Another cross-border e-commerce platform has been shut down!
This year is really too difficult for cross-border sellers. Whether it's the mid year Amazon blockbuster or the dismal peak season sales performance, it has had a strong impact on sellers. Affected by the suspension wave, the performance of listed companies such as Tongtuo and Youkeshu has plummeted. Some small and medium-sized sellers cannot support itThe blow of 'no profit internal circulation' has also led to a dismal exit.
At the same time, some cross-border e-commerce platforms have also experienced thunderstorms one after another. RecentlyThe news that the Vova platform seems to be running away has caused uproar, with a large number of sellers having nowhere to ask for payment. Subsequently, JD.com announced the closure of its cross-border e-commerce platform JOYBUY. I thought I could pass the last month of this year smoothly, but who knew that another cross-border e-commerce platform had collapsed.
Middle East e-commerce platformAjMall shutdown
Recently, sellers have reported that,Middle East e-commerce platformAjMall sent an email notification stating that it was about to shut down!
The specific content of the email is as follows:
DearAjMall merchant, due to platform business adjustments, AjMall is closed today. Thank you very much for your support and cooperation since entering! The deadline for goods to be stored is 24:00 on December 16th; There are unsettled bills in the backend. Please confirm the bills and upload the invoice as soon as possible. The platform will arrange for full settlement by early January at the latest! Finally, please cooperate with all suppliers to complete the closing work and send out the order on time. Once again, we sincerely appreciate it and hope to see you again in the future~
According to the email,AjMall has announced its closure, and sellers need to confirm their bills as soon as possible, while the platform will settle all bills by early January at the latest. In addition, orders that have already been placed still need to be shipped normally.
As soon as this news is released, it is heartbreaking. While a major giant collapses, it cannot help but express infinite emotions about the current situation of the entire e-commerce industry this year
AjMall's "Past and Present Lives"
According to iQiCha information,AjMall was established on March 23, 2018, and its e-commerce platform AjMall was officially launched on August 20, 2018. Just one week after going online, I received $2 million in angel round financing, and three months later, I was awarded another $5 million in A-round financing.
AjMall is a fast fashion clothing platform dedicated to providing the most trendy, suitable, and affordable products for women worldwide.In Asia,AjMall integrates hundreds of fashion women's clothing factories and designer studios, with a complete and established supply chain system. Overseas, AjMall closely cooperates with international logistics giants such as DHL, FedEX, Aramex, TNT, etc. to ensure thatProduct delivery efficiency.
From a market perspective,AjMall is rooted in East Asia and targets emerging markets overseas, providing consumers worldwide with products in various categories such as clothing, accessories, makeup, shoes and bags, home furnishings, mother and baby, electronics, and more. In terms of women's clothing, AjMall also specifically sets up a classification of Arab clothing, capturing a large number of fans from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates by incorporating localized elements.
In terms of download volume,When AjMall was first launched, it also made a big splash. Around April 2019,AjMall remains in the top three in terms of download volume in the mobile application platform Annie Saudi Arabia, second only to the second ranked Ford eal, and lags behind SHEIN and AliExpress.And in the entire UAE region at that time,AjMall's download ranking is only fluctuating in the top ten.
In addition,AjMall also launched its independent app, AjBaby, in July 2020, officially entering the vertical e-commerce field of mothers and infants in the Middle East, selling products such as mothers and infants, shoes and boots, children's toys and accessories.
At that time, many people raised questions about how to kill someone halfway through the processWho is AjMall truly sacred? Is it possible to surpass Jollychic, SHEIN, and Fordeal as a dark horse for Middle Eastern e-commerce in 2019?
But now,SHEIN's brilliance is getting brighter and brighter, and it has already shone brightly in multiple regions, but AjMall chose to leave
How is the AjMall platform?
With the current favorable development trend of cross-border e-commerce,Why did AjMall choose to exit the e-commerce market?
In order to gain a more detailed understanding of the platform, the editor browsedAjMall's user reviews in the Google App Market and Apple App Store. There are naturally positive reviews, but the editor also found that many users expressed their dissatisfaction with the platform in the comment section.
stayIn the Google Play app store, many users have mentioned that the clothes sold on the platform are cheap, but the size is incorrect, and the quality is not commendable. Some users mentioned that what makes people speechless is the logistics and after-sales service of the platform are very average. Furthermore, one user stated that their refund had been waiting for 8 months but had not been received.
In the comments section of the Apple App Store, users are also crying loudly. After reviewing by the editor, it was found that the most common feedback from users was that the products sold on the platform did not match the promotional images, and the platform's after-sales and return and exchange services were average.
A user roast that the quality of the goods was very poor. When he applied for the return of goods, he was asked by the seller to mail the goods to China by himself. However, after the express showed that he had received the goods, the seller refused to pay him a refund on the ground that he had not received the return.
Another user mentioned that this is a deceptive application, and the platform service is very poor. The shipping cost for returns is higher than the product price, so it is not recommended for everyone to download.
An insider stated that,AjMall's shutdown may be due to its transformation into B2B business, but we have no way of knowing the true reason for its exit from the Middle East e-commerce market. However, from the user's comments, we can see some clues to some extent. There are many areas that need improvement in the platform's review and control of product quality, service support provided by after-sales service, and attitude towards buyers.
Middle Eastern supermarkets have exited one after another,Is the 'fragrant cake' no longer fragrant?
In fact, in the Middle East region,AjMall is not the first cross-border e-commerce platform to experience explosive growth. As early as two years ago, the Middle East king "Zhi Yu" had already started to decline and was often exposed as "delayed repayment of supplier payments". The Middle East region has always been hailed as the next blue ocean market for cross-border e-commerce, but there are frequent setbacks on Chinese e-commerce platforms. Is this "hot cake" in the Middle East still fragrant?
according toAccording to the analysis of GO Gulf, the global outbreak of COVID-19 has promoted the growth of e-commerce industry in the Middle East. From 2018 to 2021,The annual growth rate of e-commerce in the Middle East region is23%ExpectedIn 2021, the sales volume of e-commerce in the Middle East reached 49 billion US dollars. alsoCurrently, online sales in the Middle East only account for half of total retail revenue2%. From this, it can be seen that,The e-commerce business in the Middle East still has great potential for development.
But due to the late start of e-commerce in the Middle East,There are inevitably some problems in infrastructure such as logistics. In the Apple App StoreIn the negative feedback from AjMall users, many people have mentioned issues such as difficult returns and high shipping costs. This is also where cross-border sellers in the Middle East need to improve in their future development.
summaryThe development of cross-border e-commerce in 2021 can be observed that several cross-border e-commerce platforms have successively encountered problems, which has also sounded an alarm for the vast number of cross-border sellers. When entering the platform, it is necessary to do a good job in platform strategic planning and, if conditions permit, diversify business risks through multiple platform layouts.