Ali International Station overseas buyers form a group to check in at Chinese factories: Digitalization is the biggest trend in China's foreign trade

In recent days, Brandon , a US-based buyer on Alibaba International Station, and his wife Yuan Zhimin have been "crazy" checking in at Chinese factories. In the factory of Xinwei Bicycle Industry, an E - Bike merchant on the International Station located in Huadu, Guangzhou , Brandon not only gained an in-depth understanding of Xinwei 's products and production lines, but also personally tried out an electric bicycle.

(Photo: Brandon tries out an electric bicycle at Xinwei Bicycles )

"I really like to experience products and get the initial idea for product design. When we launch a product, we hope that this product will be successful for 2-5 years . Therefore, we hope to establish a deep relationship with the factory to promote new designs and develop new molds together. " Brandon said that in the past three years, he has not only searched for source factories on Alibaba International Station himself, but also opened a cross-border e-commerce course on social media such as YouTube - Seller Systems , which has tens of thousands of students in the e-commerce field, of which 30 % are big buyers.

(Photo: Brandon visits Xinwei Automotive's factory)

Brandon and his wife Yuan Zhimin have been opening up this B2B2C cross-border e-commerce road since 2015 , starting from finding the source factory on Alibaba International Station and then connecting with consumers through websites such as Amazon . Now, the annual revenue of their own stores has reached tens of millions of dollars. In order to better establish in-depth connections with Chinese factories, they even remotely set up a team of more than 20 people in Guangzhou and established Guangzhou Pinsheng International Trading Co., Ltd.

Brandon was in the mood to give it a try when visiting the factory in China this time, and he launched a "group check-in" solicitation on social media. The 14,000- kilometer, 13 - hour flight could not stop the enthusiasm of this group of American buyers. In the end, 6 American buyers followed Brandon to Xinwei Automobile and Guangdong Kangrong Industrial Co., Ltd., an international beauty merchant in Baiyun District, Guangzhou . One of the big buyers who has done well in the hairdressing field is planning to expand his business into the beauty field. He said that this in-depth factory visit was tailor-made for him.

"The purchasing power of most buyers is still strong, the unemployment rate in the United States is at an all-time low, and consumers are still spending. So as long as you find the products that consumers want or need, there is no problem. I think the number of people selling online worldwide will increase significantly in the next few years , so procurement on Alibaba International Station will increase significantly . It plays a very important role in connecting buyers with suppliers. " Brandon believes that the online purchasing habits cultivated in the past few years of the epidemic are irreversible, and he finds that more and more young people are seeking entrepreneurial opportunities in the field of cross-border e-commerce.

Another senior overseas buyer, Kian , who has been dealing with Chinese factories on Alibaba International Station for 13 years , is also embarking on a one-month factory visit. As an excellent product development and procurement expert , Kian has designed, developed, purchased and manufactured more than 2,500 products for major brands including the NBA , and has worked with more than 1,000 Chinese factories. He also won a contract for the 2012 London Olympics to design, produce and provide official merchandise for the Olympics.

(Photo: Before the epidemic, Kian deeply experienced the production process of Chinese factories)

Before the pandemic, Kian 's job was to connect more high-quality Chinese factories for major overseas brands, and he lived and worked in China for four years. But in the past three years, the work of finding high-quality Chinese factories has been completely moved to Alibaba International Station, with annual procurement exceeding tens of millions of US dollars.

"On Alibaba, I can find suppliers very quickly. Within 24 hours, I can price new products from five different factories. " Kian said that he was forced to source online at first, but later found that people emailed him every day to ask him about various questions about how to source products online. " I specifically teach people how to source on cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba on my YouTube account ' Sourcing with Kian' so that I can share it with anyone who asks questions at any time. Now my account has more than 500,000 views and 23,000 subscribers. "

In order to better connect Chinese factories and brands, Kian , who grew up in the UK and lives in the US , even moved his family to Dubai. He said that this way, the time difference between him and the Chinese factory is only 4 hours, and the time difference between him and the US is 8 hours. "I get up very early every day. I work in China in the morning, in Dubai during the day, and in the US late at night."

Over the past three years, Kian has been "hanging out" on Alibaba International Station every day and has witnessed the changes in the entire platform . " From the beginning of the epidemic to today, I have been using Alibaba International Station every day . What's really cool is that I have noticed that Alibaba International Station is constantly improving to provide better services to buyers. For example, manufacturer search and certification, credit insurance services, and VR Showroom for online display , especially cross-border live broadcasting, which makes it much easier for sellers to launch new products. This kind of 'face-to-face' video communication is faster and of higher quality than email."

(Photo: Before the epidemic, Kian deeply experienced the production process of Chinese factories)

Kian observed that now that the epidemic is easing, cross-border transportation costs have also dropped significantly. "I feel that the confidence in importing products from China is the highest in the past three or four years. The entrepreneurs who survived today are those who returned to product development and provided innovative products, and those who were able to better cooperate with factories through various digital tools on online platforms. "

Alibaba International Station