In 1992, the seller entered the cross-border business and became the top 1 in the Lazada platform category within 3 months.

In the cross-border e-commerce industry, the platform's best-selling list is the industry's best list. Being on it means orders and wealth rolling in. It is extremely difficult for new sellers to enter the top list in a short period of time , but MUSSO made an exception. During the Lazada 9.9 promotion, the daily sales of this brand, which had just been in the market for three months, increased by 30 times, and it won the TOP1 in different sites , becoming famous in one fell swoop. The leader of MUSSO is only 29 years old this year.

New brand takes the top spot in category in three months   1

In the just-concluded Lazada 9.9 promotion, the number of orders in categories such as cross-border furniture and storage surged, the traffic in the cross-border computer accessories category skyrocketed, and many Chinese overseas brands performed amazingly. Among them, the e-sports home furnishing brand MUSSO took the second place in the department store category of the cross-border brand best-selling list.

In this battle, MUSSO achieved success in many areas. In the Philippines, its gaming chair sales in 11 hours exceeded the 6.6 promotion by 14,600%, a 30-fold increase compared to daily sales, becoming the top cross-border brand in the department store category on 9.9. In addition, thanks to MUSSO's early deployment of overseas warehouses, sales soared, and it also won the top cross-border brand in the e-sports category in Thailand and Malaysia on 9.9.

The veteran sellers can’t sit still anymore. What’s the origin of this sudden dark horse?

MUSSO is a brand of Zhejiang Blue Whale E-commerce Co., Ltd. Like many cross-border e-commerce companies, Blue Whale has a young team. The founder and general manager Jack was born in 1992, and the other members were all born after 1995.

Four years ago, Blue Harbor Whale followed the trend and entered the cross-border e-commerce industry. Currently, the company mainly sells kitchenware, e-sports home furnishings and beauty products, with cross-border sales as the main products. As the European and American consumer markets become saturated, Southeast Asia, the second hot spot for cross-border e-commerce, has attracted his attention .

In 2018, Linekong Whale entered Southeast Asia, and Lazada, which occupies half of the market, naturally became an option for settlement. In the early stage of settlement, Linekong Whale adjusted its product development based on the habits of Southeast Asian consumers and the suggestions given by the platform's storekeepers - improving its brand image through mid-to- high-end products and increasing sales with products with higher cost-effectiveness.

The e-commerce industry is a one-size-fits-all industry. With the previous experience, Blue Harbor Whale quickly got used to the new platform. "During the operation, we found that Lazada pays more attention to verticalization, focusing on the product itself, and taking refined operations . It can also hold brands with slightly higher prices ." Jack said.

At the beginning of last year, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out around the world, and the demand for home life-related categories soared. In the context of long-term home confinement, MUSSO, a gaming chair brand under Linekong Whale , unlocked the Southeast Asian market. From preparations in April and May to the official launch of sales on Lazada at the end of June, and then to the 9.9 promotion, the two development stages of MUSSO took only two or three months.

Gaming chairs are not low-priced products. MUSSO supplies them at mid-range prices, but they are still hot-selling during big promotions, with considerable gross profit. This shows that the platform does not win by competing on unit prices and volume, but merchants with quality and brand have more profit margins.

Using the platform's overseas warehouses, MUSSO was launched six months ahead of schedule

It was a process of many twists and turns for MUSSO to be able to catch up with this big promotion.

As a leading merchant on Lazada, Linekong Whale had previously planned to expand its product categories. After observing that consumption in Southeast Asia was upgrading and gaming chairs were a blue ocean category, it intended to extend its gaming chair brand MUSSO.

Why a gaming chair?

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, working from home has become popular around the world. The comfort of chairs directly affects work efficiency, so office desks and chairs and comfortable gaming chairs have become hot-selling products. In addition, due to long periods of time at home, people spend more time playing games and using computers, which has led to a sales boom for gaming chairs. In consumer analysis , Malaysians prefer higher-end products, while Thais are more sensitive to prices and have high requirements for cost-effectiveness, so more discounts may be needed to stimulate them.

It originally took more time to prepare for the launch of large items, but MUSSO encountered a good opportunity. "It was mainly because Lazada's overseas warehouses were almost ready, so we were able to move forward smoothly. If the platform's overseas warehouses were not ready, we might have to delay for half a year or a year before considering the Southeast Asian market." Jack said.

In June, MUSSO sales staff reported that the market response to gaming chairs was higher than expected . It was too late for the factory to speed up stocking. Three or four cabinets did not arrive until September 2. With 9.9 approaching, the category manager helped with a lot of coordination and finally put the chairs on the shelves on September 7.

In addition, after doing enough research on product selling points and price ranges in the early stage, and developing several products for Southeast Asia, MUSSO finally made a splash. "We won the first place in the home furnishing category in the Philippines, surpassing the local supermarket brand that had been ranked first for a long time. "

Jack analyzed that the e-commerce genes of local sellers in Southeast Asia are relatively weak, and their pictures and descriptions are not as good as those of domestic cross-border sellers. In addition, there is a difference in the purchase price between MUSSO and local sellers. With the advantage of supply chain, domestic sellers can get lower purchase prices or even better payment terms, which gives them a selling price advantage.

At present, MUSSO mainly produces gaming chairs, but also gaming tables, silicone cushions, carpets and other products. Will the future development be more inclined towards the home category or the gaming category? Future user feedback will determine the direction of MUSSO to a certain extent.

What is certain is that Blue Whale will increase its investment in Lazada's large home furnishings category . "The Philippine site was established the earliest and has the best performance; other sites have just started, and the product lines and some operational ideas have not been fully implemented. It will take another month or two to implement them. Next, we will put all the products on each site and adjust the operational strategy according to the preferences of consumers in different markets." Jack said. Next year, MUSSO will also increase overseas social media marketing to build its brand and attract traffic.

Three suggestions from top merchants

The Lazada team of Linekong Whale has more than 10 people, and has become the top seller in two categories on Lazada multi-sites . This is not easy for Chinese cross-border brand merchants, and many sellers have not yet found the right operating posture. Jack gave some suggestions on how to open a store, branding and logistics :

1. Opening a store. Jack believes that Lazada cross-border stores still have a lot of room for development . "Both of our brands are cross-border stores. Cross-border stores have many advantages, such as exclusive support from store clerks in China and a mature cross-border logistics system. Domestic store clerks can discuss products and opportunities with you, and daily operational communication is more efficient, especially during the big promotion period, when communication is very close and problems are solved in a timely and efficient manner.

2. Branding. It is easy for a brand to fail to adapt to the new market. Merchants should not sell products directly as brands, but should adapt to the market, increase sales through basic traffic-generating actions and traffic-generating models, build awareness, and then launch high-profit or branded products with characteristics and selling points to enhance the brand atmosphere. Customers who are used to high-quality products and services are more likely to believe in and accept high-end brand products when they repurchase or recommend them to friends.

3. Logistics. " Lazada's cross-border logistics is very affordable. It can be 20% lower than the market price, which is very impressive . You can save at least 20% of the cost in the first leg . The platform's overseas warehouses also have some preferential policies. For example, our outbound costs will be fully refunded in the form of advertising fees, so the advertising expenditure cost is very low. We have also calculated that if products larger than 1kg use overseas warehouses, the first leg cost will be reduced. The delivery fee plus the warehouse fee is lower than domestic self-delivery. The heavier the product, the greater the advantage."

Now, Jack highly recommends Lazada's overseas warehouses. "Regardless of price or efficiency, the platform's overseas warehouses are superior to third-party overseas warehouses. MUSSO uses overseas warehouses to ship goods, so our e-sports team does not need to build a backend. These troublesome things are basically solved by overseas warehouses. We just need to understand the market and develop sales wholeheartedly. "

Blue Whale has experienced the development of the Southeast Asian market and witnessed the growth of Lazada. With the upgrading of platform consumption, Lazada pays more attention to sellers with refined operations . "The platform now provides a lot of support for sellers with refined operations . In the medium term, the traffic will rise wildly , and it needs more sellers with refined operations to lock in users with high-quality products. " Jack said.

The huge changes in the cross-border e-commerce industry this year have brought more investors to Southeast Asia. According to Linekong Whales’ analysis, in the current cross-border market, the first tier is Europe and the United States, and the second tier is Southeast Asia. While the European and American markets have grown slowly this year, the Southeast Asian market is still growing rapidly .

According to the "2020 Southeast Asian Internet Economy Development Report" jointly released by Google, Temasek and others , Southeast Asia is currently the fastest growing region in the world in terms of Internet development. The total value of goods traded in the local e-commerce sector is also growing rapidly. Temasek expects that the total value of goods traded will increase from US$5 billion in 2015 to US$17.2 billion in 2025, with an annual compound growth rate of 42.4%. In 2021, this figure has reached US$62 billion, a year-on-year increase of 63%.

To enter such a blue ocean market, a leading platform like Lazada is obviously a good stepping stone.

Lazada, New Sellers, 9.9 Sale