Amazon sellers turn to independent websites, and "niche" products break into the big market!

This year, the cross-border e-commerce industry has seen a mixed bag of events. Amazon has launched a wave of account bans, and countless sellers have suffered varying degrees of trauma. At the same time, a group of sellers have begun to turn their attention to independent websites . Henan LanGu Technology (hereinafter referred to as LanGu Technology ) has long embarked on the journey of setting up overseas independent websites.

B2C platform sales decline, LanGu Technology starts the journey of independent station

At the end of 2018, LanGu Technology began to build independent overseas sites. Initially, LanGu Technology started with the comprehensive categories of clothing, shoes and bags , and took Europe and the United States as the main market, providing products for consumers aged 30+.

However, the arrival of the epidemic has changed the shopping habits of overseas consumers, and the hot-selling and bulk cloning models of site groups have shrunk. For LanGu Technology, this is a time of crisis and opportunity. If it wants to firmly take root on the platform, it must transform.

Under this situation, LanGu Technology chose to transform its operating strategy from the "mass consumer market" to the "niche consumer market" and began to lay out "small and beautiful" precise vertical categories .

After more than a year of planning and adjustment, LanGu Technology has established a relatively mature independent station group in the market segments such as story accessories , children's dresses , and size-free underwear , and has attracted the favor of more and more overseas consumers , forming a precise vertical loyal consumer audience and a corresponding product and brand system.

Recalling the biggest opportunity that initially motivated LanGu Technology to enter the market , Zhao Wenzhong said it was largely due to the decline in sales of B2C platforms and the industry's pursuit of independent sites.

At that time, in the eyes of many industry insiders, doing business on Amazon was like standing on the shoulders of a giant to divide the cake. It was necessary to divide the traffic within a mature game system, match the rules of the game, and do a good job of traffic conversion. Independent sites start from scratch, and except for sellers who have their own brand traffic, most other sellers have zero traffic base.

Just as Zhao Wenzhong said, LangGu Technology continued to move forward through trial and error and gradually found its own unique way of playing.

For example, Station A, which focuses on girls' dresses , targets Europe, America and the Middle East. By emphasizing the concept that every girl born into the world is an angelic princess, it attracts parents over 30 years old who have purchasing power, princess hearts and are daughter slaves as its customer base; and Station B, which focuses on pure cotton underwire-free bras, has Europe and the United States as its main market. It emphasizes that the differentiated bodies of women are the greatest beauty, and attracts local female consumers with comfortable bra products that can adapt to various occasions.

Thanks to timely transformation and continuous exploration, the overall development of LanGu Technology has entered an accelerated mode. So far , LanGu Technology has exceeded its annual sales target in 2021. With years of experience and familiarity with overseas markets, LanGu Technology has successfully established a foothold in the independent market.

After investing hundreds of thousands of dollars and losing everything, where is the future for independent website sellers?

As independent websites become more and more popular, sellers are also facing more and more problems. This year, many independent website sellers have encountered a common problem: Why didn’t they make any splash after gritting their teeth and investing hundreds of thousands of dollars? Some sellers said that they spent tens of thousands of dollars just to build the website, and then did SEO and advertising for half a year, but all of them went to waste.

In fact, the advantages and disadvantages of independent websites are obvious. Flexibility is the biggest advantage of independent websites. With the help of third-party website building platforms, they can be flexible and fast to achieve various operation methods; while the lack of traffic foundation is the disadvantage of independent websites. In recent years, there have been constant "big moves" in traffic channels , and the only thing we can do is to adapt to the changes.

Regarding similar situations where hundreds of thousands of dollars have been invested but no splash has been made, Zhao Wenzhong believes that this is not an isolated case . 20% of the sellers in the industry have made 80% of the money, or even more. The industry is reshuffling, and the direction of the reshuffle is that the rules of the game are becoming more and more mature. Therefore, precise vertical cultivation is the general direction of future profits.

The operation of an independent website is a comprehensive system that cannot be completed in one go and requires a comprehensive layout. Independent website brand planning, supply chain development, differentiated product selection, diversified advertising channels, a robust payment system, CRM membership management, risk control assurance, etc., each of which is an important link in supporting an independent website.

In addition, many sellers in the industry have set up independent websites one after another, and the capital chasing craze has intensified. In Zhao Wenzhong's view, this is both honey and poison. Capital is helpful for the rapid expansion of independent websites, but we must always be vigilant of the rapid changes in the industry. The only thing that remains unchanged is change itself, and having the ability to adapt to change is the top priority.

As competition intensifies, how can independent website sellers break out?

In Zhao Wenzhong's view, independent websites are not without barriers. With more and more sellers entering the independent website market in the past two years, he bluntly said that the later sellers enter the market, the fewer preferential conditions they can get, such as the payment period of advertising channels and the commission of payment channels, which are major factors that limit sellers' capital turnover.

Therefore, for sellers who plan to enter the independent website market, Zhao Wenzhong made some suggestions based on his own experience.

He believes that new sellers must first find the niche market and niche products that best suit them, ensure that the market is not saturated, and find an angle that suits them to compete with their rivals.

In the new era of brand overseas expansion, social media marketing has become a must for many new sellers. First, sellers need to pay special attention to loyal fans and seed users ; second, de-marketing, provide users with valuable content ; and finally, cooperate with influential Internet celebrities and industry experts to enhance the credibility and exposure of emerging brands.

But overall, social media marketing is only one part of the operation. If you want to operate steadily and for a long time, Zhao Wenzhong put forward the following four suggestions for sellers and peers:

1. Choose the right products: vertical categories and control quality;

2. Multi-channel customer acquisition: advertising, social media operations;

3. Focus on service: Customers first, word of mouth;

4. Technology-driven: Introduce talents and improve efficiency.

Three years ago, LanGu Technology first entered the independent website market; three years later, LanGu Technology has become more proficient in its main field. As a player who has been working on independent websites for three years, LanGu Technology clearly recognizes the importance of operations, and also realizes that products, marketing, services, and technology are indispensable, which are especially important for emerging brands.

On December 13, at the 2021 First Central China Cross-border E-commerce Seller Brand Overseas Summit hosted by Ennet, Zhao Wenzhong will bring a wonderful sharing on the theme of " How can emerging brands quickly start the layout of independent stations ", analyze and discuss with independent station sellers, and combine his own experience to help sellers quickly embark on the journey of independent stations. You can scan the QR code below to register for this conference and go to the scene to learn and communicate.

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