A seller in Guangzhou who was granted a title said that among the cross-border e-commerce companies he knewFour of the 10 companies went bankrupt, mainly because of their titles and poor management. The team size of these companies is more than 100 people; Other companies in a bad situation have survived through downsizing and changing categories.
The sellers begin to discussHow to save costs and dismiss employees? The feedback on dismissal of operations has increased, and some small enterprises have been quietly dismissed.Under the change of the industry situation, the operators who were very popular at the beginning of the year began to be re selected.
Guangzhou sellers were frustrated,10 companies or 4 failed
Mr. Li is a cross-border e-commerce seller in Guangzhou. The company operates in AmazoneBay, Shopify and other platforms at home and abroad. A team of more than 200 people can produce hundreds of millions of sales a year.
this yearFrom April to May, Mr. Li's Amazon main account was suddenly closedAmount of fundsIt was frozen and became the first batch of sellers hit by the title boom.
Most of the top sellers were in Shenzhen. According to the industry opinion, Shenzhen's operation was too wild, while Guangzhou sellers sought stability, which was rarely affected in this incident. Mr. Li denied this.
"What I know about Guangzhou is actually quite difficult. Among the cross-border e-commerce companies I know, 4 out of 10 have closed down, and the team is basically more than 100 people. Some companies rent the whole floor, which should have more than 300 people, but now the whole floor has disappeared." The reason for this is that 40% of them are under the seal, and 60% of them are difficult to support due to lower profits.
Lawyers were hired at the first time after the closure to talk with Amazon staff, but there was no result, and subsequent communication with the platform was also unavailable."The platform believes that there is only one feature of all the registered accounts in China, that is, swiping." Mr. Li said.
He didn't fully agree with this. In his opinion,In addition to the common reason of purchase order, Amazon has several judgment points, such as exaggerated marketing. In addition,The epidemic situation caused the delivery time to be extended, and the customer could not confirm the receipt in real time; The foreign express delivery staff often strike and cannot track the logistics track of goods in real time, which has a certain impact on the shop score and reputation.
"The head sellers, such as those who do electronics in Shenzhen, are basically the same as we are. Later, I heard that their chamber of commerce in Shenzhen found the head of Amazon China and said that they could not communicate because everything there is based on Amazon rules and foreign laws. We have no way."
Mr. Li is pessimistic about the account. Blocked number sellers have repeatedly sought rescue, but have not received any information about funds. However, he still holds a glimmer of hope that the funds will be frozen for a period of time, but the length of time is still uncertain.
Fortunately, the previously seized inventory is coming back. Mr. Li said that the goods could only be returned after being detained for several months, but it was not completed at one time, but returned in batches. Amazon needs to conduct return audit, and there are many procedures. The long return period makes him a little upset. Until now, its goods are still being returned.
Last year, Mr. Li's company performance exceeded expectations20%-25%。 Now the main account has been closed, and the traffic of the sub account is limited. The sales on Amazon have dropped by 6-70%. Due to the dispersion of categories, this loss ratio is not too high compared with other label sellers.In previous years, Mr. Li's company had to prepare for the Black Five one year in advance, but after it was sealed, it had little hope for the Black Five.
andMr. liLike the company, many factories in Guangzhou doB2B trade started and then developed into an online offline combination mode. After seeing some benefits, the conservative bosses in the factory are more aggressive in the operation, especially in the online channel, so the influence of the title is not small.
Mr. liHe said that during the chat, he could feel that everyone was very sad. Some companies have closed down, while others have shrunk their scale to a very small scale, no longer going by volume, and turned to FMCG brands or categories with higher profits; Some businesses have returned to the pure factory mode, relying on the traditionalB2B trade guarantees life.
To make internal optimization for survival, the operation teamfallhalf
Under the impact of the event, many sellers began to adjust their sales strategies and gradually reduce their dependence on Amazon through multiple platforms and independent stations.Mr. liMany sellers around are starting to build their own stations. He thinks that long term pain is better than short term pain. Although independent stations are risky, they have their own rules and are more controllable than platform operation.
The success of such giants as SHEIN and Cider has planted the dream of independent standing for many sellers Mr. liSay,"I see a lot of people are buying independent station services. We are doing our own team development. Why not buy it? There is a big gap between it and the actual business. There is no way to platform the framework form. We hope that independent stations in the future will gradually become platform based and some will be settled in."
At this stage, according to the goods and existing buyers,Mr. liThe company mainly makes independent stations in Europe. In the long run, they hope to establish a comprehensive independent station platform throughSAAS mode provides services for sellers.Mr. liIt means that the independent station is"No way", because the platform is difficult to do, there are two reasons: the first is the seal number, and the second is the Chinese seller's price.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know how others make money. You can't sell if your price is too high, and you are losing money if your price is too low, plus logistics fees and storage fees. The RMB is still appreciating. This year, our definition is to make money if you don't lose money in cross-border e-commerce。”
However, Amazon has abundant traffic, which is a position that sellers cannot give up, soMr. liThe company has made transformation on the basis of the original business:
1. No pressure.Before that, a lot of single products were pressed, and the company began to take the strategy of not pressing goods after being stimulated by the number.
2. Category change.Some products have been made before, but the sea freight price has been close to the previous air freight, and the logistics costs make cross-border e-commerce almost unprofitable, but still have to run out of volume, so now the category transformation is started;
Mr. lianalysis,The reason why sellers affected by the blocking or operating difficulties can still survive on Amazon is that they have made internal optimization. The operation team of hundreds of people may be cut down by half or more to save costs internally.This is the layoff faced by operators.
Compared with the hot spot at the beginning of the year, many operations feared that they would be cut in salary and laid off in the second half of the year. At the end of the year, the news of being dismissed from the operation group began to appear frequently.
There is a feeling of operation. A college student just switched to Amazon this year. Only half a year later, there were dozens of people left in a company with hundreds of people;At the end of October, the company notified that it would continue to lay off employees.
One industry leaderVexpress,Several friends began to discuss how to save costs, how to dismiss employees and other topics.No money will be made in 2021. At the end of the year, the company will reduce useless or low output personnel and optimize the team.At the end of December, a seller said that a cross-border sale in South China City started the second wave of layoffs, and only the working personnel were retained. An operator who was working hard to clear the goods was told that he would be dismissed at the end of the month.
An operation wish,The biggest goal in 2022 is not to be cut. "In the afternoon, my colleague told me that her business in the same group had been persuaded to leave by the manager. She had a hunch that she would soon have a result. As expected, she had just received a call to confirm her dismissal. A little sister sitting behind yesterday was also dismissed. With the world economy slowing down under the epidemic, the company was downsizing in disguise. Don't think you are great, you can change jobs at will."
At the same time, the dissolution of small companies has gradually increased.
An operator said that he was dismissed at the end of the month because the company did not plan to do it. Another person also said that the company has been unable to sustain and may be completely dissolved by the end of the year."This year is really difficult. It's not easy to return some blood in the peak season and think that the company can survive. The shop has an accident again, and all the money has been put in it. I suggest you find companies above the middle level, and small companies really want to disperse."
While many companies are downsizing for the winter, a small number of companies are actively recruiting and expanding, because they have made money this year and have abundant funds. In the new year, these companies will probably continue to expand their profits.
In addition to the current situation of bankruptcy and layoffs, another focus of cross-border e-commerce practitioners is the year-end bonus.
Get a base salary for the whole year, and dare not think about the year-end bonus
Limited by the general environment,In 2021, the performance of many cross-border sellers will decline, and even some companies will go bankrupt and lose money. As a result, many cross-border practitioners have been laid off, and their colleagues who are still on the job say that they can't even think about what the year-end bonus is.
At present, cross-border practitioners have a heated discussion on the topic of year-end awards. An industry insider lamented that the company had already issued year-end awards this time last year, but this year it is still quiet. I don't know whether there are any year-end awards.
Later, many peers expressed envy,It's so difficult to be an Amazon this year. You even have year-end awards. I've never won them. More frankly, Amazon has never won the year-end award since it became an Amazon.More cross-border practitioners' feedback on the year-end bonus is as follows:
"-- Those who have not won the year-end prize for several years float by;
——I envy you, but I still have a year-end bonus;
——It has been five months since I got the commission, and I still have the year-end bonus;
——The company is a commission and cannot have year-end bonus at the same time;
——What is the year-end bonus? I haven't won it yet;
——I have been in the company for two years. I may only have seen the year-end bonus in my dream;
——This year is not a good year, let alone the year-end bonus, the leadership is required to automatically reduce their salaries;
——Don't ask about the year-end bonus. If the benefit is not good, you will be lucky if you don't turn it off;
——There is no hope for the year-end bonus. Thank God for handing out the commission that has been held back for a year;
——I dare not think about the year-end bonus. The salary is only paid once every two months, and I only hope to get the bonus and the base salary paid before the year. "
According to many feedbacks, many cross-border people have no year-end bonus this year. However, some company bosses said that this year's benefits were not good, with sales and profits both falling sharply. However, employees still need to give a little year-end bonus to make everyone happy after a hard year.
As the above boss said, some companies have year-end bonuses. One practitioner said that the year-end bonuses are net profits of the whole year1.5%。 In addition, the same bank said that the sales of six people last year exceeded 100 million, the total performance award was 6W, and the year-end award was more than one month's end salary. This year, everyone set a goal of $300W to start. No one reached the goal, so there was no performance award. The year-end award was the end salary of one month.
The year-end award isThe salary at the end of one month is the thirteen salary system used by many companies in the industry, that is, the salary at the end of the year will be paid one month more. Some cross-border practitioners confirmed that,The company will not give the year-end bonus. Thirteen salaries are equivalent to the year-end bonus.
For companies that issue year-end bonuses, the form of payment is also different. According to relevant feedback, cross-border e-commerce companies in the industry pay year-end awards in the following forms:1. Full distribution before the year; 2. Half before and half after the year; 3. Issued after going to work after the year; 4. The year-end bonus will be distributed three times, one at the beginning of the second year, one at the middle of the year and one at the end of the year.
No matter what form, the company that can give the year-end bonus should be relatively good. Most cross-border companiesIn 2021, there will be no year-end bonus, and the expectation of "migrant workers" will become: get the commission that should be paid. However, the worst wave of cross-border practitioners did not even mention Chengdu.
The operation of cross-border e-commerce industry is basically based on the system of base salary and commission. Many operations rely on performance commission to save money, but due toThe performance in 2021 is not good, and some companies are affected by the ban. The commission of many operations in the industry is greatly reduced, and some operations have not even received the performance commission for a whole year.
An operator said that the annual base salary this year was less than 10000 yuan, and he hoped that it would be better next year. Another peer said,It's too true that there is no base salary all year round. It's me.Some people make fun of you. You may not know what it is like to have no commission for a year and only have a basic salary. We usually use five words to describe this kind of person: Amazon operation.
Only a small proportion of cross-border practitioners who only received basic salaries throughout the year, but more people are facing the reality of a sharp reduction in the commission.In 2021, many cross-border practitioners will work hard for a whole year. Some will only get the basic salary, some will not expect the year-end bonus, and some may even worry about being laid off.
Vote: everyone'sHow is 2021? Are there any year-end awards?
1. I don't know what the year-end award is, I haven't won it
2. There are year-end awards, which are distributed in several times
3. Only 13 salaries
4. I only got the basic salary for a whole year, and I was lucky not to be laid off.
Compared with the miserable situation of the year-end bonus for cross-border practitioners, the shipping companies closely connected with the industry are extremely ambitious, and the amount of year-end bonus granted by some companies is also enviable.
hairAfter the 40 month year-end bonus, the shipping company will continue to issue the bonus
In 2021, the performance of many shipping companies will break out, and they will also make great efforts in awarding year-end bonuses. It is reported that,The year-end award of EVA Shipping was paidFor 40 months' salary, the employee said directly: I have never seen so much money.
According to further information from Xinde Maritime Network, the scope of the year-end bonus granted by EVA Shipping this year is35 to 40 months' salary. The specific amount depends on the performance. Most of the junior employees receive 35 months' salary. The average monthly salary of the new employees of the company is more than 40000 Taiwan dollars, and the year-end bonus can be nearly 1.5 million Taiwan dollars based on this low 35 month level. If an employee with more than 10 years of experience has no problem receiving 40 months,Try to calculate the seniority of an employeeFor more than 10 years, the monthly salary was about 60000 Taiwan dollars, and the year-end bonus after conversion reached nearly 2.5 million Taiwan dollars.
Employees getThe bonus of the management will be higher if the annual bonus is 40 months. According to media reports, the senior manager of Evergreen Shipping received an 82 month year-end award, with a total amount of more than NT $10 million. An informed freight forwarder revealed that the 80 month year-end bonus was true.
After the high year-end bonus, EVA Shipping will continue to issue bonus. It is reported that Zhang Guohua, Chairman of Evergreen Group, said recently that,After the shareholders' meeting in July 2022, employees will also receive a bonus. However, the specific amount of the bonus and the reason for payment were not disclosed.
In terms of bonus payment, EVA Shipping's pride comes from its great increase in performance and profits. According to the International Ship Network, EVA ShippingIn 2021, the profit will exceed NT $200 billion (about RMB 46.083 billion), more than half of which will come from the domestic market. Cross border sellers contribute a lot!
At present, Evergreen Shipping has the largest carrying capacity in ChinaThe five ports are Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen Yantian, Shandong Qingdao and Fujian Xiamen. Thanks to the rapid recovery of manufacturing industry and export growth after the epidemic, the main shipping routes of EVA this year are concentrated in Asia, and the largest market is China. Evergreen Shipping is sure that China is the only market with the most sufficient production and steady export growth after the epidemic, and its centralized fleet will take the routes from China to North America and Europe as the main line.
actually,In 2021, the demand for shipping in the domestic export industry will increase significantly, and the price of containers will increase several times. It is even more difficult to find one container at a specific time. The most intuitive feeling of cross-border sellers is that the cost of shipping is soaring, and the freight costs are too expensive to fly. A freight forwarder who has been in business for ten years said, "I have never seen such a high freight rate or such a market."
The increased freight rate has made many shipping companies earn a lot. Some shipping companies made money in the past decade last year.
In the first three quarters of 2021, several shipping companies created record breaking performance: COSCO Shipping's net profit reached 69.59 billion yuan, the highest since its establishment; Herbert Roth achieved a net profit of 6.7 billion US dollars, more than the total profit of the company in the previous five years; Maersk's net profit reached $5.5 billion, higher than its best annual profit ever.
Not only that, these companies may make more money in the future.In November 2021, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) released a report saying that due to strong demand, shortage of equipment and containers, port congestion and other factors, it is expected that ocean freight will remain at a high level.
The shipping company made money to give employees a high year-end bonus, and the employees of EVA Shipping receivedThe news of the 40 month bonus spread rapidly, and once went on a hot search. In the cross-border seller circle, the news quickly brushed the screen to see their own year-end awards and others' year-end awards. Cross border practitioners were envious.
Cross border sellers said:"I worked hard for a year and worked for the freight forwarding company. The seller's money was earned by the freight forwarding and logistics, and the soaring logistics costs ate up a lot of profits."Another insider sighed:"The ship owner eats meat, the freight forwarder drinks soup, and the seller chews residue!"
Cross border e-commerce is pulled forward by the epidemic,In 2021, cross-border sellers will not escape the curse of rising freight and sharp decline in profits. In the context of platform management and control upgrading, some sellers' accounts were blocked during the rectification, which greatly affected their performance. Many cross-border e-commerce companies cut jobs to save themselves, and many cross-border practitioners lost their jobs. The year-end bonus has become the industry's extravagant hope. This year, many sellers were lamenting: "It's too difficult!"
In the new year, the freight rate may continue to rise, and the platform rectification has not yet pressed the pause button... 2022 is still a challenging year for cross-border sellers.