A single seller loses hundreds of millions, while small and medium-sized sellers just make a profit

In the past three quarters, the cross-border market has generally been sluggish, so sellers have some comfort. But now that we have entered the traditional peak season in Europe and the United States, front-line sellers report that orders are still up and down.

“Throughout the year, there was no quarter that was profitable.”

Losing money to gain publicity? The big sales have resulted in losses of hundreds of millions

Judging from the financial reports of various listed big-selling companies, the battle for a number of big-selling companies this year, especially in the third quarter, was "brutal".

Huakai Yibai: Net profit fell by 40%

According to Huakai Yibai's latest financial report, in the third quarter, its revenue reached 2.596 billion yuan, but its profit fell by 40.01% to 54.75 million yuan; in the first three quarters, its revenue increased by 28.75% year-on-year to 6.115 billion yuan, but its net profit fell by 36.74% to 189 million yuan.

Looking at the net profit of its wholly-owned subsidiary Yibai Network, it was 102 million yuan in the first quarter, 82.96 million yuan in the second quarter, and 71.01 million yuan in the third quarter, with a quarterly decrease of 14.41%.

In addition, in July this year, Huakai Yibai officially completed the full acquisition of Tongtuo. In the third quarter, Tongtuo's revenue was 677 million yuan. Although it stated that it had turned losses into profits, the specific amount was not disclosed.

Savi Times: Net loss exceeds 40 million yuan

The third quarter financial report shows that the revenue of Savitech increased by 63.89% year-on-year to 2.624 billion yuan, but the net profit plummeted by 155.65%, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was -40.18 million yuan. According to the data for the first three quarters, the revenue of Savitech increased by 55.50% year-on-year to 6.8 billion yuan, but the net profit fell by 12.20% to only 195 million yuan.

Regarding the losses in the third quarter, LDK said that it was mainly due to the substantial increase in phased investment during the peak season in the fourth quarter, which affected its profits, for example:

1. The development of new products has intensified, and there will be periodic losses during the concentrated promotion period. In the early stage of operation, it will not be possible to make a profit due to the large investment;

2. Increased marketing and promotion expenses. Intense competition among platforms has led to an increase in marketing costs (such as CPC prices, etc.), as well as the promotion of brand exposure through multiple channels.

3. Increase in comprehensive costs including labor costs.

Greebo: Net loss reached 112 million yuan

So far this year, Greebo has not yet turned losses into profits.

In the third quarter, Greebo's revenue was 988 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.42%. Although its net profit increased by 7.47% year-on-year, it still suffered a loss of 112 million yuan.

There is a tree: Net profit is only 310,000 yuan

In the third quarter, Youkeshu's revenue fell 8.69% year-on-year to 99.84 million yuan. Although its net profit increased by 100.37%, it was only 310,000 yuan. In the first three quarters of this year, Youkeshu's revenue was 328 million yuan, but its net loss had reached 30.57 million yuan.

Apart from big sellers, small and medium-sized sellers feel that it is becoming increasingly difficult to make money.

The number of orders during the peak season has hit a new low. “It’s OK as long as we don’t lose money this year”

"We are already 1/12 of this year, and our net profit is still negative. The financial data shows that we lost seven figures in the first three quarters. Whether we can turn things around in the last quarter depends purely on luck."

At the same time, the seller also said that now that Europe and the United States have officially entered the year-end peak season, the number of orders in the store has not increased significantly. "Compared with last year, this year is even bleaker."

Yien.com has noticed that many sellers have posted on social media platforms that the order situation in the earlier wave of Halloween was not optimistic, and they are still clearing out the Halloween inventory. If they want to catch up with important sales nodes such as Black Friday, Cyber ​​Monday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, they really have to be busy.

In addition, some sellers have been contacting local flea markets to clear inventory in order to ensure product availability and store operations during the next few peak periods.

"According to the rhythm of previous years, our Christmas products started to increase in volume in early November, but even with a 50% discount on Halloween products , we couldn't clear them out . I was anxious and had to remind myself not to mess up the rhythm. "

In terms of traffic, many sellers also said that traffic has declined severely in recent times.

For example, during the Halloween sales period, sellers usually spend a lot of money on advertising, but even with an increased budget, store traffic still did not improve, conversion rates did not improve, and even worse, rankings dropped. "Money is like water, it flows out without a sound."

Another seller said that the advertising fee for an old product in his store was $300-500 a day before, but after entering the "peak season", the advertising budget for the product was increased to $1,500, but sales volume declined instead, "I have already PUA myself to reduce it."

"I have to say that this year's Halloween was really 'weird'. The traffic and order volume were both sluggish. I have been working at Amazon for 7 years. Although people have been saying that the market is not doing well due to consumption downgrades since a few years ago, our sales usually increase in mid-to-late September. This year was the first time that happened. The sales only increased for one day, and then fell directly to a new low. It has not recovered until now, as if it is paralyzed."

According to the rhythm of previous years, as the weather turned cooler, orders should have been slightly hotter, but this year was contrary to the norm, with orders cut in half, and even advertising could not boost sales.

Some sellers have reported that, perhaps because of Amazon’s autumn promotion, the rhythm of various links such as stocking, sales, and volume increase have changed. October has never been so quiet, and the Christmas promotion node usually shows signs at the end of October, but it is still lukewarm now.

Although some sellers said that the number of orders has increased and the daily sales volume has increased significantly, the performance of most sellers is still in a "low period".

The market performance in October was not positive, and some sellers have begun to summarize their performance in the past three quarters.

However, judging from the feedback from most sellers, both profit targets and sales targets seem to be off track.

“—— In 10 months, we have only achieved 50% of our annual sales target ;

——In the first nine months, annual profit was less than 8% of the target;

——The overall goal has been completed by 60%, and there are two months left to complete 40%;

——We need to increase our profit by 20% compared to last year. Now it seems that we just want the profit to be the same as last year.

——Don’t compare with last year, as long as you can make money ;

..."

Another survey showed that nearly 70 % of sellers said that their current performance completion rate is far from the target and they feel that it can no longer be completed ; only 10% of sellers believe that they can exceed the target.

Since the beginning of this year, Amazon has frequently increased a number of fees, and coupled with rising shipping costs, the profit margins of many sellers have been squeezed. A survey of sellers showed that more than 60% of sellers said they have suffered greatly from rising costs this year, and their sales and profit targets have been deeply affected.

It seems that everyone is having a hard time. No matter how big or small the ship is, they will encounter the same storms in the same sea. The rising prices of raw materials, shipping cycles and costs, inventory turnover, etc. will all affect the final business results.

The past cannot be changed. One seller encouraged, "November is coming soon. We are preparing for the final sprint to put a less ugly end to 2024. Black Friday is in mid-to-late November, so we should be able to make another round of sprints to make up for the losses before Christmas... right..."

Small and medium-sized sales

Performance