What is an independent cross-border e-commerce station?
What is an independent station?
For those who are not familiar with independent stations, the term 'independent station' is very new; For people in the cross-border e-commerce industry, the term has appeared frequently in the past two years; For those who are building independent websites, everyone's understanding of it seems to be different.
What is an independent station? How to understand independent stations? Why do independent stations exist? Today's article is suitable for every friend of cross-border e-commerce. before ✨ Take a look again, like and collect without getting lost.
One:
What is the meaning of an independent station
The term 'independent station' is often accompanied by other words every time it appears: 'cross-border e-commerce independent station', 'foreign trade independent station', 'cross-border independent station', 'e-commerce independent station', and so on. From this phenomenon,
There is a close relationship between independent websites and cross-border and online e-commerce retail.
First of all, 'station' refers to the website. An independent website refers to a website in the e-commerce field that has its own independent domain name, space, and page. Through the website, a series of transactions and services such as product online promotion, sales, and after-sales can be carried out.
Speaking of "independence", why do we say it is "independent"?
Because it does not belong to any platform.
Under legal and compliant circumstances, the traffic, brand impression, popularity, and other benefits brought by using this website for promotion belong entirely to this independent website; Correspondingly, it is precisely because it does not belong to any platform that a simple independent station has almost no natural traffic.
Second:
How to better understand independent stations
What is the English for an independent station? There is no English explanation for the independent station. In English, platforms and independent websites are collectively referred to as "E-Commerce", which means e-commerce,
'Independent Station' is more like a concept for the convenience of Chinese people to understand.
The term 'independent website' was first used to distinguish it from third-party platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and Wish, as it is essentially an e-commerce sales channel.
There will be a misconception here
Many sellers who have just come into contact with independent websites may think that there is a conflict between independent websites and third-party platforms. In fact, this is not the case. Industry sellers are more willing to vividly refer to it as "walking on two legs".
The "dual track model" proposed by Shopkeeper SHOPLAZZA can better illustrate this point, as independent stations are the second curve of cross-border e-commerce growth.
Establish your own sales channels and have your own trading website, which is an independent cross-border e-commerce platform.
Taking domestic cross-border e-commerce giant Anker as an example, the domain names of Anker on independent websites and third-party platforms are shown in the figure below, which more intuitively illustrates the difference between independent websites and third-party platforms.
At this point, there may be another confusion:
Why is the channel of independent stations rare in domestic e-commerce?
Why is there no specific vocabulary for standing independently overseas?
Below, Shopkeeper SHOPLAZZA will reveal the underlying reasons for everyone.
Three:
What are the reasons for the development of independent stations
There is always one key point to follow when doing cross-border e-commerce:
Localization.
This is not only about products meeting the needs and preferences of local consumers, but also about purchasing channels, payment methods, and shopping experiences that meet consumer expectations. The brand concept can hit target consumers.
An independent website is such a shopping channel that conforms to the habits of overseas consumers, just like it is normal for domestic consumers to directly open the platform.
For domestic consumers, there is a lack of credit support and interest protection from third-party platforms. If payment is not shipped or the goods do not match the actual description, it often causes significant losses. Therefore, the primary obstacle to shopping on independent websites in China is trust. However, mature credit card mechanisms overseas effectively protect the interests of overseas consumers, making them accustomed to shopping on independent websites.
Want to know how to improve the trust of independent websites? Please refer to previous articles
5 major directions to enhance trust in independent websites
。
Fourth:
Relative advantages of independent stations
In recent years
Standing stations are becoming increasingly popular, and a large number of domestic sellers are starting to test the market in the field of independent stations. What are the relative advantages of independent stations?
1. Decentralization to avoid rule constraints
In the operation of independent stations, there is high autonomy and many rules are avoided. For example, when the epidemic first emerged in 2020, some platforms banned the sale of epidemic prevention materials, and FBA logistics policies often changed, causing sellers to be caught off guard and suffer heavy losses. and
Independent stations have relatively high flexibility
Don't worry about changes in platform rules affecting operations. What are the several modes of independent station gameplay? Take a look at previous articles for detailed explanations
【
Cross border must know: Four modes of using independent station rail to make money in 2021
2. Shape the brand, DTC faces consumers directly
Independent station channels are the fertile ground for brands. After getting rid of the competition of limited platform traffic, independent websites are facing a broader pool of consumer traffic, which avoids the dilemma of constantly lowering prices for sales competition,
Many sellers connect more closely with consumers through independent channels, and gain greater product premium space through product iteration and brand image building.
3. Settle traffic and engage in long-term business
Do you remember the statement mentioned by Shopkeeper SHOPLAZZA earlier that "under legal and compliant circumstances, the traffic, brand impression, popularity, and other benefits brought by using this website for promotion all belong to this independent website"? This is not groundless. After shaping the brand and settling traffic, it is natural to re market and convert existing consumers. At this time, the cost of traffic will decrease as the brand settles. At the same time, all consumer data belongs to the merchant, which can
Continuously mining data value.
Five:
The first step of independent station
The first step in trying to stand alone is to build a website. It doesn't sound very simple, but it may involve technical difficulties such as programming, but Shopkeeper SHOPLAZZA has reduced the technical difficulty through technology and provided
One stop zero programming station building service.
Shopkeeper SHOPLAZZA provides a large number of high conversion templates, simple and easy-to-use backend operations, multi currency display selection, multilingual store operation, granular marketing funnel, convenient and secure settlement, customizable email marketing, consumer support and services, professional data analysis reports, and consumer loyalty management for independent websites
The top ten key steps to success are the SaaS enterprise level solutions for independent offshore stations.
At the same time, the North American localized DTC brand operation team provides multi-dimensional professional services such as brand planning, traffic promotion, and social media operations with a technical and data-driven approach.
It only needs
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