Recently, an Amazon seller revealed that he received an email invitation from Amazon's global store account manager, which stated: You have been selected by Amazon to participate in the new business opportunity test. You will have the opportunity to be one step ahead and expand your business in new sites. More, bigger and fresher markets are waiting for your development. The email also stated:
•If you are interested in learning more information, you can reply to this email directly or provide your phone number. Someone will communicate with you later.
• Alternatively, you can download and sign the Unilateral Non-Disclosure Agreement and send it to Amazon’s mailbox within five working days.
This is the 13th site launched by Amazon Global Selling for Chinese sellers after the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, Italy, Spain, India and the United Arab Emirates.
However, some sellers are not optimistic about Amazon's upcoming Southeast Asian site. In addition, they are more concerned about the prices in the Southeast Asian market. Some industry insiders pointed out that Southeast Asian sites cannot compete with Shopee. "Prices in Southeast Asia have always been low. It is said that Amazon is going to start a Vietnam site, and monthly sales of 100 million Vietnamese dong is not a dream." Another industry insider believes that Shopee and Lazada are still better in Southeast Asia, and Amazon has no advantage
In addition, industry insiders pointed out that two phenomena have emerged in this year's cross-border e-commerce market: on the one hand, European and American sites represented by Amazon are still the mainstream of the market; on the other hand, the Southeast Asian market represented by Shopee is rising. Although there is no large-scale money-making market, this small trend reveals an inevitable phenomenon, which is that it is necessary to start planning for the Southeast Asian market.
First of all, Shopee has an advantage over Amazon in terms of store operation. Shopee does not charge any fees for registering a store, and there is no rent, no deposit, and there is no commission for the first three months. The platform also provides subsidies for stores. After three months, the platform will charge a 5% order commission, which will also be deducted from the turnover after the transaction. To register a store on Amazon, you need to bind a dual-currency credit card to deduct the monthly store rent of approximately RMB 200. Secondly, Amazon has an order commission of 8%-15%. Compared with the two, Shopee has a great advantage.
Both platforms have their own advantages. If you are working, choose Amazon, and if you are starting a business, start with Shopee. This is because Amazon's average order value profit margin is higher than Shopee's, and there are relatively more thresholds and platform rules. Working is a team effort, and if you don't understand something, you can learn and communicate with each other. On the other hand, Shopee's profit margin is not high, but it is relatively easier to get started, so if you want to start a business now, Shopee is more suitable. Later, when you have a deeper understanding of cross-border e-commerce, you can consider multi-platform operations.
I personally recommend Shopee. Amazon targets the European and American markets, while Shopee targets the Taiwan and Southeast Asian markets. Amazon is more difficult, and it requires a lot of investment to set up a store. Shopee is more suitable for novices, as it has a low entry threshold and no deposit. Backend operations are also very simple. Moreover, Southeast Asia is equivalent to China 8 to 10 years ago. Doing business with Shopee now is just like doing business on Taobao 8 to 10 years ago. The market is still huge!
It can be seen from this that for export e-commerce sellers, the Southeast Asian e-commerce market is a "battlefield" and early layout may give them an advantage.
