Selling goods is getting harder and harder! Shenzhen sellers turn into headhunters

In the cross-border circle, it is not a new thing for sellers to transform into service providers, but most of them are engaged in training, freight forwarding, etc. However, some people are now taking a different approach and becoming headhunters.

From the current situation of the industry, cross-border e-commerce headhunting has its necessity and market space, because with the development of the cross-border e-commerce industry, the problem of "difficulty in recruiting" has become increasingly prominent, and mid- and high-end talents are even more difficult to find. More and more cross-border e-commerce companies are shouting: it is difficult to recruit people, and it is even more difficult to recruit the right people. And the job-seeking side also has the problem of "difficulty in finding a job".

No longer selling goods, sellers transformed into headhunters

Not long ago, Yien.com discovered that Shenzhen seller Zhao Zhuo (pseudonym) suddenly transformed into a service provider. However, unlike the freight forwarders, intellectual property agents and other service providers generally known in the industry, he specializes in helping cross-border e-commerce companies recruit talents, also known as a "headhunter."

Zhao Zhuo was originally a partner of a cross-border e-commerce company in Shenzhen. Although most sellers’ performance was not ideal last year, the company still had a slight growth. However, this year he decided to give up his identity as a seller and start his own business. One of the main reasons for the transformation is the same as that of many people, that is, it is becoming increasingly difficult to be a seller.

Headhunting, meaning someone who looks for talent, is about helping excellent companies find the talent they need. Another way to call this term is senior talent search. In foreign countries, this is a very popular way of recruiting talent.

However, in addition to helping cross-border e-commerce sellers recruit mid- to senior-level talents, Zhao Zhuo's company also recruits for some ordinary positions. The reason for doing this is related to the current state of the industry.

In 2022, my country's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports (including B2B) will be 2.11 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.8%. Among them, exports will be 1.55 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.7%. In the five years since 2018, the scale of the cross-border e-commerce market has been 9 trillion yuan, 10.5 trillion yuan, 12.5 trillion yuan, 14.2 trillion yuan, and 15.7 trillion yuan, respectively, with growth rates all above 10%.

Behind the rapid development of the industry is a huge demand for talent. And as the industry develops in depth, sellers need more comprehensive talents, and it is difficult to complete these recruitment tasks relying solely on the seller's own human resources department. Therefore, headhunting companies have room for development. At present, there are many headhunting companies that specialize in helping cross-border e-commerce sellers with recruitment. Due to the large demand, some in-service HRs are also recruiting part-time.

Zhao Zhuo's company has also developed very rapidly. Less than half a year after its establishment, it already has more than 70 positions on hand. Its clients include listed companies with big sales as well as start-up companies with a few people.

Sellers are transforming to a more sophisticated business model and raising hiring standards

Generally speaking, as a middleman with professional knowledge, headhunters have a certain understanding of both companies and job seekers, which can reduce the communication costs of both parties and increase the success rate.

However, Zhao Zhuo said that cross-border e-commerce headhunting companies now receive quite a few requests, but the transaction rate is generally not high. The main reason is that in addition to the positions given to headhunters are generally more difficult positions or benchmark positions, another very important reason is that many companies are now developing in the direction of refinement.

In this case, they are bound to put forward higher requirements for job seekers. Even for ordinary positions such as operations and product development, the requirements for general categories and specialized categories are completely different. "For example, (recruiting) pet product development requires relevant development experience. It is not enough to have development experience, but also experience in this category." Zhao Zhuo told Ennet.

Cross-border e-commerce has passed its bonus period, and refined brand operation has become a new trend in going overseas. Chinese cross-border e-commerce companies have gradually shifted from expanding their volume to brand building, that is, from exporting Chinese costs and Chinese prices to building Chinese brands.

At present, big sellers that have gone public from general distribution, such as Youkeshu and Yibai Network, have taken the lead in trying and exploring the path of transformation to high-quality products. Although brand building is still a big challenge for Chinese cross-border e-commerce sellers, they are also actively trying. Zhao Zhuo can also clearly feel this trend: "We have received a lot of job requests related to independent sites and brands."

However, among all the job requests received by the company, Amazon operations still account for the largest proportion, which is also in line with the current status of the industry. Relevant data shows that in the ranking of the world's best e-commerce platforms in 2023, Amazon ranks first with 5.2 billion monthly visits, far ahead of the second-place eBay (1.7 billion monthly visits in the global market). As we all know, Amazon is an indispensable channel for Chinese companies going overseas. As of the end of 2021, the number of Chinese sellers on the Amazon platform has exceeded 200,000.

It is worth noting that the demand for product development positions is shrinking this year. The most likely reason is that the sellers’ new product promotion results this year are not significant, which directly affects the recruitment of back-end positions.

These positions have become new options for cross-border workers

While transforming, sellers are also looking for new sales, some of them are exploring new platforms and new markets, and some are introducing new technologies. In this process, the demand for some new positions continues to be released, so if it is difficult to apply for positions such as Amazon operations or independent station operations, job seekers may wish to consider the following positions.

The first is SHEIN operation.

When SHEIN became well-known in the cross-border e-commerce industry, it was already a company with a valuation of 100 billion yuan. According to the "2022 Global Unicorn List" released by Hurun Research Institute, SHEIN ranked fifth in the world with a valuation of 400 billion yuan.

Therefore, when this unicorn company announced this year that it would open up to third-party sellers, the entire cross-border e-commerce circle was excited, and many sellers quickly made their plans and recruited talent at the same time.

A domestic recruitment website shows that a cross-border e-commerce company in Hangzhou offered a salary of 4K-6K for 13 days to SHEIN operators, and required candidates to have experience in SHEIN and aesthetics and product selection.

The second is Temu related positions.

Although Temu was only launched in the United States in September last year, it has already entered 37 markets around the world. Its rapid development is beyond the expectations of many industry insiders. As expected, low prices work everywhere. As Temu continues to expand overseas, Chinese cross-border e-commerce sellers are also stepping up their pace to build on the platform.

By observing the recruitment information, the Temu-related positions currently recruited by sellers mainly include operations, operations supervisors, product development, and product selectors.

However, perhaps due to the job content, the upper limit of salary for related positions is generally not high. According to a recruitment website, a cross-border e-commerce company in Guangzhou only offers a salary of 11-12K for the position of Temu Operation Supervisor. The salary for Temu Operation is lower. Also in Guangzhou, a cross-border e-commerce company offers 6-9K. The main job responsibilities are to manage accounts, ensure the normal operation of the store, edit and publish products, maintain and optimize listing pages, explore selling points, and formulate product sales promotion and inventory clearance plans .