From 0 to 1.6 billion, independent site sellers successfully broke through!

Under the extensive development of cross-border e-commerce, many sellers are well aware that they cannot put all their eggs in one basket, and choose to deploy multiple channels to spread risks. Independent websites have become the choice of many sellers, but for sellers who want to gain a foothold on independent websites, attracting traffic and creating hot products are "roadblocks" to their successful transformation .

Yien.com interviewed Wu Jiayang, the founder of Hangzhou Chuanliu. Combining his more than 20 years of overseas marketing experience, he shared his experience on how sellers can successfully transform into independent websites, how to attract traffic from independent websites, and how to use TikTok to create hot products...

From 0 to 1.6 billion, independent website sellers have successfully broken through

As Amazon blocks accounts, imposes fines, increases in operating costs on third-party platforms, and the increasingly obvious head effect, some sellers are migrating to independent websites. One seller successfully broke through the independent website, starting from an initial sales of 0 yuan to a cumulative sales of 1.6 billion yuan in just 1 year and 8 months.

As the saying goes, some are happy while others are sad. Some sellers have successfully transformed, while others have failed and were forced to exit the independent station track. Regarding sellers' failed transformation, Wu Jiayang said that this is a very common thing. Most sellers who failed to transform were "forced" to transform under the influence of multiple factors . They look at cross-border e-commerce with an opportunistic eye, running wherever there is money, and not consciously and forward-lookingly making strategic layouts.

" As early as three years ago, I urged everyone in the industry not to put all their eggs on Amazon, and to have the awareness of risk diversification. Independent stations are the best choice, and everyone should do it quickly, but few people listened to me ," said Wu Jiayang. Judging from the current data of sellers, those who chose to build independent stations early have undoubtedly gained traffic dividends and have already made a lot of money.

In the actual operation of seller transformation, Wu Jiayang frankly said that the original hot product model is dead, don't insist on it anymore. If sellers want to transform to independent sites, they must know how to attract traffic, and secondly, find unique products that are competitive, have high customer unit prices and high profits; for sellers who are just starting out, they can choose SaaS to build a website to save time and money. In a word, the success of an independent site = high unit price, high profit, unique and innovative products + opening up, testing and optimization of a large number of traffic channels.

Wu Jiayang also said that as long as the product is right, the product competitiveness is strong enough, and the profit margin is large enough, then no matter which sales channel you choose, it will be good. In the final analysis, whether it is Amazon or an independent website, it is just a sales channel for cross-border e-commerce. Creating good products is the kingly way.

But in reality, sellers still have a long way to go to successfully transform. Not only because of the rising costs of raw materials and logistics this year, but also because of the difficulty in attracting traffic and high traffic costs that need to be solved urgently.

It is difficult to attract traffic and the cost of traffic is high. How can sellers break through the "haze"?

"It is too difficult to attract traffic to an independent website. The key is that the cost of traffic is still so high. It is really difficult to transform," a seller complained on a social platform.

Wu Jiayang said that this is a realistic problem. On the one hand, independent stations absorb traffic from many drainage channels. Taking any one of them alone has very strong knowledge barriers and experience barriers . On the other hand, there are very few professionals who know how to drain traffic from independent stations . Data shows that the drainage talent gap in the entire industry has reached 500,000.

When the traffic dividend vent was filled by a large influx of products and sellers, the problem of excessively high traffic costs gradually emerged. Wu Jiayang said that the dividend era of low traffic costs and sellers making profits from price differences has passed. If sellers want to fundamentally solve the problem of high traffic costs, they first need to start with product innovation and reform.

Many of the independent websites that have emerged in this wave, such as SHEIN and PAT PAT , are driven by product innovation and reform , and these sellers mainly target developed countries (Europe and the United States). However, many emerging markets are different and still have traffic dividends . Sellers can also try emerging markets to seek more development opportunities.

TikTok is one of the stable and scalable traffic channels recognized by many sellers. It has produced many hot products this year and has attracted much attention from sellers. Many sellers have also asked how to create hot products on TikTok and what the key points are.

Thousands of orders a day, big sellers tell the secrets of creating TikTok hits

When talking about creating hits through TikTok , Wu Jiayang gave a recent example of two super hit products that were sold on independent websites through TikTok ads , namely nail art and contact lenses. Currently, the sales of these two products are very hot using this model, and it is common for popular styles to sell thousands of orders a day.

However, beauty products have strong aesthetic attributes. Which product sells well ultimately depends on women’s aesthetic taste, which is relatively difficult to grasp . Sellers need to test more styles, otherwise it will be difficult to find a hit product!

Regarding the key points in creating a hit product, Wu Jiayang said there are two main points: first, there should be many SKUs and the products should be tested continuously. This is a bit similar to the original hit model, but it is not the hit model; secondly, it is the grasp of advertising skills. TikTok's advertising system is simple and new features emerge in an endless stream. Sellers need to understand and apply them in a timely manner to obtain the best ROI.

Some people say that a keen eye for product selection, timely marketing methods and a desire for success are the three essential elements for big sales . Today, it seems that the same is true for the creation of hit products .

Wherever there is traffic dividend in cross-border e-commerce, there are excess profits. TikTok is one of the few new traffic channels that has recently emerged in developed markets in Europe and the United States and is the only one that is not yet saturated. Although it has huge traffic dividends, its current monetization model and products are relatively limited.

Regarding the misunderstandings that sellers should pay attention to when creating hot products , Wu Jiayang said that don’t think about relying on the routine of cultivating fans and making orders in China . It’s ok to make a thousand yuan a month , but if you want to make money on a large scale and in batches, it seems that this is still a false proposition ; the same is true for live streaming sales on TikTok. Several startups that did live streaming sales on TikTok some time ago have almost died in recent times, and the ROI cannot even break even. In other words, they are not making any money at all at present.

At a time when cross-border e-commerce is developing rapidly, the prospects of independent websites are bright. However, for many sellers who want to transform into independent websites, they should also pay attention to these key points. The operation of independent websites does not depend on short-term dividends, but on long-term accumulation. In addition to attracting traffic and creating hot products, sellers should also pay attention to the accumulation of users and brands in order to stand firm in the torrent of cross-border e-commerce!

Creating a hit product is a long-term pursuit and goal of many sellers. In this increasingly competitive cross-border circle, what skills do sellers need to quickly create a hit product ? On December 13, at the 2021 First China (Zhengzhou) Central Cross-border E-commerce Seller Brand Overseas Summit, Wu Jiayang will share how to use TikTok to create a hit product based on his many years of experience . Please click "Read the original text" below or scan the QR code below to sign up for this conference and discuss and exchange ideas with many big sellers on site.

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