1,000 links were blocked, and Shenzhen sellers relied on white hat tactics to return to the top in one year

Zhang Yang (pseudonym), a Shenzhen seller who used white hat tactics to stand up again from the heavy blow of account suspension. Now, in just over a year, his company's revenue has returned to the level before the suspension, but the entire business strategy has been completely different, and the profit margin has been greatly improved.

Many sellers are still in shock when they think of the Amazon ban more than a year ago. For the affected cross-border e-commerce sellers, this was nothing short of a "catastrophe" in which some of their painstakingly built businesses suffered heavy losses, while others were destroyed overnight.

After Amazon's heavy blow, the feedback from the seller community is often about bankruptcy, layoffs and reductions. However, it is rare to hear about Amazon returning to the game and returning to its previous level of staff size and revenue in a short period of time, or even doing better and more steadily.

Shenzhen seller Zhang Yang is one of the few. In the Amazon account blocking wave, he, who has been rooted in the industry for more than ten years, suffered a fatal blow. More than 1,000 links were removed in one day, all accounts were blocked, and cash flow was cut off. At that time, he had tens of millions of yuan in debt to pay and nearly a hundred employees to support. Bankruptcy was just a matter of a moment.

However, what people did not expect was that he was fully recovered in more than a year, and he was doing better and more steadily. "In the past, the annual revenue was nearly 300 million yuan, which was very tiring and unsettling. Now, with the same revenue, it is much easier, and I have a strong sense of purpose and am full of hope and confidence in the future," Zhang Yang said.

"Black July": More than 1,000 links were removed in one day

Zhang Yang entered the industry in 2012 when cross-border e-commerce began to rise. In the past ten years, cross-border e-commerce has exploded, and Zhang Yang has also reaped the dividends of development. When they entered the industry, they were still a startup company with only two people. By 2020, they already had a team of 80 people and annual revenue of nearly 300 million yuan .

Having entered the industry for ten years , Zhang Yang has stepped on countless mines and pitfalls, and has long since developed a strong heart, but the wave of account bans almost brought him down.

July 2021 can be described as a "black July" for Zhang Yang and his employees. The wave of Amazon account bans that began in April has intensified in July. It was also on a certain day in July that Zhang Yang's company's links were collectively "killed".

At that time, their main categories included 3C, toys, and home furnishings, all of which were key categories for account closures. Within one day, more than 1,000 links operating in these categories were all removed, more than 100 stores were blocked, the entire company's order volume became "0", and cash flow was cut off.

At the same time, 5 million yuan of funds in the account were frozen, and tens of millions of yuan of inventory and supplier debts needed to be settled urgently. The only good thing was that most of the money had been recovered at that time, and they had not yet prepared the goods.

"After this incident happened, I was very panicked at first and didn't get a good night's sleep for a week." Even more than a year later, Zhang Yang still felt scared when he talked about the situation at that time.

After a period of panic, Zhang Yang chose to accept reality, face it positively, and made two decisions. One was to truthfully inform employees of the company's true situation. Employees could choose to leave or stay and overcome difficulties with the company. The other was to move warehouses and change brands, regroup and start again.

After learning about the company's predicament, some employees left one after another. At the lowest point, there were only 40 people left, and the team size was reduced by half compared to before. Relocation and relabeling were not that easy. Since most of the inventory was in Amazon warehouses, the goods needed to be transferred to overseas warehouses for relabeling and then shipped back to Amazon warehouses. In addition, the small cards indicating illegal operations needed to be removed, so the overall cost investment was very high.

It is estimated that the investment in this area alone is as high as 10 million, which is a huge expense for a company whose cash flow has been cut off. But between waiting to die and actively seeking survival, Zhang Yang is still determined to spend the money.

Not only that, before the account was blocked, the accumulated Reviews were ready-made advertisements. Now starting over, everything is from zero, which means that the promotion costs need to be spent all over again, which is another big expense.

The combination of these two factors put Zhang Yang under tremendous financial pressure. In addition, tens of millions of dollars in payments for goods and logistics fees also weighed on him like a mountain. During last year's account suspension wave, it was not uncommon for suppliers and logistics companies to come to his door to ask for the money they owed . There was even a serious crisis of trust between suppliers and cross-border e-commerce sellers.

During the most difficult time, Zhang Yang also encountered the dilemma of suppliers coming to his house to ask for payment. Recalling the scene at that time, he said: " More than a dozen people sat at the front desk of the office, eating melon seeds, watching TV series, and even called the police when the situation was the worst. " In the end, the supplier accepted the installment payment plan proposed by Zhang Yang's company, and the problem was solved.

In fact, after the store was closed, Zhang Yang had a frank discussion with all suppliers about the problems the company was facing, the next plan, and the hope to pay the outstanding payments in installments. "At that time, most suppliers expressed their understanding and accepted this solution, but some still wanted us to pay in full at one time, so this situation of coming to our door to ask for payment occurred."

While Zhang Yang was solving the problem of arrears with suppliers and logistics companies, he was also leading the team to speed up the clearance of inventory and recover funds. Fortunately, the process went smoothly, and after the products were re-labeled and re-warehoused, they just caught up with the winter sales peak season.

"We were a little panicked because our cash flow was cut off, so we were a bit panic-stricken in the early stages of clearing out our stock. We set the prices very low, and maybe a product that cost $40 was sold for just over a dozen dollars. But we stopped this suicidal clearance after a month," said Zhang Yang when reflecting on the operating strategy at the time.

After a round of hot sales during the peak season, cash flow improved and the company on the verge of bankruptcy came back to life. Coupled with the solid foundation accumulated in the first half of the year, even though it missed the summer sales peak season, Zhang Yang's company still earned about 250 million yuan in revenue in 2021. Although it did not exceed 300 million yuan as predicted at the beginning of the year , it is still a very meaningful number for him, representing all the efforts and perseverance of him and his colleagues who went through that difficult period together.

After experiencing this "catastrophe", Zhang Yang also deeply realized that illegal operations will sooner or later backfire, and he must never go down this path again. If he wants to avoid being held accountable later and run a stable business, he must operate in compliance with regulations. Therefore, after returning to the field, he firmly decided to play by the white hat method.

One year of white hat gameplay: revenue remains unchanged, profits increase

" It is my hard requirement that we cannot do fake orders or reviews . I will never allow anyone to do this, no matter what the reason. If you want to do fake orders, go to other companies, but for me, the answer is just one word: 'no. ' " After deciding to take the white hat operation route, many colleagues were distrustful and skeptical, but Zhang Yang was resolute in his attitude.

"We really can't stand another blow like this." Zhang Yang, who doesn't want to repeat the same mistake, is very persistent in using white hat tactics and is determined not to allow his employees to use gray methods.

Because he had experienced it, he knew how painful it was when the knife fell. In fact, until October this year, Zhang Yang's company was paying for the "cause" it had sown before. Since the account was blocked, their financial statements have been in a loss state, with a monthly loss of millions, and the accumulated loss has reached tens of millions.

Talking about this price now, Zhang Yang still feels heavy: "Because we have to clear the previous inventory and turn it into cash, we have to sell at a loss, so even though we have formed a positive cash flow, we are still losing money in terms of profit."

Fortunately, after obtaining cash flow, they survived and are moving further and further on the right track.

Focusing on white hat gameplay, brushing operations are completely abandoned, and links can only be promoted through advertising. Zhang Yang admitted that one of the reasons why they were able to recover quickly from being blocked was also due to their promotion ability.

Having been in the cross-border e-commerce industry for ten years, they have a very deep experience in promotion. They know very well how to place advertisements, how to optimize links, and what the promotion rhythm should be. They are not ignorant newbies who just grab the word "white hat" and push the promotion hard.

In addition, the white hat tactics also forced them to make their products better, which is another reason for their rapid recovery. Apart from the products that were sold out, they were very strict with the new products they launched. First, products without characteristics and differentiation would not be put online. Second, the quality of the products that were put online must be guaranteed, and each product must be verified multiple times.

Now it takes about 6 to 8 months for Zhang Yang's company to launch a product , and the goal is to launch one product per quarter per team. Compared with the speed of launching nearly 10 products in a month before the account was blocked, it is obviously much slower, but it is precisely because of the slowdown that the quality of each link is guaranteed. "Now our link copy, pictures, and videos have to be repeatedly revised and optimized. It was impossible to imagine it before because there was no time."

Zhang Yang told Yien.com that the company used to pursue a high-quality product strategy with nearly 1,000 SKUs, but after the transformation to high-quality products, it cut 90% of the SKUs to only 50 to 80. At the same time, the number of suppliers was reduced to 6 or 7, and those clearance products were no longer made.

A good product will form a positive cycle with promotion. In the past, we didn’t pay attention to product quality and relied on gray means to operate. The accumulated ratings ( Reviews) were difficult to stabilize and often required a lot of costs to maintain. Now that the product is good, the ratings are easy to stabilize, and this cost is saved. The money can be used for advertising, and then more reviews are accumulated, which will form a positive cycle and accumulate advertising costs.

As we all know, white hat operations are not easy, but as long as there is a successful case, you will feel that this way of playing is really good. The same is true for Zhang Yang's company. During the peak winter season this year , several of their products have been sold out one after another, and the profits are also considerable. For example, one product in the European market can produce 400 to 500 orders per day in a single link country .

Thanks to these success stories, the doubts that lingered in Zhang Yang's team disappeared. "Before, our team wanted to launch more products, but now they actively ask to launch fewer products."

During the peak season this year, the order volume of Zhang Yang's company's products is generally expected to increase. On " Black Friday " , the order volume of some product links increased by more than ten times the usual amount . The overall revenue on " Black Friday" also increased by 6 to 7 times the usual amount , which completely exceeded expectations and once again verified that the white hat route was correct.

"I didn't expect the products to sell so well, so I didn't have enough stock. The inventory of many products was tight, so I put them away and sold them after Black Friday."

According to Zhang Yang's estimation, the company's revenue this year has basically returned to the level before the account was blocked, and the gross profit margin has increased by 5 to 8 percentage points compared with before.

However, although the performance is the same, Zhang Yang's mood is completely different from before: " I used to feel uneasy when I saw the performance, but now I feel more at ease because the performance is not carried out by nearly a thousand SKUs, but only a dozen SKUs."

Moreover, after removing the clearance products, the dozen or so SKUs that generated profits accounted for 90% of the performance. “So we know this is sustainable, instead of the previous situation where we had to wait until next year to see if we would continue to produce this product after this year.”

As the business strategy changed, Zhang Yang's team structure was also adjusted accordingly. The evaluation and order-brushing teams have been removed, the sales staff has been reduced, and the number of product-related personnel has been increased. After some adjustments, the team size remained at more than 50 people. Although it was reduced by nearly 40% compared to before the account was banned, the labor efficiency was higher under the same performance.

At present, Zhang Yang has basically dealt with the remaining issues of "inventory" and "arrears" from the account suspension. From now on, his company has achieved at least two goals: one is to survive, and the other is to achieve initial transformation success. More importantly, Zhang Yang has a clear direction for the company's future and is full of confidence in the road ahead.

"We see hope and the future is still bright." When he said this, his smiling face flashed with confidence.

“Thanks to Amazon, I turned back.”

"Thanks to Amazon, I turned back to the right path . " Zhang Yang said sincerely as the interview was coming to an end.

It is said that it is difficult to turn a big ship around, and this was the case with Zhang Yang's company. Although he realized that the gray operation model was risky and unsustainable, and the future of distribution was bleak, it was still difficult for him to really make up his mind to cut 99% of the SKUs and transform into a high-quality product and white hat operation.

Now that Amazon has made the decision for him and all his accounts have been blocked, with no way out, he finally has the courage to take the plunge. "Before, I would doubt and waver if someone questioned me a few times," he said with a smile.

Transformation is painful, and there are many sellers who recognize their own problems, but many of them have not taken this step because they do not want to leave their comfort zone. However, under Amazon's heavy blow, Zhang Yang's comfort zone has been broken and even hit the bottom. If he does not rebound from the bottom, the only outcome is "bankruptcy".

With his throat strangled, he had no choice but to fight hard. "We don't have a second chance to make mistakes. We must transform and do it in a white hat way, no matter if it works or not, because no one knows whether Amazon will come to liquidate again."

What Zhang Yang didn't expect was that the white hat method that he didn't even believe in at the beginning actually led the company out of trouble. The products launched now are recognized by buyers, sales have exploded, and a positive cycle has been achieved, and finally a good result has been achieved, so he expressed his gratitude from the bottom of his heart.

It is precisely because of this positive result as a foundation that he now has clearer goals when making development plans and is more calm in facing the uncertainties of the future market.

At present, they have determined the products to be launched in the first half of next year, and the products for the third and fourth quarters are also being planned. With the product layout in place, the revenue will be a matter of course, and other things can be done step by step. "In the past, we liked to make decisions, such as doubling the turnover, and we would launch as many products as needed. This approach is very tiring."

" As long as this year's products maintain their performance or have some growth, and the new products can reach their market share, according to the plan, we can basically double our market share by 2023. " Zhang Yang said: "As for whether it can double, or grow by 1.5 times or 3 times, it depends on the market situation. After all, the future market environment is difficult to predict. We just need to launch products at a rhythm."

In addition, he has also given more thought to the brand. "In the past, when I was doing distribution, my understanding and consideration of the brand was relatively superficial. The brand is built on the basis of the product. Distribution is the foundation that has not been laid. How can there be a brand? Even if you can create a good appearance, reality will teach you a hard lesson because the foundation is unstable."

"Now we are focusing on the product. If the product is good, we will have money to build the brand, and we will also lay a solid foundation for the brand . "

In fact, even after experiencing a "catastrophe", Zhang Yang's optimism about cross-border e-commerce has not changed. This is one of the reasons why he resolutely chose to start again from the trough.

He said: "China's supply chain is very strong and can quickly respond to overseas customer needs. Products are selected according to customer needs. Coupled with the advantages of the supply chain, Chinese sellers will have a great competitive advantage in the global market. The growth trend and demand of cross-border e-commerce are there. The previous extensive growth has led to fierce competition now. Now it depends on whether everyone can successfully transform and upgrade, and then cater to changes in consumer demand."

" Except for the more mature European and American markets, e-commerce in many countries is just beginning, which means they will also go through a rapid development stage. Chinese products will definitely be competitive at this time . Currently, many e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, are exploring the global e-commerce market, but only about 5% of the global market has been developed , so there is still a lot of room for growth in the future . "

In summary, it is said that the unspoken rule of Amazon people is "brushing orders is a death wish, not brushing orders is a death wish " . However, judging from Zhang Yang's case, this is not entirely true, and white hat tactics are also very attractive. In addition, many sellers say that this year's peak season is as light as water, but Zhang Yang shows us a different picture, so it is time for Amazon sellers to reflect on their own operating models and methods.

Amazon bans account

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