A single product category sold 5.5 billion yuan! Are these products that are popular among listed sellers still available now?

With its powerful advantages such as high cost-effectiveness and high efficiency, cross-border e-commerce business has become a new economic accelerator in my country. National brand companies and traditional foreign trade companies have accelerated the construction of global digital channels.

Data shows that there are 33,900 cross-border e-commerce related companies in China . In the past three years, the number of registered cross-border e-commerce related companies in China has increased year by year. In 2019, 3,985 new cross-border e-commerce related companies were added in China, a year-on-year increase of 24.38%. In 2020, 6,313 new companies were added, a year-on-year increase of 58.42%. In 2021, 10,900 new companies were added, a year-on-year increase of 72.20%...

Cross-border export is gradually becoming an important arena for Chinese enterprises to compete, but if they want to gain a foothold in the overseas market, the choice of goods to sell is crucial. It is reported that the list of products favored by Chinese cross-border e-commerce export sellers includes not only traditional competitive goods such as 3C electronics and clothing, which have high market competition but strong demand, but also blue ocean goods with unlimited potential such as clean energy, automobile and motorcycle parts, and industrial and commercial supplies.

In every category, there are almost well-known representatives that sell well, such as Anker Innovations, the "big brother" in 3C electronic products. In 2021, the charging product category alone achieved operating income of 5.552 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 34.00%.

Below, the editor will use a series of data to briefly analyze 3C electronics, clothing, clean energy and other commodities. I hope that everyone can get inspiration for product selection and hot sales from it!

What are famous cross-border sellers selling? 3C electronics have become the "standard"

First, let’s take a look at the product lists of well-known cross-border sellers such as Anker Innovations, Zebao, and Kuaibei.

1. Anker Innovations : Founded in 2011, it is mainly engaged in the independent research and development, design and sales of its own brand of mobile device peripherals, smart hardware products and other consumer electronic products. Its products mainly include three series: charging, wireless audio and smart innovation.

2. Zebo: Founded in 2007, its product categories include small household appliances, Bluetooth audio, computer and mobile phone peripherals, etc. It owns six major consumer electronics brands: RAVPower, VAVA, TaoTronics, Anjou, Sable and Hoo Too.

3. Yibai Network : It mainly sells cost-effective Chinese-made products in categories such as automobile and motorcycle accessories, industrial and commercial supplies, home gardening, health and beauty, and outdoor sports.

4. Youkeshu: Founded in 2010, it mainly sells 3C electronics, outdoor products, household products, toys, car supplies and other products.

5. Tongtuo Technology: Founded in 2004, its products cover 3C electronics, photography and audio-visual, beauty and apparel, games and toys, home and outdoor, health management, auto accessories and other categories.

6. Santai Co., Ltd.: Founded in 2008, the main types of goods sold include fashion (clothing accessories, personal care products, beauty products), tool accessories (industrial and commercial tools, auto and motorcycle accessories), home life (pet supplies, kitchen and bathroom appliances, wedding ceremonies, home decoration, home gardening), digital technology (computer games, consumer electronics), hobbies (creative handicrafts, outdoor activities, leisure and entertainment, music and art, sports and fitness) and other 5 major categories and 17 subcategories .

In summary, 3C electronic products have almost become the "standard" sales for cross-border export sellers. At the same time, hot-selling evergreens such as home furnishings, clothing, and outdoor are also their "favorites."

These categories all have unique first-mover advantages in China.

Made in China is one of the most recognized labels in the world, covering almost all commodities from clothing to electronic products. Nowadays, industries such as home appliances, leather, furniture, bicycles, hardware products, batteries, and down have become industries in which China has comparative advantages and certain international competitiveness in the world.

Data shows that among the export categories of China's cross-border e-commerce, clothing and accessories and home gardening products have maintained rapid growth . In terms of the distribution of China's cross-border e-commerce retail export value in 2018, the largest categories were electronic products, clothing and accessories, and home gardening, accounting for 20%, 13% and 9% respectively . In terms of growth rate, the export sales growth rate of clothing and accessories and home gardening products was as high as 52%. In addition, consumers also have a large demand for home gardening, outdoor products, beauty and health care, shoes, hats and bags, accounting for more than 5%.

Below, the editor will combine the sales data of sellers such as Savi to briefly analyze the electronics and clothing categories.

Electronics and clothing: the changes and constants of evergreen hot-selling products

1. 3C Electronics

In recent years, driven by factors such as the continued economic recovery in major developed countries and regions and continuous innovation in consumer electronics technology, the global consumer electronics industry has shown a sustained and stable development trend. Among them, the growth of the market for mobile devices such as smartphones is one of the core driving forces for the development of the consumer electronics industry. The market for mobile device peripheral products represented by charging transmission and audio products is also rising rapidly.

According to statistics from IDC, a world-renowned consulting firm , global smartphone shipments in 2021 were approximately 1.35 billion units, a slight increase of approximately 5.3% year-on-year.

According to different types of users, the global smart hardware industry can be divided into consumer-grade smart hardware, commercial-grade smart hardware and industrial-grade smart hardware. At present, smart innovation products from sellers such as Anker Innovations are mainly aimed at the consumer-grade smart hardware market. The consumer-grade smart hardware electronic product market is vast, covering various types of intelligent consumer electronic products such as smart security equipment, smart homes, smart wearable devices, smart speakers, etc. Under the guidance of cutting-edge technologies in the industry such as mobile Internet, artificial intelligence and big data, the global smart hardware market is in the ascendant and has become one of the main driving factors for the sustainable development of the global consumer electronics industry.

Four cross-border sellers that have already gone public, such as Anker and Zebao , have all entered the 3C electronics track without exception. The above picture is just the tip of the iceberg of the number of sellers engaged in 3C electronics products. This track is so popular, are the sales and gross profit margins high? The following are the sales data of 3C electronic products of cross-border sellers such as Yibai Network in 2021:

Yibai Network's sales of 3C electronic products reached 160 million yuan, the number of orders reached 1.5147 million, and the average sales price was 111.31 yuan.

Youkeshu’s revenue from electronic products, mobile communications and gaming accessories exceeded RMB 400 million, with 4.5052 million orders and an average order price of RMB 89.9.

Zebao's power supply products had revenue of 335 million yuan, Bluetooth audio products had revenue of 344 million yuan, and computer and mobile phone peripheral products had revenue of 359 million yuan.

Anker Innovations' charging products achieved operating revenue of 5.552 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 34.00%, accounting for 44.16% of total operating revenue; the smart innovation category achieved operating revenue of 4.104 billion yuan for the whole year, a year-on-year increase of 34.13%, accounting for 32.63% of total operating revenue; the wireless audio category achieved operating revenue of 2.852 billion yuan for the whole year, a year-on-year increase of 34.44%, accounting for 22.68% of total operating revenue.

Anker Innovations' comprehensive gross profit margin is 35%, with an online sales gross profit margin of 42% , higher than offline, and an overseas gross profit margin of 35.97%, higher than domestic. Overall, although the revenue is high, the gross profit margin of both charging products and smart innovation products does not exceed 40%, and has decreased slightly compared with the same period last year.

Zebao's online sales gross profit margin is no higher than 30%. For computer and mobile phone peripheral products, the gross profit margin is even as low as 13%, a decrease of 22% from the same period last year.

Judging from the gross profit margins of Anker Innovations and Zebao's 3C products alone, their achievements are not outstanding. This situation may confirm the popular saying: 3C electronic products have large volume and low value, and even monthly sales of 1 million can still make you lose a lot of money, especially now that small sellers will lose everything .

In fact, sellers of 3C electronics also face other risks.

First of all, with the acceleration of technological updates and product iterations of consumer electronics products, the life cycle of related technologies and products has been shortened accordingly, which has put higher requirements on the rapid R&D capabilities, marketing response speed and daily operation and management efficiency of market participants in this industry.

At the same time, with the rapid innovation of technology, business models and marketing methods in the global consumer electronics industry, the number of market participants and the scale of the industry are both growing rapidly. Currently, most 3C sellers are facing the risk of increasing industry competitors and intensified market competition, which will lead to a slowdown in performance growth and shrinking profit margins, thus affecting the company's operating performance and financial status.

In order to break the dilemma, Anker Innovations' approach is to continue to innovate on the basis of consolidating existing product technologies, and continuously increase investment in product research and development, technology, etc., to enhance its own research and development and product design capabilities, in order to cope with changes in the consumer electronics industry and the risks of product upgrades.

At the same time, we will continue to enhance our independent research and development and product design capabilities, channel construction capabilities and sales capabilities, focus on building our own brands, maintain and increase market share, in order to cope with the risks of intensified market competition .

From the overall performance, the growth of the global smartphone industry has slowed down significantly, and global consumer electronics manufacturers are also actively looking for and planning new future business growth points. In addition to continuously deepening its presence in the 3C electronics field, Anker Innovations has now entered the smart home field and continues to look for new business growth points.

2. Clothing and accessories

China is a major light industrial country. Whether it is clothing, accessories, or shoes and hats, it has a manufacturing industry cluster from design, fabric and finished product manufacturing to warehousing and logistics. Relying on the advantages of the clothing supply chain, China has become the world's largest clothing exporter. According to data from the World Trade Organization, in 2019, China was the largest supply market for global textile and clothing products, with a clothing export share of 30.8%.

Relying on strong consumer demand, the clothing category has become an important source of revenue for many cross-border sellers. In the first half of 2021, Savi's sales revenue from clothing and accessories exceeded 1.5 billion yuan, accounting for 53% of all categories, and the revenue in 2020 was 2.4 billion, accounting for 47%. From 2018 to the first half of 2021, Savi's sales of clothing and accessories categories have been increasing year by year. It is reported that Savi's clothing and accessories brands include Ekouaer, Avidlove, Coofandy, Zeagoo, Hotouch, Arshiner, SHESHOW, Retro Stage, ADOME, etc., covering categories such as home wear, women's wear, men's wear, and functional wear.

Among all sales categories, clothing and accessories are the category with the highest gross profit margin for Savi, which has exceeded 70% in the past three years and reached 74% in the first half of 2020. It is said that the competition in clothing and accessories has reached a fierce stage, but Savi has managed to make this category the first in gross profit margin. It can be seen that clothing and accessories still have great opportunities, but it also requires sellers to put in more effort.

It is worth noting that the gross profit margin of Saiwei's clothing and decoration on the Wish platform is not low, and in the first half of 2021 it was even higher than that of its own website. It is reported that on the Wish platform, clothing products are one of the top three categories of the platform. In the clothing category: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France are the top five markets for sales of this category. Dresses, sweatshirts, swimsuits, underwear, tops, and sportswear are the five most sold subcategories of the clothing category in recent times. Underwear, home clothes, sportswear, and plus-size women's clothing are high-potential products.

From the perspective of clothing positioning, global clothing can be roughly divided into luxury, high-end, mid-range and mass-market. Analyzing the market segments of the global clothing industry, we will find that at present, the global clothing retail market is still dominated by mid-range and mass-market brands. According to the data from the Prospective Industry Research Institute, in 2018, the retail sales of mid-range and mass-market brand clothing reached US$467.4 billion and US$414.3 billion respectively, accounting for 32.5% and 28.8% of the global clothing retail market respectively.

Europe and the United States are the main import destinations for the global clothing industry. According to statistics from the World Trade Organization, the European Union had the largest import value in the global clothing industry in 2019, with a total import value of approximately US$180 billion, accounting for 34.2% of the global market. The United States ranked second with an import value of approximately US$95 billion, accounting for 18.2% of the global market.

In recent years, the apparel industry has shown a clear trend of fast-moving product consumption, automated processes, and online channels.

The popularity of international fast fashion brands such as ZARA and H&M has gradually made the fast-moving consumer goods attributes of mass casual clothing products a trend. Fast-moving consumer goods attributes require product designs to keep up with fashion trends, with a wide range of product styles to choose from, and the ability to continuously design new products and launch them into the market to attract consumers' repeated attention and increase purchase frequency. This requires companies to have the ability to design products based on recent fashion trends by speeding up the design, production and distribution cycles. At the same time, companies need to be able to control operating costs and sell to consumer groups at competitive prices.

New blue ocean categories are emerging, and Huabao New Energy and others are seizing the new trend of clean energy

In addition to clothing and apparel categories, as consumers' shopping needs change, traditional hot-selling categories such as 3C electronics and home furnishings have ushered in new consumption trends.

Take home as an example. In recent years, the trend of intelligence and green environmental protection has continued to rise. In terms of intelligence, data shows that the scale of smart homes in Europe is expected to reach nearly 210 million in 2025, and the smart home market in the United States will exceed 45 billion US dollars, including smart home, control and connection, security, lighting, energy management, home entertainment, and smart devices. Currently, the more popular smart home categories in the world are: Control and Connectivity, Comfort and Lighting, Security, Home Entertainment, Energy Management, and Smart Appliance.

While traditional best-selling categories are gaining new vitality, some emerging blue ocean categories are also rising.

In recent years, high-tech industries such as new energy , electronic information, bioengineering, aerospace, pharmaceutical manufacturing and new materials have developed rapidly from scratch, allowing a large number of related practitioners to reap the dividends . Next, let us look at the development prospects of the portable energy storage industry .

As the application of mobile smart terminals such as mobile phones and tablets continues to increase, seeking a free and natural outdoor life has also become a trend, and the market demand for outdoor electricity is increasing . In addition, due to global climate change, natural disasters have become more frequent in recent years, seriously affecting the stability of global power supply. Emergency backup power has gradually become an important backup product in family life. With the increasing demand for green portable electricity, the portable energy storage industry derived from clean energy technologies such as lithium batteries has gradually emerged. Portable energy storage products have begun to be gradually used in many scenarios such as outdoor activities and family emergencies , and can provide green electricity for various equipment such as mobile phones, computers, drones, photographic equipment, and lighting.

According to the report data of the China Chemical and Physical Power Sources Industry Association, the global portable energy storage product factories are mainly distributed in China, accounting for more than 90% of the production and shipment volume. Foreign brands including GOAL ZERO also mainly adopt the production model of OEM by domestic enterprises.

Under various favorable factors, Huabao New Energy, Anker Innovations, Aigo, Baseus, Yubo and others have all entered this track, and a group of cross-border export sellers have also taken advantage of the industry's dividends to take off.

Founded in July 2011, Huabao New Energy originally started out as a power bank ODM business. Since 2015, it has gradually withdrawn from the dispute over the "three electrics and one beast" and transformed into the portable energy storage track. It is committed to the research and development, production and sales of portable energy storage products. Its business projects include lithium batteries, lithium battery accessories, new energy batteries, power batteries, etc. It is about to be listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

According to the prospectus, from 2019 to 2021, Huabao New Energy's operating income was 319 million yuan, 1.07 billion yuan and 2.315 billion yuan, respectively, a year-on-year increase of 235.44% and 116.38%. The corresponding net profits were 36 million yuan, 234 million yuan and 279 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 541.43% and 19.46%.

The European and American markets are the main sales places for Huabao New Energy's portable energy storage products, which is related to the huge consumer demand in the European and American markets.

Outdoor activities have a long history in developed countries in Europe and America. The relevant countries have a high degree of urbanization and strong per capita consumption capacity. In their spare time, people tend to choose outdoor activities such as outdoor travel, camping, fishing, etc. The number of participants and frequency of participation in relevant outdoor activities are high, and there is a large market demand for supplies and equipment related to outdoor sports. Taking the United States as an example, according to the survey statistics of the authoritative outdoor portal Outdoor Foundation, the population in the United States who has participated in outdoor activities each year has remained above 48% all year round ; in 2020, the "new crown" epidemic broke out, and many places in the United States successively opened and closed indoor places and other epidemic prevention restrictions, which further promoted the popularity of outdoor activities in the United States. Portable energy storage products are sought after by participants as emerging products that can enhance the experience of outdoor activities, which promotes the rapid increase in the market demand scale of portable energy storage products in outdoor activity scenarios.

However, with the continuous development of the industry, consumers' requirements for large capacity, lightweight, intelligence, battery cycle life, charging and discharging efficiency of energy storage products are constantly increasing . In addition, too many players have already poured into the portable energy storage track. If relevant practitioners fail to keep up with the development trend of the times, carry out technical reserves and product layout, they will not be able to meet market demand in a timely manner and face the fate of being squeezed out by their peers.

As a leading player in this field, Huabao New Energy has seen a weakening net profit in the past two years. The prospectus shows that from 2019 to 2020, Huabao New Energy's revenue soared, and its net profit was also considerable, increasing by 200 million yuan; but in 2021, its net profit only increased by 45 million yuan. The reason for the slow growth of net profit may be related to the gradual crowding of the clean energy field.

In summary, whether it is traditional hot-selling categories such as 3C electronics and clothing, or emerging tracks such as clean energy, there is actually broad room for development. However, the halo of making money will not fall on every player. Even if you are in red ocean markets such as 3C electronics, clothing, and home furnishings, if you can keep up with market development trends and take a differentiated route, you can also carve out a path in the red ocean; even if you are in blue ocean markets such as clean energy, if you cannot understand the latest shopping trends of consumers, you will still be abandoned by the times.

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