Youzan AllValue "China 100 Brand Sailing Plan" aims to provide special support policies for domestic consumer brands, emerging brands and cross-border platform boutique sellers, including the "100 day growth support plan" and DTC brand sailing solutions, so as to enhance the competitive advantage of sellers and effectively develop overseas markets"Will continue to spread the stories and experiences of AllValue's high-quality merchants going to sea for reference.
Interviewee: Yuan Shaohua, founder of YESYOHO brandAs a continuous entrepreneur in the foreign trade industry, Huage has witnessed the changes of the cross-border industry since its entry into the industry in 2014, and also has its own profound understanding and thinking about the different stages of the cross-border industry.After accumulating rich cross-border supply chain resources and experience in the foreign trade service industry and Rococo Innovative Design Group, Huage has also determined to become an independent brand.Establish YESYOHO, independently design the whole link from the control product to the supply chain, and strive to make the product practical and interesting for the target users. What "new discoveries" and "new thinking" can be brought to us from the practical perspective of a start-up brand enterprise, from supplying goods to merchants to setting up an independent station to go to sea?Interviewer: Youzan, editor in chief of Allvalue, Xi Zao
· Youzan is the director and editor in chief of international communication, and was the chief writer of Yibang Power cross-border channel
· Go deep into cross-border payment, cross-border logistics, overseas marketing, independent stations and other fields. As a senior cross-border media person in the cross-border industry for many years, he has a deep understanding of the cross-border industry and long-term thinking about future development
· Founder of "China 100 Interview Program".
7 years of continuous entrepreneurs, continue to create interesting products and create brand value for overseas consumersQ1:
How did you start the company? What kind of stories do you have?
Brother Hua:I am a serial entrepreneur, and my career experience mainly includes three stages. I was a computer student. The first company I founded was engaged in computer network and hardware business. Most of the customers I served were foreign-funded enterprises.In 2014, it established a cross-border supply chain service company, mainly serving Ali small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises, to solve their problems in the process of foreign trade, such as customs affairs, logistics, tax rebates and letter of credit financing. I have served more than 1000 small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises. This experience has exposed me to a large number of small and medium-sized foreign trade manufacturing enterprises and some export-oriented enterprises.
At the beginning of 2019, he served as the head of the overseas e-commerce business department of Rococo Innovative Design Group, responsible for developing overseas markets through integrating overseas marketing of products designed by Rococo. During this period, I also felt the fierce market competition of cross-border e-commerce, and some cross-border enterprises began to pay attention to product appearance design and structural innovation.With the gradual maturity of China's supply chain and the continuous upgrading of overseas consumer demand, when these two growth curves intersect, a window period will be ushered in, which may be as long as 5-10 years, when a large number of sub category brands emerge in the overseas market.So I founded YESYOHO at the beginning of this year,We hope to define and create products suitable for specific user groups from more dimensions, and continue to export brand value through various overseas marketing and multi-channel sales.
Q22:
What is the current stage? What are the characteristics of innovative products? What kind of brand do you want to make?
Brother Hua:At present, the product supply chain has been basically polished, an excellent core team and product supply chain have been built, and overseas marketing and sales channels have been laid.Our productsThey are self-developed and designed for specific user groups. In addition to being more convenient and efficient, they can feel interesting in their application scenarios.At present, it mainly includes intelligent hardware and outdoor fitness products, such as intelligent mouse, abdominal wheel, etc.
Smart Mouse
Round of healthy abdomen
The belly wheel is usually large, but when we design this product, in addition to being small and light, we also refer to the shape of Harley, including the portable optimization of the structure, which will be more interesting in the process of opening and using.At present, the word "innovation" cannot be used for products; Because I understand that innovation should be a process from 0 to 1. What we do now is to optimize and upgrade the appearance, structure and application scenarios. These products will also be continuously polished and optimized.
Q3:How does the whole product development production link work?
Brother Hua:At present, they are all independently designed and developed, including mass production. First, define the product based on the feedback of the market and users. Then, when designing, you need to consider multiple dimensions such as price, logistics cost, mass production, etc., and then polish it repeatedly, such as prototype verification, mold opening, T0, optimization, T1, etc. Also, you will continue to optimize and iterate according to the feedback of users in the market. Making products is a complex process and the cycle will be long.
Independent stations expand the international market, and talent, flow and capital are the biggest challenges
Q1:What are the differences between third-party platforms and independent stations?
Brother Hua:Independent station:It is suitable for vertical websites with certain uniqueness, brand awareness or professional categories of products;Third party platform:Because the groups with traffic on the platform are different, appropriate products should be selected according to different platforms. Take Amazon for example. A large number of users are still generic products with prices below $30.If the target market and product selection positioning are established, I feel that it is determined by each company's own advantages. For example, some companies have strong supply chain resources and operation teams, so they are suitable to be independent stations of third-party platforms/vertical platforms such as Amazon;Some companies have unique products and specific user groups, so they can focus on independent stations and also rely on third-party platforms.
West Morning:At present, the "platform+independent station" model is becoming the mainstream trend in the cross-border industry, and "flow thinking" and "brand thinking" complement each other. The logic of the platform is more traffic thinking, mainly considering how to obtain platform traffic at a low cost through the operation capability of merchants.Independent stations think more about the relationship between brands and consumers and the purchase experience of consumers, mainly around the operation of "users". Through independent stations, businesses can fill the gap in the field of overseas private domain, and truly grow into independent overseas brands.
Q2:What do you think is the most important thing for your products to sell well overseas?
Brother Hua:Personally, it is more important to study consumer demand and consumption habits from the perspective of overseas consumers. For example, 1. Overseas living and working background can be given extra points; 2. The operation of social media and fan side is very important, but this part will directly produce benefits in a short time. It needs to be cultivated, but it is also an important part that affects users' minds.
West Morning:I agree. Different from the path of overseas brands entering the Chinese market, most Chinese brands are not famous in overseas markets, so it is particularly important to conduct in-depth operations in overseas social media. While shaping the brand IP through social media content, it also conveys the value of the brand, forming consumer recognition and spreading word of mouth.To truly go overseas, a Chinese brand must first meet the needs of overseas consumers, and also give consumers a good shopping experience. From product quality, brand packaging, website purchase process, logistics timeliness and other aspects, it is necessary to improve the user experience from the perspective of consumers. These "brand impressions" will also become the best "communicators" of market reputation.
Q3:What are the advantages of AllValue that can help you do a good job of going to sea?
Brother Hua:In China, Youzan is already a very good platform; It can also better understand the needs of domestic merchants, and quickly respond to and update the needs of iterative users. In addition, the domestic marketing mode is very mature. If we effectively develop new marketing methods suitable for overseas, it will also be a great advantage.
Q4:What problems/challenges have you encountered in sailing?
Brother Hua:The problems and challenges encountered should be similar to those of everyone. The acquisition of talents, overseas flows and supporting funds for independent stations.
Xizao：Yes, a large number of independent website sellers we serve will encounter such problems. And Youzan AllValue is precisely around the most critical challenge of "traffic acquisition", proposing our core values and solutions from products to services. For example, overseas online celebrity evaluation, online celebrity promotion, community marketing promotion services, etc. help businesses to obtain more traffic through overseas social marketing.
Q5:What help do you expect or hope AllValue can provide?
Brother Hua:We should have more global perspectives to see the brand going overseas, hoping to help us integrate more overseas local resources, not only KOL online celebrity, PR and other resources, but also overseas resources such as video, graphic design and operation.
West Morning:Thank Brother Hua for his advice. At present, in addition to providing social marketing services such as overseas online celebrity evaluation, online celebrity promotion and community promotion, professional designers have designed and updated 70+sets of free theme templates, covering popular categories in the industry. Merchants can choose from a variety of templates to create personalized and differentiated exclusive independent stations. In the future, Youzan AllValue will continue to improve and launch more services around the whole process of merchants' operation in independent stations.
Youzan AllValue "China 100 Brand Sailing Plan" is under continuous recruitment! If you are a domestic consumer brand, emerging brand or cross-border platform boutique seller, please scan the code to register. AllValue will spare no effort to help you sail successfully!
(100 entries in China)
Witness the changes of the cross-border era, and it is an inevitable trend for DTC brand to go to sea
Q1:Having worked in the cross-border circle for many years, I would like to hear from you about the changes of the cross-border industry in recent years.
Brother Hua:Cross border e-commerce has also changed very fast in recent years.
The first stage: the stage of "grabbing money".At that time, it was basically just a matter of copying the products from Huaqiangbei or 1688 pictures, linking them to the platform, and changing RMB into dollars. The profits were also huge. At that time, there were not many people who knew about it. Until 2015-2016, due to the profit making effect, more and more people entered the market and the competition became fiercer. At the end of 2018, many sellers felt that it was not easy to make money.
The second stage: the awakening of independent products/brands.At the end of 2018, some sellers began to try to design their own products, including the joint creation of our products with cross-border sellers. Sellers began to explore new growth space in supply chain, product design, brand premium, etc.
The third stage: after the outbreak of the epidemic, growth and crisis coexist.In 2020, the sales of cross-border e-commerce affected by the epidemic will grow rapidly. Capital entered and industry sentiment rose. The news that Amazon sellers bought Shenzhen Bay No. 1 is spreading everywhere in the industry. It is a story of getting rich overnight spread crazily. These signals have hidden risks.As expected, at the beginning of this year, people from various industries poured into cross-border industries in large numbers. It is said that there are hundreds of thousands of new buyers in a month; At this ti