Cross-border retail e-commerce has entered the era of "supply is king". AliExpress supports 100 super brands and 10,000 emerging brands to go global in one year

On May 26, the 2021 AliExpress "G100 Global Plan" brand signing ceremony was held in Shenzhen. At the meeting, AliExpress announced a series of measures to help Chinese supply chain brands go global this year. It plans to establish direct and in-depth supply relationships with 100 " super brands " , support 10,000 emerging brands , and sign contracts with ten brand merchants on the spot.

Wang Mingqiang, Vice President of Alibaba and General Manager of AliExpress, said at the meeting: "Against the backdrop of the global pandemic, cross-border retail e-commerce has entered an era where ' supply is king ' , and China's supply chain advantages have been further highlighted. AliExpress's operating model based on brands and stores, as well as its constantly improving and upgrading infrastructure, will be the key to helping Chinese brands seize this historical opportunity. "

(AliExpress General Manager Wang Mingqiang speaks at the brand signing ceremony.)

As a major supply-side upgrade initiative launched by AliExpress, the " G 100 Overseas Plan " aims to help Chinese companies and Chinese brands give full play to their supply chain advantages, seize major opportunities brought by changes in the global trade landscape and the development of cross-border e-commerce , establish brand awareness in overseas markets , expand new markets and new users, and allow Chinese manufacturing to "come to the fore from behind the scenes" in the world market .

Founded in 2010, Alibaba AliExpress is China's largest cross-border retail e-commerce platform. It currently has sites in 18 languages, covering more than 200 countries and regions around the world .

The best opportunity for Chinese brands to establish overseas mindshare has arrived

Since the beginning of 2019 , the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the global economy and trade. On the one hand, the pandemic has led to a clear trend of "offline to online" consumption in global consumption, and the e-commerce penetration rate in various countries has increased significantly over the past year. According to data from the European Statistical Office, last year, the e-commerce penetration rate in Europe reached 72 % . Online consumption habits give consumers more opportunities to access global goods, among which Chinese products with rich varieties, high quality and low prices have greater competitive advantages.

On the other hand, overseas manufacturing has been hit by the epidemic, and China's manufacturing has become an important pillar of the global consumer market. In the past year, almost all industries where Chinese manufacturing has an advantage have achieved rapid growth in cross-border exports. Industry data shows that China's home appliance production capacity accounts for more than 60% of the world, mobile phones account for more than 40%, and toys account for nearly 70%. In the past year, the sales of home appliances and home products on AliExpress have increased by more than 50%, among which smart concept products, such as 3C, consumer electronics, and smart home products, have performed particularly well.

(AliExpress is popular among consumers in overseas markets.)

"The best opportunity for China's advantageous supply chain to establish brand awareness in overseas markets has arrived. Brands that have technological barriers, independent research and development capabilities, and represent future trends will become the mainstay of cross-border retail exports." Wang Mingqiang said that AliExpress's operating model based on brands and stores, as well as the various infrastructure capabilities that have been accumulated over a long period of time, enable AliExpress to become a key role in helping Chinese brands seize this opportunity.

Provide corresponding support for brands at different stages of development

UGREEN, a well-known domestic 3C consumer electronics brand, is one of the "super brands" that signed a contract with AliExpress. Since cooperating with AliExpress to explore the overseas market in 2015, UGREEN's sales on AliExpress have increased 50 times in just 6 years . Currently, UGREEN's overseas sales are basically the same as domestic sales.

"When entering overseas markets, the biggest challenge is not knowing the needs of overseas markets. AliExpress directly connects with C-end users, allowing us to better understand C-end needs and making the production side more predictable and certain," said Lei Jie, general manager of UGREEN International Marketing Center. With the support of AliExpress's data capabilities, UGREEN has independently innovated, developed and designed new audio-visual and data storage and transmission products based on its original advantages in charging products, targeting the needs of overseas markets, and has received a good response in markets such as Brazil, France, and Israel.

For "super brands" like UGREEN that have strong supply chain strength and considerable popularity, AliExpress will invest heavily in marketing resources this year to help brands customize national strategies and discover more new markets. At the same time, it will provide full logistics and after-sales trusteeship services and launch the " 100% Warehouse and Delivery Plan " to allow merchants to focus on product research and development and marketing. In addition, AliExpress has joined hands with MyBank to shorten the original 60- day loan period to one week through supply chain financial services, saving 90% of the brand's capital costs.

As for emerging brands that have technological barriers, can conduct independent research and development, have quality comparable to that of international brands, and have price advantages , AliExpress provides a low-cost, one-click channel to open a new cross-border retail e-commerce format, solve logistics and after-sales problems, and enable them to quickly grow and achieve results, enjoy the dividends of brand premium, and "not just be the people behind the scenes."

"Compared to the period of OEM, our product brand premium effect is obvious, and gross profit has increased by 20-30 % . " Zhu Huanyu, general manager of Yingsi Industrial, said. This young company, whose founders are all born after 1995, has built the KEMORELA brand by relying on the supply chain advantages of the kitchenware industry belt in Chaozhou, Guangdong, Zhu Huanyu's hometown. From 2019 to 2021, KEMORELA's sales have increased by 200%-300% annually, taking advantage of the rise of the overseas "stay-at-home economy".