2014 China Cross-border E-commerce Report
Transcription
2014 China Cross-border E-commerce Report
2014 China Cross-border E-commerce Report (Brief Edition) www.iresearchchina.com 1 Development Environment of China Cross-border E-commerce 2 China Cross-border E-commerce Industry Chain 3 Status Quo of China Cross-border E-commerce 4 Typical Cases and Business Models 5 Characteristics and Trends of China Cross-border E-commerce 2 2 Development Environment of China Cross-border Ecommerce Definition of Cross-border E-commerce Cross-border e-commerce can be defined in both broad and narrow sense. • In a narrow sense, cross-border e-commerce is almost equal to cross-border retailing, in which transaction parties in different countries reach agreements and settle accounts through the Internet and deliver/receive the goods via cross-border logistics. • In a broad sense, cross-border e-commerce equals electronic foreign trade. It’s a kind of international business, in which the product display, negotiation and transaction are done via the Internet and goods are delivered through cross-border logistics. The cross-border e-commerce mentioned here refers to the latter one, which only covers cross-border e-commerce transaction, excluding cross-border e-commerce services. It consists of the cross-border online B2B deals as well as the B2B deals in O2O pattern. Cross-border E-commerce Cross-border E-commerce Transaction (cross-border e-commerce in broad sense adopted by this report) cross-border e-commerce = cross-border B2C e-commerce + crossborder B2B e-commerce Cross-border E-commerce Services (excluded) Cross-border Retailing/Cross-border B2C e-commerce cross-border B2B e-commerce (cross-border e-commerce in narrow (O2O deals + online deals) sense, cross-border e-commerce) 3 3 China Foreign Trade Conditions in 2013 Domestic and International Factors Slowed the Growth The total foreign trade volume of China amounted to 25.8 trillion Yuan in 2013, and the growth rates of import and export both attained certain rise versus 2012. However, due to the slow pace of world economic recovery, climbing domestic labor costs, appreciation of the RMB and worsening trade friction, the growth rate of China’s total foreign trade volume was always below 10% in recent two years. iResearch forecasts that such situation will remain in 2014 with limited rise in the total volume. China’s Total Foreign Trade Volume 2005-2013 25 38.0% 23.9% 20.6% 19.5% 8.5% 20 -13.7% 16.8% 4.5% 30.5% 15.7% 6.5% 15.2% 7.3% 5.9% 1.0% -18.3% 15 10 10.0 9.4 7.8 6.3 7.3 11.3 10.7 13.7 12.9 12.3 12.1 11.4 9.5 8.0 8.2 6.9 6.3 5.4 5 0 2005 2006 Total value of exports (tr Yuan) 2007 2008 2009 Total value of imports (tr Yuan) 2010 2011 % Growth of exports 2012 2013 % Growth of imports Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China. 4 4 China Foreign Trade Conditions in 2013 Cross-border E-commerce Simplifies Foreign Trade Due to the excessive dependence on traditional sales model, long transaction duration, relatively less profit margins and alike problems, traditional foreign trade is increasingly unfavorable to the business development of small and medium foreign trade companies. As a business model based on the Internet, cross-border e-commerce is rebuilding the international trade chain of SMEs. By breaking the monopoly of foreign channels such as importers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers which exists in traditional foreign trade, cross-border e-commerce enables companies to contact with individual wholesalers, retailers and even consumers directly, which effectively simplifies the transaction and saves goods circulation costs. There was basically no traditional foreign trade companies and manufacturing companies in e-commerce sector prior to 2012, and they began to set foot in this area in about 2013. Cross-border e-commerce is gradually becoming a significant choice of traditional companies. Traditional Chinese Foreign Trade Producer/Manufacturer Chinese Exporter Foreign Importer Chinese Cross-border Producer/Manufacturer E-commerce Online Merchant Cross-border E-commerce Platform Chinese Producer/Manufacturer Cross-border E-commerce Platform Foreign Online Merchant Chinese Producer/Manufacturer Cross-border E-commerce Platform Foreign Consumer Foreign Wholesaler Foreign Retailer Foreign Online Merchant Foreign Consumer Foreign Consumer Foreign Consumer 5 5 Policies About Cross-border E-commerce More and More Supportive Policies Early Stage Development Stage High-tide Stage C Since 2013 B 2008-2012 10 policies involving supervision, payment and settlement, and so on, placing extra emphasis on support and guidance. A 2004-2007 3 policies preliminarily regulate the development of e-commerce, placing extra emphasis on the industry. 2004 2004 2005 2005 2006 2006 2007 2007 More than 10 policies focusing on export and involving implementation. 2008 2008 2009 2009 2010 2010 2011 2011 2012 2012 2013-2014 2013-2014 6 6 Policies About Cross-border E-commerce Different Customs Supervision for Different Kinds of Customs Clearance Regarding the goods traded via cross-border e-commerce, there are mainly three means for goods to cross national boundaries: (1) Customs clearance of goods: for the situation that Chinese import and export companies display products and make agreements with foreign wholesalers and retailers online and finish shipments offline, these goods shall be included in customs statistics. There are also some companies building cross-border e-commerce platforms for import and export companies, such as Onetouch in Shenzhen which helps SMEs with their foreign business, and the involved goods are also included customs statistics. (2) Customs clearance of express: according to a survey carried out by General Administration of Customs , more than 95% of the goods traded via cross-border e-commerce and delivered by the five biggest express companies in China are declared as import and export goods at customs and are included in cargo statistics. Only less than 5% the goods are declared as personal belongings and are not included in customs statistics. (3) Customs clearance of mail: goods bought online and delivered by mail are mainly daily essentials. According to related regulations issued by General Administration of Customs and the State Council, goods for personal use of reasonable amount are out of compulsory customs clearance and statistics. With the development of cross-border e-commerce, trading is becoming more and more fragmented. Some of traditional trade has shifted to cross-border e-commerce, and goods are delivered by express or mail. Under this circumstance, General Administration of Customs is searching for an improved statistical system to cover all goods. For different trading modes of cross-border e-commerce, there are following differences in customs clearance: (1) B2B export: if goods are exported on a large scale, they are actually in traditional trade. For goods exported on a small scale by express or mail, it’s hard to get customs forms, and there are also some troubles in goods inspection, settlement of exchange and tax reimbursement. (2) B2B import: the overall situation is basically the same as that of B2B export. (3) B2C export: because it mainly targets overseas customers with relatively small orders but high trading frequency, and goods are usually delivered by express or mail, it is not included in current customs regulatory system, so there are also some troubles in goods inspection, settlement of exchange and tax reimbursement. (4) B2C import: these goods, which are delivered by express or mail, are mainly bought for personal use, and they’re not involved in customs statistics. Domestic consumers have large demands for overseas products, which encourages emergence of parallel traders and illegal purchasing agents. Besides, the current cargo regulatory system is unsatisfactory in maneuverability, so relevant departments are trying to improve and perfect it. 7 7 Policies About Cross-border E-commerce Pilot Cities: Exploration of Customs Clearance of Express and Mail In cross-border e-commerce, goods delivered by express and mail often face troubles in customs clearance, settlement of exchange and tax reimbursement. In order to solve these problems, General Administration of Customs selected some pilot cities to study the standard regulations and management system of cross-border e-commerce and improvement of customs clearance management and service. The project innovates in two aspects: policy innovation, which explores management system suitable for cross-border e-commerce, and innovation of information technology, which enables related departments to work together and share data with enterprises in e-commerce, payment and logistics sectors. In December 2012, General Administration of Customs officially selected five cities including Shanghai and Chongqing as the pilot cities. In October 2013, the project was carried out in some other suitable cities which are usually logistics centers, port cities, places of origin, etc. There are four kinds of business can be applied for by pilot cities. According General Administration of Customs, only six cities, including Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, are allowed to operate import business of cross-border e-commerce, and other cities can only deal with export business. Pilot Cities of Cross-border E-commerce Group Project Startup Stage Project Expanding Stage Approval Time Pilot City 2012 Zhengzhou, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Ningbo 20132014 Examination and Approval Authority General Administration of Customs 10+ cities including Changsha, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Qingdao, General Guangzhou, Pingtan, Administration of Yinchuan, Mudanjiang, Customs Harbin, Yantai, Xi’an and Changchun Approved Cross-border E-commerceBusiness for Some Pilot Cities City Direct Purchase Import Bonded Import General Export Bonded Export Chongqing √ √ √ √ Guangzhou √ √ √ √ Shanghai √ √ √ √ √ √ √ Ningbo Hangzhou Zhengzhou √ √ √ 8 8 Policies About Cross-border E-commerce Pilot Cities: Exploration of Import Business Currently, the exploration of cross-border e-commerce can be divided into two parts, namely export and import: (1) Export: according to General Administration of Customs, by April 28, 2014, cities including Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou and Chongqing had been involved in export business of cross-border e-commerce and more than 250,000 export lists had been checked and approved, which equaled to 1,393 export declaration forms with an approximate value of 29.25 million Yuan. (2) Import: making their special functions and advantages into full play, pilot cities create bonded import and direct purchase import models for online shopping. By April 28, 2014, cities including Shanghai, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou and Chongqing had been involved in import business and nearly 60,000 packages had been checked and approved with an approximate value of 20.48 million Yuan. These pilot cities had made many attempts, and relevant platforms such as Kjt and KJB2C were launched one and after under the instruction of related governmental departments. Comparison of Two Import Models of Cross-border E-commerce Import Model Operation Advantages & Disadvantages Goods Price Structure Direct Purchase Import Consumers buy goods from abroad. These goods Foreign goods are temporarily stored in bonded areas after arriving in China. are shipped by international transportation means If someone purchases the goods, they will be regarded as personal items and then reach domestic consumers directly. and be delivered to domestic consumers with local logistics. Advantages: it provides a variety of products, so Chinese consumers can directly communicate with Advantages: it takes less time to finish delivery; quality is guaranteed by overseas businesses and buy scarce and novel customs supervision; convenience in after-sale services like changing and products with good quality. refunding improves shopping experience. Disadvantages: it takes a relatively longer time, Disadvantages: limited categories of goods from 7 to 10 days. Commodity price + logistics costs + personal postal Commodity price + personal postal articles tax (subject to adjustment of articles tax (subject to adjustment of merchants) merchants) Typical Pilot City Hangzhou, Guangzhou Result Bonded Import N/A Kjt, KJB2C, Emaoe, Igetmall According to customs in Shanghai and Ningbo, kjt.com was launched at the end of 2013. By the end of March, 2014, Kjt had finished 26,766 orders, which mainly consisted of imported food like Frappuccino and milk powder. Since Ningbo commenced cross-border e-commerce import business at the end of November, 2013, 15,017 orders had been examined and approved which valued 49.75 million Yuan by March 30, 2014. These orders were mainly about diapers, stainless steel thermal cups and food. 9 9 Investment in Cross-border E-commerce More and More Attention From Investors In recent years, e-commerce industry has always been a highlight in capital market. From January 1, 2010 to September 30, 2014, there were 567 investment and financing cases in e-commerce industry, including 99 cases in 2010, 176 cases in 2011, 92 cases in 2013 and 103 cases by September 30 in 2014. Many cross-border e-commerce operators, such as Alibaba, DHgate, Lightinthebox and OSell, etc. all attained investment of different amounts. The details are as follows. Investment and Financing Cases in E-commerce Industry 2010 – Sep. 30, 2014 Company Time Investor Announced Amount Unit Sep. 18, 2012 China Investment/CITIC Capital/CDB Capital/Boyu Capital 2 Bn USD Oct. 8, 2011 DST/Silver Lake/Temasek/Sequoia Capital 1.6 Bn USD Sep. 12, 2014 China Growth Capital/TDF Capital Hundreds of Millions RMB Mar. 11, 2010 Warburg Pincus, etc. 200 Mn RMB Sep. 27, 2011 Jan. 1, 2011 Northern Light Venture Capital SIG Asia Investment 3.95 N/A Mn USD Jun. 5, 2010 Northern Light Venture Capital 4 Mn USD Mar. 23, 2012 Ceyuan Ventures, GSR Ventures GSR Ventures/Trustbridge Partners/Ceyuan Ventures/Banean 8 Mn USD 35 Mn USD Alibaba DHgate OSell Lightinthebox Global Market Oct. 25, 2010 Jun. 1, 2010 Shanghai International Group 11.31 Mn USD Jun. 28, 2014 Founders’ Fund, Legend Capital, Formation 8, GGV Capital, Yang Zhiyuang 50 Mn USD Apr. 1, 2014 GGV Capital, Formation8 19 Mn USD Sep. 1, 2014 Sealand Jianguo Capital Tens of Millions RMB Oct. 1, 2013 Qingsong Fund Million RMB Wish ZZKKO Source: China Venture. 10 10 1 Development Environment of China Cross-border E-commerce 2 China Cross-border E-commerce Industry Chain 3 Status Quo of China Cross-border E-commerce 4 Typical Cases and Business Models 5 Characteristics and Trends of China Cross-border E-commerce 11 11 China Cross-border E-commerce Industry Chain China Cross-border E-commerce Flow In terms of the export flow of cross-border e-commerce, producers or manufacturers display their products on cross-border ecommerce platforms. After the products are selected and paid by customers, they will be sent to logistics companies by crossborder e-commerce operators for delivery. The products will finally reach the customers after two inspections at customs (for export and import). Some cross-border e-commerce operators cooperates with third-party comprehensive service platforms and entrust them with logistics, goods inspection and alike procedures. Import flow is just opposite to that of export flow. Product Cross-border Ecommerce Company Logistics Company Payment Company Overseas Logistics Domestic Logistics Import Producer/Manufacturer Export Consumer/ Company Cross-border E-commerce Platform Customer Customs Third-party Comprehensive Service Platform Consumer Company Self-run Crossborder Ecommerce Company Customs Clearance Logistics Payment Cross-border E-commerce Company Producer/ Manufacturer 12 12 China Cross-border E-commerce Industry Chain Information Service Platform 2B Cross-border E-commerce Company Trading Service Platform 2C Platform Consumer/Company self-run Site Producer/Manufacturer Shopping Guide Site Others Comprehensive Service Company Logistics Integrating Company Payment Company Third-party Service Company IT, Marketing, Third-party Opration, etc. Logistics Company Logistics Service Provider Finance Company Financing Company Insurance Company 13 13 China Cross-border E-commerce Industry Chain Classification of Cross-border E-commerce Companies Classification of Cross-border E-commerce Companies Export vs Import Platform vs Self-operation 2B vs 2C Export Company: Made-in-China, AliExpress, Dhgate, etc. Platform: AliExpress, DHgate (without purchase and delivery) 2B: Made-in-China, Alibaba, etc. Self-operation + Platform: OSell, Lightinthebox, etc. (price difference for self-run business and commission for platform business) 2B+2C: Dhgate, OSell, etc. Comprehensive Comprehensive: Made-in-China, AliExpress, etc. vs (large traffic, large number of goods and diversified business) Vertical Others Import Company: Ymatou, Kjt, etc. Self-operation: DealExtreme, Milanoo, etc. (with purchase and delivery) 2C: eBay, AliExpress, etc. Vertical: Liming Heavy Industry, Milanoo, etc. (focus on core products and business) Changing with the development of users demand and companies (such as cross-border shopping guide, etc.) 14 14 1 Development Environment of China Cross-border E-commerce 2 China Cross-border E-commerce Industry Chain 3 Status Quo of China Cross-border E-commerce 4 Typical Cases and Business Models 5 Characteristics and Trends of China Cross-border E-commerce 15 15 Status Quo of China Cross-border E-commerce History of China’s Cross-border E-Commerce Platform In 1998, the first group of cross-border e-commerce platforms represented by Alibaba B2B and Made-in-China emerged. These websites mainly released information, promoted deals and bridged sellers and buyers. However, there were also some problems. Firstly, without professional and in-depth service, logistics and payment are satisfactory. Secondly, the websites could hardly offer other profound and professional services except for information. Finally, enterprises would negotiate and make deals offline after online inquiry. With the development of this sector, some B2B e-commerce enterprises represented by DHgate gradually transformed into transaction platforms with commission as their major profit source. Since 2013, B2B enterprises began to offer services during and after the trading, covering logistics, storage and financing. Meanwhile, there were gradually some cross-border B2C enterprises since 2006, including DX, Lightinthebox and OSell. These companies greatly reduced the intermediate parts of the industry chain and made generous profits from the difference between purchasing and selling price. They are developing rapidly in recent years. Information Service Transaction Service Resource Integration Membership fee + Marketing Charge Commission Commission + Service Fee B2B Early Stage of B2C B2C Difference Between Purchasing and Selling Price 1998-2002 Made-in-China, Global Market, Alibaba B2B, Onetouch, etc. were founded one after another; Early cross-border B2B ecommerce enterprises made profits by releasing paid information. 1997 2002 2003-2005 2006-now: Development Stage of B2C Chukou1, DHgate, 4PX, BizArk, etc. were founded; Enterprises made profits by collecting commission and began to offer some valueadded services. In 2006, DealExtreme, Lightinthebox, Tradetang, OSell and other B2C enterprises were found in sequence; Most B2C enterprises established during this stage made profits from the difference between purchasing and selling price. Lightinthebox was listed in the NYSE in 2013. 2005 2008 2011 2013 2014 …… 16 16 Status Quo of China Cross-border E-commerce 3.1 Trillion Yuan GMV in 2013 The GMV of China cross-border e-commerce amounted to 3.1 trillion Yuan in 2013, rising by 31.3% and making up 11.9% of the total foreign trade volume. With unveiling of many favorable policies concerning cross-border e-commerce, many insiders are actively improving the industry chain. It’s expected that this sector will maintain a rapid and stable progress for a few years and will contribute 20% or so to the total foreign trade volume in 2017. China Foreign Trade Volume and Cross-border E-commerce GMV 2010-2017 60 41.0% 40.1% 32.0% 31.3% 30.6% 29.3% 25.9% 22.2% 14.8% 17.6% 20.5% 23.1% 11.9% 50 6.3% 9.6% 7.5% 40 34.6 32.0 29.5 30 24.3 23.6 20 27.1 25.8 20.2 10 2.3 1.8 1.3 3.1 8.0 6.5 5.2 4.0 0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014e 2015e 2016e Total foreign trade volume (tr Yuan) Cross-border e-commerce GMV (tr Yuan) % Contribution of cross-border e-commerce to Foreign Trade % Growth of cross-border e-commerce GMV 2017e Note: China cross-border e-commerce GMV involves cross-border e-commerce retailing and cross-border B2B e-commerce. Source: The data is based on the data released by National Bureau of Statistics of China, financial results published by enterprises, interviews with experts and iResearch statistical model. 17 17 Status Quo of China Cross-border E-commerce Nearly 90% of China Cross-border E-commerce Were Export China’s cross-border e-commerce structure reveals that in 2013, export accounted for 88.2% of the total GMV, so the import business is still in its early stage. With domestic consumers’ increasing demand for overseas products, it’s expected that the import sector will grow constantly in future. However, as import business is sensitive to state’s policies, its growth will be relatively steady and slow. Share of Import and Export in China Cross-border E-commerce GMV 2010 -2017 100% 6.5% 7.6% 9.8% 11.8% 13.3% 14.6% 15.6% 16.2% 88.2% 86.7% 85.4% 84.4% 83.8% 2013 2014e 2015e 2016e 2017e 80% 60% 93.5% 92.4% 90.2% 40% 20% 0% 2010 2011 2012 Export Import Source: The data is based on the data released by National Bureau of Statistics of China, financial results published by enterprises, interviews with experts and iResearch statistical model. 18 18 Status Quo of China Cross-border E-commerce B2B Accounted for 93.9% of China Cross-border E-commerce From the perspective of transaction modes, B2B was absolutely the dominant mode with a share of nearly 93.9% in 2013, and such situation is expected to maintain due to its considerable and stable orders. B2C will also gain certain progress in future thanks to the fragmentation trend of cross-border e-commerce. It’s estimated that B2C’s share will rise to 10% in 2017. Share of B2B and B2C in China Cross-border E-commerce GMV 2010 -2017 100% 2.3% 3.2% 4.6% 6.1% 7.6% 9.2% 10.4% 11.1% 95.4% 93.9% 92.4% 90.8% 89.6% 88.9% 2012 2013 2014e 2015e 2016e 2017e 80% 60% 97.7% 96.8% 40% 20% 0% 2010 2011 B2B B2C Source: The data is based on the data released by National Bureau of Statistics of China, financial results published by enterprises, interviews with experts and iResearch statistical model. 19 19 1 Development Environment of China Cross-border E-commerce 2 China Cross-border E-commerce Industry Chain 3 Status Quo of China Cross-border E-commerce 4 Typical Cases and Business Models 5 Characteristics and Trends of China Cross-border E-commerce 20 20 Typical Cases and Business Models DHgate: A Third-party Cross-border B2B Transaction Platform DHgate.com was launched in 2014 as a cross-border B2B e-commerce platform. It mainly sells electronic products, mobile phones and accessories, computers and Internet products, wedding articles, etc. Europe, America and Australia are its major market, and currently it owns 1.2 million domestic suppliers, 5.5 million buyers and 25 million kinds of products. Was founded 2004 Gained the firstround investment 2005 2006 DHgate2.0 was launched 2007 2008 ● Finished the thirdround financing ● Launched online small loan service with CCB 2009 2010 Set up overseas customer service center in the Philippines 2011 2012 2013 ● Finished the fourthround financing ● Russian version was released 2014 ● Launched Yiwu Global International transaction platform was official launched Became Google’s important strategic partner in China Became a partner of UPS Dhpay was launched Dhexpress was launched Mobile platform was launched Online Goods Center ● Started online delivery service ● Became Google’s ad agent in China ● mobile visits accounted for one third of total visits 21 21 Typical Cases and Business Models DHgate: Commission + Service Fee DHgate.com is a transaction platform providing transaction services for both buyers and sellers in order to promote online trading. Based on the positioning, Dhgate’s profit consists of two parts: (1) commission: DHgate.com serves as a transaction platform for buyers and sellers and charges the buyers a certain amount of commission for successful transactions, and (2) service fee: since cross-border e-commerce is operated by users in more than 200 countries and one hundred thousand cities around the world, it is much more complicated than domestic e-commerce. Also, the whole transaction process of cross-border e-commerce takes more time, and buyers and sellers call for services of higher standards. The complicated and commercial features of these transaction determine that multiple services are needed in the whole cross-border transaction process. Given the characteristics, Dhgate provides services like intensive logistics, financial service and agency service for some fees. Transaction: Commission 交易佣金 Service: Service Fee Transaction commission: it is free to register, upload product information and display them on DHgate.com. The buyer will only be charged commission based on the transaction volume for a successful transaction. Commission model: DHgate adopts the single commission rate model, which means that a fixed proportion of commission is charged according to the category. This model works with a multistep commission policy—when a single order is worth no less than USD300, the commission rate is 4.5%. Service fee: DHgate provides services for merchants including opening a new shop, platform operation, marketing, fund settlement and so on. Marketing: to improve product exposure, it provides merchants with marketing tools, including priced advertising, bidding advertising, display plans, etc. by charging fees in the form of DHgate coins. Third-party Operation: it tailors services 电商研究 for merchants in terms of training, shop decoration, account management, etc. Fees are charged according to different services. Integrated foreign trade service: it provides services including online financial service, intensive logistics, and a set of services of storage, customs clearance, tax refund and goods inspection by charging certain service fee. 22 22 Typical Cases and Business Models DHgate: Nationwide Suppliers + Platform + Integrated Service + Impressive Performance of Mobile Sector Nationwide Suppliers Service object: expanding from small and medium merchants to large foreign trade companies, manufacturers and brand owners. Platform expansion: besides transaction platform, DHgate launched online cargo center for traditional foreign trade companies. In August 2013, DHgate launched a “global online cargo center” by cooperating with the merchants in Yiwu. Integrated Service Apart from basic services based on the platform, DHgate is optimizing its integrated services: Payment: DHpay has access to more than 30 payment means in the world; Logistics: online delivery, warehousing and concentrated freight services. The DHlink supports more than 20 logistics channels including EMS, UPS, DHL, etc. Credit: DHCredit cooperates with financial institutions to provide credit service. Other value-added services: training, marketing, third-party operation, etc. Platform Positioning: a third-party B2B cross-border transaction platform, committing to helping Chinese SMEs to enter global market through cross-border E-commerce platform. Platform advantage: by June 2014, DHgate had owned 1.2 million merchants, 25 million kinds of online goods and 5.5 million buyers, with 100 thousand visitors per hour. It has great advantages in users, traffic and goods categories. Impressive Performance of Mobile Sector App: in 2011, it launched the first app for buyers in cross-border e-commerce sector, followed by a WAP platform for buyers and an app for merchants. Also, a mobile laboratory was set up in Silicon Valley. Development: its mobile business develops rapidly. By June 2014, visits of mobile DHgate.com accounted for 42% of the total visits. Compared to the same period in 2013, the transaction volume, new buyers and active buyers respectively increased by 200%, 248% and 220%. 23 23 Typical Cases and Business Models Lightinthebox: A Cross-border B2C E-commerce Website Established in 2007, Lightinthebox is the biggest foreign trade B2C website in China now. At first, Lightinthebox focused on selling customized wedding dresses. Later, its business scope has expanded to 14 categories and more than 60 thousand kinds of goods, including apparel, electronic products, toys, accessories and household items. Europe and North America are its major markets. On June 6, 2013, Lightinthebox went public in New York Stock Exchange. The offering price was USD 9.5 and it got financing worth USD 78.85 million. In Q3 2014, the net revenues reached USD 99 million. Specifically, the net revenues of apparel, its major category, increased to USD 37 million at a YoY growth rate of 103.9%. In addition, the number of orders and customers both experienced an over 50% YoY growth. The third warehouse in Shenzhen Attained second-round Established VIIE Was established and Went public in New investment of USD11.27 Focused on B2B York Stock Exchange million in 2009 foreign trade of Self-operation and The second warehouse electronic products special offers of apparel in Suzhou 2007 2008 2009 Established LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. Attained first-round investment of USD5 million Began to sell wedding dresses The first warehouse in Shenzhen 2010 Attained thirdround investment of USD35 million Acquired Ouku 2011 2012 2013 2014 Announced its global open platform of fashion goods strategy Established a logistics center in Europe Established a mobile Internet R&D center in Chengdu Established wedding dress design center 24 24 Typical Cases and Business Models Lightinthebox: Difference Between Purchasing and Selling Price As a foreign trade B2C website, the main operation pattern of Lightinthebox is selling goods made in China to oversea individuals. Currently, its profits come from the price difference between product purchasing and selling. In May 2014, Lightinthebox released its strategy of global fashion open end platform, that is, it attracts businesses around the country to its platform and promises to provide them with four services consisting of glocalization, order fulfillment, customer service and open data. Concerning income pattern, Lightinthebox takes certain proportion of sales as its income instead of charging annual fee. So far, the price difference of self-support goods accounts for the biggest part of its income. Self-operation: Difference Between Purchasing and Selling Price Platform: Commission Purchase: bypassing middlemen, 70% of goods are purchased directly from manufacturers to save purchasing cost. Potential clients: domestic traditional offline brand owners, online brand owners and foreign trade manufacturers. Sales: it purchases goods directly from manufacturers in China at low prices and sells them to consumers at oversea market prices, which generates high gross profit. Categories: only apparel, mainly ready-made clothes but not wedding dresses, the key product of Lightinthebox. More categories are likely to be operated when the platform gets mature in the future. Gross profit: in Q3 2014, the net revenues of Lightinthebox rose to USD99 million at a fast pace and the gross profit grew to USD36.65 million at a stable growth rate. While maintaining certain gross profit, Lightinthebox expanded its scale to gain scale effect. Charging pattern: Lightinthebox obtains 15% of sales from merchants without annual fee. 25 25 Typical Cases and Business Models Lightinthebox: Supply Chain + Online Marketing + Localization Supply Chain Supply chain: Lightinthebox purchases products from manufacturers and sells them to consumers directly, which achieves the shortest supply chain — from factories to websites and then consumers. This pattern helps it to earn higher gross profit. Supply chain management: on one hand, to provide more various goods on the website, Lightinthebox seeks cooperation with more suppliers and keeps enriching the category of goods. On the other hand, it engages suppliers in the supply chain and makes them update the products actively so as to accelerate the update of goods on the website. Customized goods: Lightinthebox trains suppliers’ ability to coordinate production in advance. Suppliers produce according to demands. After receiving an order, products will be produced within 10 to 14 days and then delivered to Lightinthebox’s warehouse. For customized standard products, suppliers usually deliver them to Lightinthebox’s warehouse within 48 hours. Besides, Lightinthebox established wedding dress design center to enhance design capacity. Standard products: some suppliers are required to produce goods in advance and store them in Lightinthebox’s warehouse. By this way, it’s more efficient to deal with orders and effectively avoid inventory risk. Online Marketing Online marketing: accurate online marketing technology — penetrating into target market by promotion means including socialized marketing, search engine, display ads, etc. Lightinthebox shifts from online marketing to brand building and seeks a balance between product promotion and mobile business. Marketing expense: Lightinthebox invests equally in Google, SNS like Facebook, local Internet associations, etc. for marketing. The marketing efficiency is improved at lower expenses. Localization Oversea warehousing: Lightinthebox has established warehouses in Europe and North American and warehouse in South America is under planning. Overseas office: it set up an overseas office in the US in early 2014 Staff and service: it employs local people in America, Spain, Poland, etc. It also employs local staff to localize customer service, serving more than 20 countries. Localized marketing: it builds and strengthens brand popularity and reputation in local market through local Internet associations and socialized marketing. 26 26 Typical Cases and Business Models OSell: A Cross-border E-commerce O2O Platform OSell was established in 2009. It mainly sells goods like electronic products, apparel and gardening products in six major regions — Russia, Brazil, India, Europe, America and Australia. It has more than 10 branches in America, Canada, Japan, Australia, etc. It’s one of the biggest cross-border e-commerce O2O platforms in China, owning nearly a thousand employees from China and overseas. OSell has more than 1,000 local sales channels around the world, more than 20 oversea warehouses, over 50 logistic channel cooperators and more than 70 payment means. Was established 2009 Launched Groupbuy Promoted its own payment tool — Dino Wallet Finished first-round financing in January Finished third-round financing in September 2010 Obtained the firstround venture capital in January 2011 2012 Launched 18985, a domestic suppliers platform Established cloud warehouse 2013 2014 O2O business entered Russia, Brazil and India Access to cross-border ecommerce customs clearance service platform of GACC and Pingtan Cross-border e-commerce O2O conference The first publicly supervised warehouse in China was built in Dongguan 27 27 Typical Cases and Business Models OSell: Difference Between Purchasing and Selling Price + Service Fee OSell adopts the cross-border O2O model. Concerning product supply, besides purchasing for self-run business, it attracts businesses on 18985, a domestic supplier platform, and OSell cross-border O2O association for its platform business. Chinese suppliers can launch new products, manage orders and clients and accomplish payments with e-wallet on 1898 platform. Also, they can promote goods to oversea retailing market by participating in cross-border O2O online trading association. Concerning product selling, it adopts OSell cross-border O2O platform for overseas business and establishes and integrates oversea retailing system, which improves after-sale service greatly. Overall, OSell has two profit models: (1) self-run business mainly earns profits from the price difference between purchasing and selling products; (2) platform business mainly makes profits by charging service fees. Supplier Supply Goods Supplier Registration Supplier Overseas Consumer Dinodirect 18985 Platform OSell Osell Crossborder O2O Association Osell Crossborder O2O Association Offline O2O Store N1 Offline O2O Store N2 …… Offline O2O Store Nn Overseas O2O Exhibition Self-run: Difference Between Purchasing and Selling Price Category: popular categories include apparel, shoes and accessories, mobile phone, tablet, Internet items, automobile and motorcycle accessories, camera, video camera, etc. Sales: OSell gains profits by purchasing goods directly from manufacturers in China at a low price and selling them to overseas consumers or businesses at an overseas market price. Overseas Retailer Overseas Retailer Overseas Domestic Registration Self-run Business Platform: Service Fee Cloud warehouse service: OSell provides services including receiving cargo, pre-process activities like sorting, printing code and goods inspection, delivery and storage. Fees are charged according to goods weight, quantity or service time. Other services: fees are charged for services like transnational trade settlement and customs clearance agency. 28 28 Typical Cases and Business Models OSell: Cross-border O2O + Cloud Warehouse + Localized Operation Cross-border O2O Model: OSell is a pioneer and leader of crossborder O2O. It connects domestic suppliers via 18985 and cross-border O2O online trading association and establishes and integrates global retailing network through OSell. In the form of cross-border O2O exhibition and offline experience shop, it sells Chinese goods to oversea retailing market and builds a platform providing service and customization. Advantages: OSell solves the delivery problem of Chinese suppliers when selling in global market and guarantees services and credits while overseas retailers purchasing from China. Localized Operation Office: overseas sales offices are established in Moscow, Sao Paulo, New Delhi, Montreal, Canberra, etc., owning more than 200 foreign employees who are in charge of sales and promotion in overseas market. Channel and storage: OSell has more than 1,000 local sales channels around the world and over 20 overseas warehouses. Cloud Warehouse Cloud warehouse: Osell’s transnational e-commerce storage and delivery solution covers receiving cargo, sorting, goods inspection, printing code, storing and delivering. Sellers send products to the warehouse where the products will be packed and shipped. Besides the basic services above, cloud warehouse provides value-added services such as weighing, taking pictures of products and parcels, customized package, etc., in order to satisfy different clients’ needs. Storage: OSell has warehouses in Yangze Delta and Pearl River Delta. The total area of the two big warehouses in Shenzhen is 30 thousand square meters. It has a publicly supervised warehouse in Dongguan which links up with customs as well as inspection and quarantine departments to complete one-stop customs clearance. In Heilongjiang, it has cooperative delivery centers which facilitate foreign trade companies to explore Russian market. In addition, it also has warehouses in Russia, India, Britain, America, Australia, and so on. Delivery: its delivery service reaches more than 200 countries around the world and it is not limited by weight, volume and sea route congestion in busy seasons. Advantages: it helps Chinese manufacturers and merchants to conduct localized selling in overseas market by reducing logistic costs. Meanwhile, real time inventory management and supervision can be achieved. It takes less time to receive goods, which improves buyers’ satisfaction. 29 29 1 Development Environment of China Cross-border E-commerce 2 China Cross-border E-commerce Industry Chain 3 Status Quo of China Cross-border E-commerce 4 Typical Cases and Business Models 5 Characteristics and Trends of China Cross-border E-commerce 30 30 Characteristics and Trends of China Cross-border E-commerce Characteristics: Participants, Industry Chain and Brand Operation After developing for more than a decade, China cross-border e-commerce has experienced the periods of information publishing, transaction platform and the current booming of B2C. It shows different characteristics in each stage. Since two years ago, as the public pays increasing attention to cross-border e-commerce and participants commit to the sector, there are some new characteristics, including the following aspects: Participants •Before 2012, micro and small businesses, individual merchants and online merchants were the main participants. Since 2013, the main participators in traditional trade like foreign trade companies, manufacturers and brand owners began to enter this sector and have gradually formed certain scale. Industry Chain •Steps like marketing, customs clearance, commodity inspection, logistics and payment may affect the development of cross-border e-commerce. Concerning that, cross-border e-commerce companies keep expanding their services and try to provide integrated services by combining various resources. With the emergence of new service providers, the whole industry chain and the service chain of the industry are getting clearer and sounder. Brand Operation •By taking China’s advantage in manufacturing, selling cheap but good-quality goods and OEM were the main patterns of early cross-border e-commerce. In recent two years, many companies start running their own brand. Especially some big companies begin to build their own platforms to introduce their brands to oversea market and increase their value. 31 31 Characteristics and Trends of China Cross-border E-commerce Problems: Products, Logistics, Customs Clearance, etc. Different trading models in cross-border e-commerce lead to different problems. Block export and import deals conducted in traditional trading models still need paper documents, which hinders the convenience of trade and application of e-commerce in trade. For fragmented trade, there are also some industrial problems related to products, logistics and customs clearance. Severe homogeneity of products: in the recent two years, the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce has attracted many businesses, resulting in fierce competition in the sector. Some products like 3C products and accessories are popular and profitable, so many cross-border e-commerce companies are selling them. Some of these companies even compete with very low price. Brand advantage is yet to be built: the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce greatly relies on China’s manufacturing advantages and low product price. Many products like 3C products and apparel in cross-border e-commerce are produced by small factories. Hence there are problems in quality control and most cross-border e-commerce companies have not built their own brands yet. Time-consuming and unstable logistics: related policies in different countries vary greatly, so unlike domestic e-commerce, cross-border e-commerce cannot deal with logistics by building the companies’ own logistic systems. Logistics of cross-border ecommerce is time-consuming. For instance, it usually takes 7 to 15 days to reach America and Europe, and even longer to reach South America, Brazil and Russia (25-35 days). Apart from that, the delivery time is uncertain sometimes, so it may take 7 or even 20 days to receive the goods. Difficulty in customs clearance and exchange settlement: as cross-border trade tends to be conducted in small volume, B2B companies of small-volume trade also face problems of customs clearance as B2C companies. Since small-volume B2B and B2C cross-border e-commerce is different from common exporting, it has to face the difficulties in quick customs clearance, exchange settlement and tax reimbursement. Although the authorities adopt a customs clearance pattern of “checklist verification and consolidated declaration” for B2C businesses, many small and medium businesses engaging in small-volume B2B foreign trade do not get benefits. In terms of importing, problems are as follows: importing from illegal channels to elude customs regulation, difficulty in identifying the quality of imported commodities, and insufficient protections of consumer interest, etc. Shortage of cross-border e-commerce talents: the reasons are: (1) limitation of language: most cross-border e-commerce talents are English majors, but markets in Brazil, India, Russia, Arab and Mongolia are so potential that talents speaking those languages are needed. (2) High requirements for capacity: besides language, talents in cross-border e-commerce should have knowledge about home and overseas markets, transaction modes, consuming habits, etc. In addition, they should learn the trading rules and characteristics of major platforms. Therefore, it’s common to see shortage of cross-border e-commerce talents. 32 32 Characteristics and Trends of China Cross-border E-commerce Trend Ⅰ: Diversified Commodities and Markets New characteristics of cross-border E-commerce are emerging: more categories of traded products and wider range regions of trading objects. Concerning the category of products, categories extend from easily-transported products including apparel, 3C, computer and accessory, household and gardening product, jewelry, auto parts, food and drug, etc. to products with large volume like furniture and automobile. According to eBay’s data, three categories with the fastest growth on eBay are: household and gardening, auto parts and fashion. Moreover, 71% of big sellers plan to enrich the current category and 64% of big sellers plan to expand to other product lines. Providing more product categories is the major technique to expand business scope. More categories will create a closer relationship between Chinese products and global consumers’ daily life, and help cross-border E-commerce capture the cross-border online shopping groups with the strongest purchasing power. According to iResearch, E-commerce is playing an increasingly important role in daily life. Solutions to science and technology as well as logistics are getting more innovative. Thus, product categories covered by cross-border E-commerce retailing exporting industry will keep increasing in the future. Concerning target markets, mature markets represented by America, Britain, Germany and Australia will continue to grow fast and still be the major target markets for cross-border E-commerce retailing exporting industry, which is a result of popular crossborder online shopping notions, mature consuming habits, regulated business and comprehensive logistics facilities. Meanwhile, the growing markets are the new driving force for cross-border E-commerce retailing exporting industry: 1. Although E-commerce is developing in countries like Russia, Brazil and India, consumers there have a strong demand for consuming, so in those markets, low price and good quality are competitive advantages of products made in China. 2. A multitude of companies are exploring Southeast Asian market. Indonesia is the most populous country in Southeast Asia and the fourth in the world. Ecommerce giants like eBay, Amazon, Rakuten have started entering Indonesian market. 3. In regions like Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, E-commerce is still at the early stage and is believed to achieve great breakthroughs in the future. 33 33 Characteristics and Trends of China Cross-border E-commerce Trend Ⅱ: Larger Share of B2C, Co-development of B2B and B2C The improvement of international trade infrastructure and emergence of new technologies in logistics, finance and the Internet lead to changes in international trade. One of the most significant changes is a greater diversity of ways by which products move from factories to consumers. Companies are paying more attention to cross-border B2C e-commerce which booms in recent two years, and dominant advantages attribute to the rise: (1) High profits: compared to traditional cross-border trading pattern, B2C bypasses all intermediate process and finds the shortest way between factory and product, which generates high profits. (2) Good for brand building: OEM is no longer what domestic manufacturing and trade companies want. Some Chinese brand owners want to “go out” by attempting crossborder e-commerce. B2C helps them adjust to overseas market and introduce products made and designed in China to the world. (3) Satisfying market demands: facing consumers directly does good to meeting market demands and providing customized services. (4) Broad market: block trade usually deals with traditional products and has single market. Different from that, small B2C trade is more flexible and selling is not bound by territories—reaching more than 200 countries and regions. The bigger market efficiently releases the competition pressure in a single market. According to iResearch, B2C is moving on a smoother way, because of the development of logistics and Internet technology and some favorable policies. B2C will take a bigger share of the whole market. As a main trend in global trade, B2C will still be the most important pattern for Chinese companies to explore overseas market, so it will grow together with B2B. Cross-border B2C provides opportunities for Chinese manufacturing and export companies to explore new business. However, the volume of B2C orders is small and unstable, so it cannot satisfy manufacturers’ need for scale production. In addition, B2C companies are also facing market demand cycle, high marketing costs, difficulty in acquiring users and competition with overseas shopping websites. As the main trend of global trade, B2B will still be the most important pattern for Chinese companies to explore overseas market. On the other hand, as an effective way to be closer to consumers, B2C is important for Chinese companies to build their brands in a shorter time. B2B and B2C are complementary to each other despite of differences. They are both good tool to explore overseas market. B2B B2C 34 34 Characteristics and Trends of China Cross-border E-commerce Trend Ⅲ: Great Potential in Mobile Business The development of mobile Internet technology blurs the line between online and offline commerce. The “whole-channel” shopping will grow quickly focusing on the Internet, seamless link and multi-screen. (1) Concerning B2C, mobile shopping enables consumer to shop anywhere and anytime, which greatly stimulates market demands and provides more opportunities for cross-border ecommerce of export retailing. (2) Concerning B2B, the trend of small volume and fragmentation of global trade is noticeable. Transnational transaction can be achieved seamlessly thanks to mobile Internet technology. Sellers can upload pictures of products in warehouse or factory in the daytime to do instant selling. At night, they can reply offers and affirm orders. Via mobile Internet, communication between buyer and seller is very convenient. Potential of mobile cross-border e-commerce: Development of mobile cross-border e-commerce is related to the development of the Internet in different countries. For developed markets like America, the sound Internet environment guarantees sufficient space for cross-border e-commerce to shift from PC to mobile devices. In some emerging markets, ecommerce there is several years behind China. For instance, in Russia, South East Asia and Africa, a large number of users enter mobile cross-border e-commerce market without entering the PC one first. Mobile cross-border e-commerce will make more profits in those markets. Cross-border e-commerce companies’ mobile business: Cross-border e-commerce companies are experiencing a fast development in mobile business. By June 2014, visits on mobile DHgate.com accounted for 42% of the platform’s total visits and orders on mobile DHgate.com increased by 215% at a year-onyear growth rate. Lightinthebox thought mobile business was the driving force for revenues, so it adopted a multi-app strategy for its mobile business. As a result, in Q2 2014, orders on mobile devices accounted for 28.2% of the total orders, increasing by 11.4% compared to Q2 2013. Mobile and PC platforms will interact further with each other through combined purchasing. 35 35 Characteristics and Trends of China Cross-border E-commerce Trend Ⅳ: Better Industry Ecology and Synergic Development of Different Parts Cross-border e-commerce includes flows of material, information, capital and document. As cross-border e-commerce economy is developing, supporting enterprises, including software companies, third-party service companies, online payment companies, logistics companies, etc., start clustering around cross-border e-commerce companies. Services provided by those supporting companies include online shop decoration, translation and description of pictures, website operation, marketing, logistics, refunding and exchanging commodities, financial services, quality inspection, insurance, etc. The whole industry is having a sounder ecology system and clearer division of work. The current cross-border e-commerce service sector is effectively boosting the cross-border ecommerce industry. Concerning logistics, to cater to cross-border e-commerce, cost-saving, fast and safe logistics services providing more after-sale services are borne. There are also lots of logistics integrators, such as logistics service providers focusing on overseas warehousing in cross-border e-commerce. Companies like 4PX Express and CK1 have put emphasis on combining logistics and supply chain. If having overseas warehouse, small-volume cross-border delivery usually takes 1 to 30 days. This period can be greatly shortened by combining different shipping means according to different buyers’ demand. In addition, sellers will be more competitive in international trade with the perfection of their overseas warehouses. Concerning financial services, State Administration of Foreign Exchange granted pilot licenses of foreign currency payment in cross-border e-commerce to 17 third-party payment agencies in China, which diversifies payment and propels cross-border ecommerce. Focusing on transaction process, eBay, a cross-border e-commerce platform, launched cross-border insurance products by cooperating with China Pacific Insurance Company and Bank of China Insurance. Concerning Internet finance, some financial institutions like Bank of China and Ping An Financial Science provide fiduciary loans without collateral for cross-border ecommerce companies, which releases financing pressure of small and medium enterprises. Besides, the spring up of companies providing third-party services and marketing service makes the whole industry and supporting facilities more comprehensive. E-commerce platform is not enough for cross-border e-commerce. It needs upstream guide of information technology and downstream support of logistics. To change the traditional business pattern and realize fast growth, cross-border e-commerce needs strong support from information flow, capital flow and logistics. 36 36 Legal Notice The report is produced by iResearch Co., Ltd. All texts, figures and tables in this report are under the copyright protection of relative laws and regulations on intellectual property rights in the Peoples’ Republic of China. No organization or individual is allowed to use the information in this report for any business purpose without the written consent from iResearch. Some texts and data in this report are collected from public information and their copyrights are held by the original authors. No organization or individual is allowed to use the information in this report for any business purpose without written consent from original authors and iResearch. Data related to operators’ revenues and market forecasts are mainly obtained through interviews related to the industry, marketing survey, secondary sources and other research methods, some of which have not been directly confirmed by the related operators. Some data published in this report is based on sampling method and is therefore influenced by sample structure. Due to the limitation of research method, sample size and scope of data collection, part of the data may not precisely reflect real market situation. This report is for reference only and iResearch is not liable for the accuracy of the data in this report. 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