Specialty products are rushing to export, and sellers from industry belts are seizing international business opportunities on the SHEIN platform

Recently , at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress, and making new breakthroughs in promoting high-quality development of commerce, Wang Shouwen, International Trade Negotiation Representative and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, said that foreign trade achieved positive growth last year, of which cross-border e-commerce played an indispensable role. In 2023, cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reached 2.38 trillion yuan, an increase of 15.6%. According to preliminary statistics, there are now 645,000 companies with foreign trade import and export performance in China, of which more than 100,000 are cross-border e-commerce entities.

Vigorously develop the "cross-border e-commerce + industrial belt" model, encourage traditional foreign trade enterprises to transform into cross-border e-commerce, support leading enterprises to drive the coordinated development of upstream and downstream supply chains, and rely on cross-border e-commerce industrial parks in various places to incubate more start-ups... These measures are effectively accelerating the long-term development of the cross-border e-commerce industry.

“Almost all my colleagues have opened stores on cross-border platforms,” “Now the main force is in cross-border e-commerce, which has accounted for more than half of the business volume,” “After opening my own cross-border store, I have more initiative and am full of enthusiasm for production”... During the interview, the voices from sellers continued to confirm that the cooperation between the industrial belt and the cross-border e-commerce platform is a "two-way rush." ​​They hope to rely on their own strength to go beyond the borders and reach consumers directly, so that more products can become famous overseas.

Innovation adds momentum: a pair of fashionable glasses is the result of an old factory upgrading its production capacity

The formation of a manufacturing industrial belt often benefits from regional resource endowments, mature human resources, technology and other factors. By integrating upstream and downstream resources to form a complete industrial chain, the entire process from raw material procurement, production and processing to product sales is realized. The industrial chain grows stronger, and the links are linked together to form an industrial belt.

According to a survey conducted by E-Boom Think Tank, in the lighting industry belt in Zhongshan, Guangdong, cross-border e-commerce sales account for about 60% of total sales; in the furniture industry belt in Foshan, cross-border e-commerce transactions account for 59% more than traditional foreign trade; in the wedding dress industry belt in Xiamen, Fujian, cross-border e-commerce transactions account for more than 20% of total exports; in the Tonglu industry belt in Zhejiang, more than 50% of local companies have transformed into cross-border e-commerce. On the one hand, high-quality industrial belts with strong strength and distinctive characteristics are striving for breakthroughs, while on the other hand, rapidly developing cross-border platforms are looking forward to high-quality supply chains. Against the backdrop of the country's strong support for new foreign trade formats, cross-border e-commerce has become a new opportunity for industrial belt transformation.

20 years ago, when Chen Yuheng just graduated from university, he held the first bachelor's degree in e-commerce in Zhejiang Province. After graduation, he returned home and became the "small factory manager" of the family's glasses factory. In the busy production workshop, he worked with the workers to assemble glasses through cutting and assembly. It was not until 2021 that the number of foreign trade orders decreased significantly, and Chen Yuheng finally made up his mind to put the products directly on the SHEIN platform to do cross-border e-commerce himself.

Chen Yuheng's glasses factory is located in Duqiao Town, Linhai City, Zhejiang Province. It is one of the four major glasses distribution centers in China, integrating glasses design, processing and manufacturing, as well as glasses equipment manufacturing. Chen Yuheng's glasses have been supplied to foreign trade customers for many years and sold on overseas supermarket shelves, but most foreign trade customers only need him to produce basic models suitable for supermarket shelves, and do not have much expectation for product innovation. It was not until he opened a store on the SHEIN platform that Chen Yuheng felt the joy of making great efforts in the C-end market.

"Glasses are a great tool for fashion matching. Some buyers placed orders for more than 10 or 20 pieces at a time," said Chen Yuheng. The SHEIN platform has a large flow of traffic and high user stickiness. After six months of operation, the average monthly sales amount has exceeded one million with excellent product quality and rich styles. Then he reviewed the data and investigated the market. He continued to launch new models based on the trends shared by SHEIN. During the peak sales season, monthly sales can reach more than 8 million. For sellers with production capabilities like Chen Yuheng, developing new models and expanding production are like two tightly meshed gears. The more popular models there are and the larger the customer orders are, the more they can stimulate his production and development potential.

Chen Yuheng also made new materials that have been popular in China in recent years into styles that suit the preferences of foreign consumers. This new material is still very rare overseas. It is resistant to pressure and not easy to break, and its weight is only about 2/3 of that of traditional materials. Chen Yuheng knows that to do long-term global business, low prices are not the key solution. The only way is to base on user needs and build product strength.

Comprehensive cross-border infrastructure makes it easier for the jewelry industry to go overseas

When talking about fashion manufacturing-related industrial belts, most people can list women's clothing in Guangzhou, high-end customization in Shenzhen, jeans in Xintang, shirts in Puning, underwear in Shantou ... But few people know that Dongguan Chang'an, which is also located in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and in the middle of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, is one of the birthplaces of fashion accessories and is also supporting a part of the fashion industry. Dongguan Chang'an has gathered more than 2,000 factories and nearly 150,000 accessories practitioners, and has long had a complete set of production infrastructure.

"I have always wanted to try cross-border e-commerce, but I didn't dare to invest blindly, fearing that it would not work out," said Yin Fangfei, a factory seller in Chang'an, Dongguan. She has been supplying domestic e-commerce anchors and overseas foreign trade customers for many years. Cross-border e-commerce is like a new thing that she is "looking forward to but also afraid of." In her previous experience in making orders, she often encountered the need to complete mass production of popular products in a short period of time, but once the popularity faded, she would immediately face the problem of unsalable goods. It was not until she heard someone introduce her to SHEIN that Yin Fangfei re-understood the issues of production and cross-border sales.

Under SHEIN 's guidance, Yin Fangfei gradually mastered the " small order, quick response " flexible supply chain trick that SHEIN is good at . "In the past, the supply was whatever others said, but now I design the style myself, order small orders, and then prepare the stock according to the data." From WeChat screenshots and Excel spreadsheets to real-time updated digital systems, Yin Fangfei feels that her cross-border business is more convenient and clear than accepting foreign trade orders.

In addition to bringing changes to the overseas business model, Yin Fangfei told the media that she was initially troubled by the platform's requirement to provide beautiful product pictures. She knew that pictures were one of the key materials to win the favor of consumers, but her factory employees could not always take the desired effect. Later, SHEIN employees took the initiative to help sellers negotiate product photography support in the industrial belt where Dongguan jewelry factories are concentrated, and also provided professional training to photographers who cooperated with the industrial belt, so that sellers could get fashionable product pictures at preferential prices.

For sellers in the industry belt, going overseas and facing the overseas consumer market by their own strength was once an unattainable option. Language barriers, marketing methods, traffic competition, logistics investment, each problem requires a professional team and capital investment to solve. More and more sellers in the industry belt have also realized that cross-border e-commerce platforms like SHEIN not only provide opportunities for large-scale orders, but also provide ecological services including store opening, marketing, logistics, etc., which can help factories achieve digitalization and modernization.

Hitting new overseas target customers, the wig industry has grown brand strength

"I feel that overseas consumers visiting SHEIN are like visiting an offline salon, where they can purchase all their fashion gear in one place. Wigs are a fashion item for them, and some buy more than a dozen at a time." Deng Nan, a seller in the wig industry, used the phrase "riding a rocket" to describe the sales growth after joining SHEIN.

As the world's largest hair products industry, Yiwu, Zhejiang and Xuchang, Henan have a large number of hair products for export. In particular, Xuchang has more than 300,000 direct practitioners in the hair products industry, and one in every 15 people makes a living by making wigs. Deng Nan, who is engaged in hair products, paid attention to the needs of overseas consumers for wigs in his early years. By launching the SHEIN platform, the inconspicuous niche product achieved sales of 50,000 US dollars in the first month; three years later, this figure has reached 2 million US dollars. Deng Nan observed that the SHEIN platform has a complete range of fashion categories and high user stickiness. Consumers who buy clothes, cosmetics, and accessories will come to shop for wigs, and there is a good driving effect between categories.

Factory-type sellers need to do three things to develop their brands: positioning, shaping, and marketing. Deng Nan told the media: "The Middle East market prefers brown and black, while Europe and the United States prefer colors. Some people also like special shapes such as waves of different curvatures and braids. We make different styles and put them on SHEIN, so that consumers can have enough choices and dress up with a personalized look."

SHEIN also provides solutions for the latter two issues for the sellers’ branding ideas. After the cooperation, SHEIN first helped Deng Nan optimize the factory system, the gradient construction of production personnel, how to quickly respond and run-in the production line, how to expand the production line and reduce unnecessary costs. During popular overseas shopping nodes, SHEIN will also give potential products with characteristics the opportunity to be exposed and displayed in activities and promoted by social media celebrities, eliminating the worries of sellers who do not know how to go overseas for marketing.

"Going overseas is not just a business, but an option for the future." With the rise of cross-border e-commerce platforms, a number of traditional manufacturing industry belts in China have once again gained a high ground suitable for take-off.

Yin Fangfei's goal this year is to launch different featured series of styles based on the original styles according to the different national markets, and win the hearts of more consumers with new products and new designs. Chen Yuheng's company has recruited a group of college students who graduated from e-commerce majors. On the official website of his alma mater, a new major "Cross-border E-commerce College" has been added after the major classification of "Management Engineering and E-commerce College". Deng Nan's company has registered a wig brand and is ready to further segment the needs of consumers in different countries, match different products and models, and strive to develop a new target consumer group. A new batch of cross-border people in the industrial belt are standing at a new starting point.

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