Security has once again ushered in a golden period of rapid development, and product sales have obviously "taken off"! Lin Tong is optimistic that this growth is sustainable, the new energy track is still in its prime, and future demand will continue to increase. More importantly, he has confidence in his products.

Unlike traditional cameras that consume a lot of electricity and emit carbon dioxide, the low-power solar camera developed by ANRAN uses solar photovoltaic technology as its core, successfully solving the "double high" problem of installation cost and usage cost of traditional cameras . It also has multiple functions such as autonomous charging, intelligent wake-up, wireless transmission, and remote monitoring.

First of all, in terms of cost, the installation cost of traditional cameras is very high, and often professional electricians are needed to install them. The resulting costs may even exceed the value of the product itself. The solar cameras developed by ANRAN do not require contact with power and network cables, which simplifies the installation process. Consumers can install them independently as long as there is an Internet connection at home. Secondly, ANRAN Security combines solar energy and battery machines, using solar energy to save electricity bills, and adding a battery machine that can store electricity inside the camera machine, so that the solar camera can continue to be used normally at night.

While solving the cost pain points of consumers, ANRAN's products also add more functions. Products such as indoor pan-tilt cameras, outdoor solar and battery surveillance cameras cover home security scenarios such as indoors, in front of doors, in courtyards, and garages. Through hardware products and AIoT cloud platforms, they meet the family's security needs in different scenarios for visitor reception, event tracing, security monitoring, active alarms, family care, etc.

Do a good job in localization and accurately grasp consumers from different countries

While the products are of excellent quality, ANRAN has also adjusted its sales strategy based on the different consumption habits of online consumers in different countries, giving it a new opportunity to "overtake" its peers.

" American consumers are more interested in intelligent and multifunctional products, while German consumers have higher requirements for product pixel clarity and are more environmentally conscious ... " In addition to being familiar with the preferences of consumers in various countries and doing a good job of localization, Lin Tong also pays attention to absorbing valuable opinions from consumers during the product development and operation process, developing products that meet customer needs, thereby improving user experience and "feeding back" to the product.

Lin Tong observed that many online consumers mentioned that a product was priced high, and the battery cost of this product accounted for a large part. After research, it was found that the number of batteries used in the product could be reduced by developing new models, thereby saving costs. So he started to improve the product. Originally, three batteries were required to be installed, but now only one battery is needed. In this way, the product cost and price were successfully reduced without affecting the product's use effect. This product also became a hot seller!

There is no doubt that through cross-border e-commerce online channels, on the one hand, we can quickly understand changes in market demand and user feedback, thereby improving products and increasing sales . On the other hand, cross-border e-commerce platforms can quickly promote products to various markets around the world and reach users in different countries.

By utilizing the platform's services, sellers can also increase the possibility of product sales. Lin Tong said that eBay's overseas warehouses have been of great help in solving difficult cross-border logistics problems and improving consumer shopping experience. After joining the platform's overseas warehouses, the store's product exposure and conversion have been greatly improved. At the same time, the Qianfan Plan can also support sellers' activities, exclusive traffic and marketing activities. ANRAN joined the Qianfan Plan under the professional guidance of the category manager, and all indicators have been significantly improved. Taking the promotional activities participated in in March this year as an example, the store's page views during the event increased by 100% year-on-year, and sales increased by 60% year-on-year.

"Let a hundred flowers bloom"! Many outstanding players have emerged in the smart security track

Continuously deepening technology, polishing products, optimizing and innovating user operations ... ANRAN's achievements are traceable! The smart security track is "blooming", and now there are many outstanding players.

With the continuous advancement of modernization, the field of home smart security is showing great vitality and potential. From the perspective of the global market, the first-tier brands in the field of home smart security include Ring under Amazon , Nest under Google, Arlo, etc. Relying on the advantages of the domestic smart hardware supply chain, many manufacturers have also entered the overseas market, such as Eufy under Anker Innovations , EZVIZ, which was spun off from Hikvision, and Reolink , among which EZVIZ was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board last year, and Reolink recently passed the IPO on the Growth Enterprise Market .

The intelligentization and e-commerce of home security are the trends of the global home security industry, and the entire home security industry chain is in China. The global smart home market is growing rapidly, and the support of technology and product upgrades have brought new market upgrades, which also provides good growth opportunities for Chinese brands with mature supply chains and excellent products.

"In the future , there will be more Chinese brands like Anran Security that will shine in overseas markets, " said Lin Tong.

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