At the beginning of 2025, multiple platforms started a "war for Chinese sellers"!

As Chinese sellers play an increasingly important role on the Amazon platform, more and more platforms are aware of the importance of Chinese sellers. In this context, major platforms have begun to work hard to attract and recruit Chinese sellers.

In the words of the industry, "After Made in China, Chinese Seller has become another label in the global e-commerce industry." Although only two months have passed since 2025, many platforms have already "showed goodwill" to Chinese sellers.

To attract Chinese sellers, Russia's two major cross-border giants have launched another big move

Following the full opening of Chinese sellers and the opening of new sites to Chinese sellers, Russia's two large cross-border e-commerce platforms, Wildberries and Ozon, have recently once again extended an "olive branch" to Chinese sellers.

On February 10, Wildberries officially announced the opening of its cross-border POP store in China; on February 11, Ozon announced that new sellers would be exempt from deposit requirements for registration; a few days later, Ozon announced the opening of the Armenia site for Chinese sellers.

According to official news from Wildberries, there are no GMV, category, and other requirements for Chinese sellers who want to join the POP cross-border store. They only need to prepare a business license from mainland China/Hong Kong/Macao, a telephone number, and a RMB 10,000 entry fee as application materials.

The platform commission ranges from 5% to 16% depending on the category , and the payment is settled weekly based on the buyer's receipt of the order.

After successful entry, the platform will distribute 120,000 advertising points to the seller's advertising account in batches; logistics will use FBS platform's self-operated logistics. Sellers only need to send orders to domestic or Hong Kong warehouses, and subsequent delivery will be completed by the platform.

Although the customer service replied that there are no category entry requirements, according to official information, currently car supplies, home appliances, clothing, shoes and bags, DIY hardware tools, electronic digital (3C), smart home and security, home gardening, sports and outdoor, maternal and child products, pet supplies, beauty and health, books and popular culture categories have more advantages on the platform.

It is worth mentioning that although the entry fee of Wildberries is relatively high, many sellers believe that this is a necessary condition for screening other sellers.

Ozon recently announced that it will waive the deposit for newly registered sellers, and will provide a full refund between March 15 and March 25 to sellers who have already paid the deposit but abide by the platform's rules and have no outstanding debts.

According to Ozon, the move was made because the platform has been stepping up efforts to improve security over the past three months and is now "able to operate safely without the need for a deposit."

Previously, many sellers reported that Ozon's copycat sales were serious . This time, the platform also "launched an advanced automated inspection system that can effectively identify unauthorized copying and intellectual property infringement." The system will conduct relevant inspections every month "to ensure that counterfeit or copied products are removed quickly and effectively."

In addition, Ozon also announced that it will open sales to Chinese sellers in Armenia and recommend Chinese sellers to consumers on the homepage of the site. Currently, Chinese sellers of many popular categories have started selling on the new site. Including this newly opened site, Ozon has opened multiple sites for Chinese sellers, including Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

It is worth mentioning that regarding Ozon’s cancellation of the entry deposit, some industry insiders believe that “with zero threshold for entry (on the platform), the number of merchants may grow rapidly, but mature merchants will also be lost.”

North America's "Amazon of the pet industry" announced that it will open up to Chinese sellers

In addition to the two Russian cross-border giants, Chewy, a leading pet platform in North America known as the "Amazon of the pet industry", has also extended an olive branch to Chinese sellers. Recently, there was news that Chewy has opened up to Chinese sellers for the first time.

According to information, Chewy was founded in 2011 and is the largest vertical pet e-commerce platform in North America, and has occupied 50% of the US pet e-commerce market.

The pet economy has been very popular in recent years, which has benefited Chewy. According to the financial report, as of the third quarter of 2024, Chewy's active customers will be about 20.2 million; the platform's cumulative net sales in the first three quarters were US$8.614 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.51%. The platform's user lifetime value (LTV) has exceeded US$3,600.

According to the information, Chewy's opening to Chinese sellers this time mainly revolves around "three major cooperation models and six entry requirements". The three cooperation models are: Dropship model, Chewy procurement model and Chewy import model.

The Dropship model mainly cooperates with sellers with cross-border experience and supply chain capabilities, and requires sellers to have inventory in the U.S. The goods are provided by the seller, the platform sets the retail price (some sellers can provide retail price guidance), and the final transportation is arranged using Chewy's FedEx shipping label.

Chewy's procurement model mainly cooperates with sellers who have American brands but cannot provide the dropship model due to brand strategy issues. Sellers need goods in American warehouses (some can be shipped directly from China to the platform warehouse), and the platform selects suitable products for procurement. Sellers then warehouse the purchased products in Chewy warehouses and then put them on the shelves for sale.

Chewy's import model is mainly aimed at factory sellers, using EXW (Ex Works Delivery) trade terms. Chewy has a dedicated team in China responsible for factory inspection, factory inspection and contract execution.

It is worth mentioning that from Chewy’s entry requirements for sellers, it can be seen that in addition to wanting sellers with cross-border experience, the platform also has high expectations for sellers’ supply chain, warehousing and other capabilities:

1. Must possess business licenses from both China and the United States;

2. You must have inventory in the United States and be able to apply for a shipping label through the platform’s FedEx account within 24 hours (on working days) of the order to notify the courier to pick up the package.

3. Must have a strong supply chain and be able to offer competitive prices (own factory, integrated industry and trade, cooperative factory model are all acceptable).

4. For pet products (non-food and cat litter), you must provide a link to the online sales platform or product catalog of the corresponding category.

5. Product liability insurance (COI) must be purchased

6. A Payoneer USD bank account confirmation letter is required

The payment cycle that sellers are most concerned about is currently set at 60-90 days. This payment cycle is not competitive compared to other platforms that settle weekly or monthly. Some sellers also said that this payment cycle is "a bit long." Fortunately, the platform also said that the payment cycle can be negotiated in the cooperation agreement.

Judging from Chewy's current entry qualification requirements for sellers, a considerable number of small and medium-sized sellers have been screened out, which may be related to the price of goods on the platform. Data shows that Chewy's average price is 15-25% lower than that of physical stores, and the price advantage of large items can reach 30%. To achieve this, it is essential to have a strong supply chain as support.

However, as the market develops and changes, Chewy's investment conditions may be relaxed in the future. Take Temu's semi-hosted model as an example. At first, Temu had strict requirements for merchants in the semi-hosted model, but recently there have been reports that Temu's semi-hosted pricing has been slightly relaxed, and it no longer requires Amazon's 60%-70% discount.

As more and more cross-border platforms join the "war for talent", it undoubtedly brings new opportunities to Chinese sellers. In addition, in the current market full of changes, the principle of "not putting all your eggs in one basket" has become particularly important. Therefore, sellers can actively pay attention to these emerging platforms to explore diversified strategic layouts and find new growth points for their business.

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