Another Amazon seller leaves the office after giving up the lease!

Some sellers are selling out their office space on Amazon, and others are quitting. The sellers in the besieged city have survived the wave of account bans, but not the year of declining orders. The high-priced office buildings that were once popular are now seeing falling rents and rising vacancy rates. The bosses' former ambitions to catch up with Japan and South Korea and surpass Europe and the United States have turned into a difficult year for money and life. The once booming cross-border track is returning to rationality.

Even in such a situation, there is still a crazy influx of funds. In the first half of this year, dozens of overseas brands received financing, covering fashion, outdoor robots, E-bike, consumer electronics and other fields. The IPO market is still hot, and there are also a lot of good news: home furnishings, pets, lawn mowers and other tracks have been listed one after another, and the performance cards handed in are still very strong.

Another seller quits office building and leaves Amazon

Since the beginning of this year, the topic that sellers complain about the most is "poor order volume". Now, this chill has become the last straw that breaks the camel's back for some sellers.

"Another cross-border company in our office building has given up its lease and closed down. Now we can't count how many companies have gone bankrupt," a seller from Guangdong revealed. Several companies have closed down on that floor. I heard that the one that closed down this time is a company that makes 3C products. It did quite well on Amazon at first, but it suddenly closed down recently, probably because of poor performance.

The situation of the above-mentioned company is not an isolated case. Since the beginning of the year, companies have closed down one after another in this office building. Some are engaged in import and export trade, some are engaged in scientific and technological innovation, some are engaged in training, and some are engaged in cross-border e-commerce, but cross-border companies still account for the majority.

The chill of quitting the lease and closing the business continues to spread downward. A cross-border boss in Futian District, Shenzhen, issued a notice on the social platform that " cross-border business is no longer in operation, and the personal company is transferred ." It is understood that the company was established in early 2022 as a sole proprietorship. All materials are normal. It was originally registered to mainly engage in cross-border e-commerce, but because of poor performance, the boss planned to quit and wanted to transfer at a low price.

In some office buildings in Shenzhen, the situation of company closures is more common. "We have a floor here, and the company has changed several times in half a year. Some even don't want office supplies such as tables and chairs , " a seller in Shenzhen said frankly. One of them sells data cables on Amazon. The scale is relatively small. Although there were few orders at the beginning, it was profitable. However, since this year, the orders have dropped sharply. The boss is shouting that there are no orders every day. In the end, he had no choice but to sell part of the inventory at a loss and quit Amazon. Recently, the boss seems to have gone out to find a job.

After the account suspension wave, most of the small and medium-sized sellers that are still alive are already struggling. Inflation in Europe and the United States and overstocking of retailers have exacerbated the current situation of declining orders. Exchange rate fluctuations, international logistics and other factors have also increased the uncertainty faced by sellers. Even in the peak season of previous orders, sellers' "days" have not improved, so the phenomenon of quitting and closing down has become more common in the cross-border e-commerce circle, and many people have become accustomed to it.

A colleague complained, "More than 10 companies have moved to the same location on our floor. The property management fee has been waived for several months, but it's still a lot emptier." The once crowded South China City has now become much quieter. Some companies have disbanded on the spot, some have moved to other places to start over, and many of the remaining ones are struggling to survive after repeated layoffs.

The editor learned from a certain rental website in Shenzhen that there are more than 300 office buildings for rent in Nanshan District, where there are many cross-border companies. Longgang and Futian are next, with dozens of houses for rent in each area. There are also many houses for rent in office buildings such as Tianan Cloud Valley and Anhongji Tianyao Plaza. In order to attract tenants, some office buildings have even put up slogans such as rent one year and get three months free, free monthly rent during the renovation period, and free parking spaces, but vacancies still exist.

As of the end of the first half of the year, the vacancy rates of Grade A office buildings in Guangzhou and Shenzhen were 18% and 24.5% respectively . The rising vacancy rates have caused the average rent of Grade A office buildings to continue to decline. The rents in Guangzhou and Shenzhen fell by 3% to 197.5 yuan/square meter/month and 3.3% to 161 yuan/square meter/month respectively. The average rent price has almost returned to the level of 2013.

"The market continues to be sluggish, with a small number of orders and fierce competition. The company's cash flow pressure has increased. Many companies are reducing staff and expenses to extend the risk resistance period," said a cross-border seller. As the company's business shrinks, the first choice is to lay off employees. The second choice is to terminate the lease and relocate. The worse case is to disband on the spot. Even worse is to owe huge sums of money and be chased for debt.

Companies that wholesale office supplies in Shenzhen feel the chill more acutely. "In the past, when business was good, we had to drive to deliver goods, but now many small and medium-sized companies have gone bankrupt, our orders are dwindling, and our performance is declining." Some cross-border companies have canceled their original plans to expand their leases, while others have chosen to withdraw from or reduce their leases, moving out of large offices in high-end office buildings and looking for a smaller, cheaper location to work in order to save costs. Those office buildings are also going from bustling to deserted, and some people even describe the situation as "the cross-border companies in Shenzhen office buildings are about to move out."

Bosses no longer say "our company will be listed within three years", but "don't worry, our company will not fail within a year." The goals of a cross-border company with deep roots in Latin America are also shrinking. In the past two years, it was always "on par with Japan and South Korea and surpass Europe and the United States", but this year it has become "it's hard to make money and it's hard to live."

In the cross-border e-commerce industry, the decision to terminate or reduce the lease seems to have become a consensus. In the most popular Bantian area, people could be seen carrying different Amazon paper bags when they walked their dogs. But after Amazon's big reshuffle, they also subconsciously chose to rent a smaller office after the termination of the lease to get through the difficult times.

Another part of small and medium-sized sellers fled Shenzhen directly to survive and moved their offices to surrounding areas with lower rents. Specifically, Huizhou, Dongguan, Changsha, Hangzhou, and even their hometowns have become their new choices. Although there are clear advantages and disadvantages in doing cross-border business in second- and third-tier cities, there are still many sellers who are thriving and have achieved some success.

At a time when the cross-border track has returned to rationality after the frenzy and sellers are downsizing just to survive, capital is still firmly optimistic about the long-term development of cross-border e-commerce. Many overseas brands have been favored by capital, repeatedly won new financing, and developed rapidly.

Capital invested heavily, more than ten brands including shein received new financing

According to incomplete statistics, more than 30 cross-border e-commerce companies obtained financing in the first half of this year, of which 19 companies obtained brand financing, with financing amounts mostly in the tens of millions, involving fashion, outdoor robots, E-bike, consumer electronics, pet services, smart security and other fields. From these, we can get a glimpse of the future trends of popular categories.

Fashion: Still hot

Shein raises $2 billion : As a leader in the fashion field, Shein has expanded from women's clothing to men's clothing, accessories, shoes and bags. Shein has made rapid progress and has been favored by the investment community. In the first half of 2023, Shein received the largest round of financing in the cross-border track, which was a $2 billion D+ round of financing led by Sequoia Capital China. As of the latest round of financing, Shein has received 5 rounds of financing.

Outdoor Robotics: A Hot Track

As the demand for yard cleaning, lawn repair and swimming pool cleaning among Europeans and Americans has soared, Chinese overseas players have set their sights on this business and have begun to vigorously develop smart lawn mowing robots, swimming pool cleaning robots, etc. Many start-ups have also received considerable amounts of financing.

Hanyang Technology Yarbo raised $20 million in two rounds of financing : Founded in 2015, Hanyang Technology is an intelligent service robot research and development company. It has developed snow-clearing robots, virtual boundary intelligent lawn mowing robots, and the world's first intelligent leaf blower, etc., focusing on the European and American markets. So far, Hanyang Technology has received three rounds of financing this year, and has become the startup with the highest cumulative financing amount in the courtyard track.

Laifei Intelligent has raised over US$6.6 million in financing : Founded in 2020, Laifei Intelligent is a robotics startup that mainly develops intelligent lawn mowing robots. Its products are mainly aimed at the European, American and Australian markets. The Novabot robot is its core product, an intelligent lawn mowing robot that uses a multi-sensor positioning technology system for automatic boundary recognition and fully automatic path planning.

Xingmai Innovation raised 200 million yuan : Founded in July 2022, Xingmai Innovation won 200 million yuan in financing led by Hillhouse Capital and Source Code Capital. Its founder has worked for companies such as Ecovacs and Dreame for many years. At present, the company focuses on swimming pool robots and focuses on the North American market. Its online channels are mainly Amazon and independent websites.

In addition, other companies that focus on pool cleaning robots include Zhongqing Technology, which has received nearly 100 million yuan in financing; Pudu Technology, which focuses on commercial service robots and has received hundreds of millions of yuan in financing; and Town Intelligence, which has received tens of millions of yuan in financing.

E-bike: The dividend is still there

E-bikes , which are both sports and environmentally friendly, have been gaining popularity, and the international market size has grown significantly. It is estimated that the global electric bicycle market size will reach US$40.98 billion by 2030. People with large demand mainly come from Europe and North America, and leading companies including Xiaomi and DJI are betting on this track. E-bikes are not a new industry, and there are many good local brands overseas, but this dividend has not disappeared.

TENWAYS raises 300 million yuan : TENWAYS, known as a dark horse player , is a brand of Shenzhen Shifang Yungong Technology Co., Ltd. It was established in 2021 and received exclusive investment from Hillhouse Capital that year. In the second year, it attracted investment from major companies such as Tencent and Alibaba. Its official visits exceeded one million, which is not particularly outstanding for a start-up brand, but it is also eye-catching enough.

VELOTRIC raises 50 million yuan in financing : VELOTRIC, co-founded by core members such as Lime, Didi, and Decathlon, is affiliated to Shenzhen Weile High-tech Co., Ltd. and focuses on entry-level E-bikes. After the independent station was launched in May 2022, it completed sales of 15 million US dollars in 7 months.

Onemile raised 50 million yuan in financing : Onemile was founded by Beijing One Mile Technology Co., Ltd. Its products cover multiple categories including electric mountain bikes, electric city bikes, electric folding bikes, etc. It entered the market through differentiated small-wheel diameter and folding bike products, and mainly targeted the mid-to-high-end E-bike market in Europe with a price of around 2,000 euros.

Consumer Electronics:

Baseus Technology raised 100 million yuan in financing : Founded in 2011, Baseus Technology is a leading enterprise in China's 3C electronics industry. Its products mainly include mobile phone charging equipment, Bluetooth headsets, etc. This round of financing is the first external market financing since its establishment.

Diexi Technology raised 3 million yuan in financing : Diexi Technology, founded in 2023, focuses on the new cross-border overseas market for China-East Africa trade. It is currently mainly testing 3C products and has built factories in East African countries to assemble its own products, including production lines for mobile phones, televisions and smart speakers.

FreeYond has raised nearly 100 million yuan : it is affiliated to Shenzhen Yuedong Technology Co., Ltd. and was founded by Yu Lei, the former global vice president of Gionee Group . It is known as a new mobile phone company in Africa that has quickly become popular. On Jumia, Africa's cross-border e-commerce platform , FreeYond entered the top 4 of Jumia's Kenya site and the top 9 of its Nigeria site within 4 months of its launch, and is about to enter the top 10 in the mobile phone category in Africa.

In addition, companies related to pets and VR equipment have received financing. According to statistics, many companies are still in the A round of financing, which means that some projects are still in a relatively early stage, and the industry structure still has a lot of room for development. New startups and investment institutions still have a lot to do. Interested sellers can refer to this to enter the market.

4 cross-border e-commerce companies successfully IPO, these tracks are still hot

Recently, the financial reports of cross-border sellers have been released one after another, and many people have mixed feelings after reading them. Among them, Huakai Yibai had the largest revenue growth, followed by Anker and Savi, and in terms of net profit, Yibai still increased steadily by 149%, followed by Zhiou and Anker. Most of the other big sellers have both revenue and profit declines, so many people complain that 2023 is too difficult.

So what kind of results have these big sellers that went public this year handed in? According to incomplete statistics, there are 4 cross-border e-commerce companies that have successfully gone public this year, with products covering multiple categories such as comprehensive, home, and pets, and many other big sellers are applying for listing.

In terms of comprehensive sales, Savi Times is a company that went public in July this year and performed relatively well in the first half of the year. In the first half of 2023, the revenue was 2.773 billion yuan and the net profit was 150 million yuan, both of which were in a state of growth. In terms of subdivision, the revenue of the apparel category accounted for more than 70%, with a revenue of 1.954 billion yuan.

At present, the number of online stores of Savi on Amazon is 430, with 7 new stores added during the period and 82 stores closed due to streamlining of some categories. Another comprehensive and popular retailer, San Tai Shares, has reached the stage of "public registration application" and is only waiting for the bell to ring before listing.

In the home furnishing category, Zhiou Technology was the winner this year, with a sharp increase in net profit. Despite the decline in consumption in Europe and the United States and insufficient production capacity, Zhiou's semi-annual report is still strong, especially in terms of net profit. Revenue in the first half of the year was 2.644 billion yuan, down 5.87% from the same period last year, but net profit increased by 68.44% to 186 million yuan.

In terms of breakdown, Europe still contributed the most revenue, accounting for over 60%, followed by North America, which accounted for over 30%. The revenue of furniture products declined, but still accounted for the company's largest revenue, at 1.134 billion yuan; small and medium-sized household products grew as the European and American economies recovered; pet products were successfully developed in the North American market, with a substantial increase of 21.82%.

The pet economy is still booming. Guaibao Pets successfully went public in August, with both revenue and net profit soaring. Affected by the fluctuations in overseas markets, in the first half of this year, the revenue and net profit of three listed companies, including Pety Holdings, Yuanfei Pets, and Yiyi Holdings, all declined.

However, the revenue and profit of Guaibao Pets have continued to rise, with its pet food, snacks and health products leading the way. In the first half of this year, Guaibao Pets' revenue was 2.066 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.44%, exceeding the full-year revenue of 2020; net profit also increased significantly, nearly twice that of the full year of 2020, to 206 million yuan.

The popularity of garden products that Europeans and Americans are keen on remains unabated. The "first stock of new energy garden machinery" has been successfully listed, but its performance has changed drastically in the first half of the year. Perhaps due to factors such as the large number of sharers, low cost performance, and the need to improve the degree of intelligence, Greebo's performance in the first half of this year was unsatisfactory. In the first half of 2023, Greebo's revenue was 2.581 billion yuan and its net profit was about -53.91 million yuan, so that investors in the industry questioned that "Greebo relied on institutional packaging to go public." In fact, the performance dive had already begun in the first quarter, but the net profit was still decent at the time and there was no loss.

But this does not deny the overseas space for smart lawn mower robots. In the past one or two years, the overseas track of lawn mower brands has attracted a lot of attention from capital. As the demand for lawn mowing in Europe and the United States has soared, many overseas players have begun to form groups to go overseas. Ninebot, Stone Technology, Ecovacs, etc. have all developed related products. Even many start-ups have set their sights on this "fat piece of meat" and won a lot of financing.

In addition to the above-mentioned big sellers, there are also sellers in other sectors that are striving for IPOs. DeLan MingHai, which has been deeply engaged in the three mainstream product lines of portable energy storage, household energy storage and commercial energy storage, has signed a coaching agreement with CITIC Securities in March and officially started the A-share IPO process.

The hot energy storage track is well known. Last year, Huabao New Energy successfully listed on the Growth Enterprise Market. Domestic industry giants such as Xiaomi and Bulls are also laying out energy storage tracks. Capital is even more favored by it. According to incomplete statistics, DeLan Minghai received multiple rounds of financing from 2021 to 2022, with the highest amount of financing being US$1 billion.

Why did DeLanMingHai stand out from the crowd? In this era where products are king, DeLanMingHai holds more than 300 patents at home and abroad, and is also a national "little giant" enterprise and high-tech enterprise. Many products of its brand BLUETTI not only have outstanding sales performance, but also made it to the Best Seller list in this category .

Looking at the pace of capital, in addition to still hot categories such as fast fashion and pets, new tracks such as lawn mowing robots are also the focus of their investment. Even though some companies have seen a big change in performance this year, it is undeniable that these tracks are still hot overseas, and sellers can also share these markets in the heat of the moment.

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