Analysys Analytics The concept of self pleasing has become an important driving force for cross bord

Visual China.

Text |Analytics.

Figure 1-1 China's cross-border import e-commerce market size from 2018 to 2023.

In terms of transaction share, the situation in 2023 is as follows: Tmall Global ranks first with a share of 376%；JD International ranked second with a share of 187%；Douyin ranked third in the world, with a share of 123%。

Figure 1-2 Transaction share of China's cross-border import e-commerce market in 2023.

After years of development, more and more different types of goods have appeared on cross-border e-commerce platforms, and the range of users' choices is getting wider and wider, and many of their personalized and refined needs can also be met. At the same time, we are also keenly aware of the great significance of cross-border imports to meet consumers' yearning for a better life and promote the return of consumption and industrial upgrading, and gradually introduced encouraging policies, and cross-border retail imports were officially born. Although there are large differences in the consumption of specific goods, in terms of the driving force of demand, cross-border e-commerce users are increasingly showing the characteristics of being deeply affected by the concept of "pleasing themselves". This characteristic has been integrated into the main life scenarios of users, especially in the consumption of home life products, health care products, personal care products, sports and outdoor products.

1. Home life products.

In the consumption of home life products, users are no longer just "sufficient" and "cost-effective", and some hidden needs also emerge in daily consumption. For example, the integration of practicality and avant-garde has become an increasingly important point for users to pay more and more attention to when consuming goods at home. Whether it is the fresh taste and unique experience of food, or the convenience and comfort brought by small household appliances to the family, they are all practical characteristics that users need; Whether it is the trend and freshness brought by innovative digital products, or the warmth and fun brought by exquisite figure decorations, it is the user's pursuit of avant-garde. It is with this attention that users' choice of cross-border goods is becoming more and more logical, which is manifested in the following aspects:

1) The R&D of some foreign companies in small household appliances, digital and other products meets or even exceeds the needs of users in terms of practicality.

2) Some foods of foreign origin are limited by geographical conditions or seasons, and the substitution of domestic related commodities is not strong.

3) Some foreign brands have a long history, high visibility, deep cultural connotation, and strong attraction to users.

4) Europe and the United States are the birthplaces of a considerable part of the world's fashion and trend culture, which have a greater impact on related industries and consumers in other countries, and their related products have stronger brand power.

2. Health care products.

In addition to the home life products that they come into contact with every day, after several years of the epidemic, the public is generally more concerned about the health of themselves and their families, and the consumption of health care products is also paying more and more attention. Consumers who have paid attention to health care products in the past will broaden their eyes to more types of products; Consumers who have not paid attention to health care products before or have paid little attention will begin to systematically try to consume related products. In addition, different users have different needs and concerns for health care products, but their choice of cross-border products is basically based on the following factors:

1) Most developed countries have long-term experience in the production and management of health care products, from the industry to the enterprise, there are relatively perfect and timely standards, which can ensure the safety of products to a large extent, and the establishment and update of relevant standards in China is still relatively lagging behind.

2) There are a considerable number of foreign manufacturers who will develop corresponding products for the needs of consumers and concentrate on a relatively narrow market, but domestic manufacturers usually take a wait-and-see or even give up attitude because the market segment is too small, resulting in a lack of products for niche groups.

3) Foreign manufacturers have a relatively complete transformation mechanism for new achievements and new ingredients, and based on long-term tracking research on a certain segment of demand and market segment, they can relatively accurately judge the attractiveness and matching degree of new ingredients and new achievements for users, so they have formed a relatively stable system from R&D to production to market, while China is still relatively backward in the marketization of research results and supporting mechanisms.

4) Different brands in different countries have different degrees of attention to various types of market segments, and their scientific research investment directions are also different, so the products of different countries also show obvious differences, and the products of a single country cannot replace the products of other countries.

3. Personal care products.

In addition to the concern about the internal health of the body, users are still very concerned about the external state and health of the body, so they have always had a greater enthusiasm for personal care products. Similar to health care products, users' consumption of personal care products also shows great differences due to the different needs of individual users. However, unlike health care products, major brands in the personal care category have conducted market education earlier, and ordinary users have a higher degree of acceptance of personal care concepts and a relatively high level of related knowledge.

Under the joint action of many aspects, users have a relatively objective understanding of the actual situation of their own **, hair and other parts, and correspondingly know the actual needs of their own parts. Therefore, users pay more attention to the ingredients and effects that can solve their own problems in a targeted manner. At the same time, after users have a high level of personal care knowledge, they will not be at a loss when dealing with all aspects of information, and can judge the effectiveness of information more objectively, and some users have begun to pay attention to and attach importance to the brand's environmental protection and charity concepts. In such a case, cross-border goods will be reflected in the following aspects in terms of meeting the needs of users:

1) Due to the relatively high conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements in Europe and the United States, well-known academic institutions and research institutions can relatively quickly invest in product development and production of targeted scientific research results on a specific issue, and related companies can also make significant profits in cooperation with the above-mentioned institutions, and their new product development capabilities and rhythms are significantly ahead of domestic enterprises.

2) Some foreign brands simultaneously promote their entry into well-known beauty salons, spas and other institutions when their products are listed, on the one hand, they can obtain a lot of direct and effective feedback, and on the other hand, they can also establish a professional sense of trust in the minds of users; At the same time, these brands also focus on opening stores in high-end commercial areas and counters in high-end retail stores, so as to simultaneously establish the high-end image of the brand.

3) Foreign brands have built the concept of environmental protection and charity earlier than Chinese enterprises, and the relevant supporting measures in R&D, production, marketing and sales are relatively complete, and have established a good image of responsibility and gratitude in the minds of users.

4. Sports and outdoor products.

In addition to the scenes of home and work, leisure and entertainment are the most obvious scenes where the user's concept of "pleasing oneself" is expressed. The user's leisure and entertainment scene has experienced a trend of several stages in the specific location of occurrence: outside the home, at home, and outside the home.

Before the large-scale popularization of the Internet, even if black appliances such as TVs were commonly added to users' homes, most of the leisure and entertainment items of users needed to be related to other people in the same space, so most of their leisure time was outside the home. However, after the Internet has entered the family, especially after the mobile Internet has covered most of the urban and rural areas, the user's leisure and entertainment no longer needs to have a face-to-face relationship with other people, and most of their entertainment time has returned to the home. In recent years, under the concept of advocating healthy living, new leisure and entertainment projects have prompted people to start to get out of the house again, and begin to gradually go to nature and enjoy with others. In the beginning, people's destinations were not far from home or suburbs, which allowed them to balance family life, work and leisure, such activities as tennis, cycling, lure, camping, etc. When these activities attract more and more people, and have changed from niche to mass, those activities that are closer to nature and can show more personality have become a new choice for many people. This emerging niche recreational sport is represented by sailing, river tracing, caving, diving, etc.

It has changed from a niche to a mass leisure project, and domestic manufacturers have indeed seen business opportunities, and have begun to make efforts in product research and development, marketing, brand building, etc. But at the same time, foreign brands in related fields have been deeply cultivated for many years, and they have also established a good interactive relationship with many participants in the circle, not only experienced, mature products, high professionalism, but also a good reputation. At present, it is still a niche leisure and outdoor project, the vast majority of domestic manufacturers have not actively invested resources in it due to limited market space, low input-output ratio, long investment cycle, etc., so it has caused a lack of domestic products in the relevant market, and users can only choose foreign products. When these foreign products enter the Chinese market, on the one hand, out of a cautious attitude, on the other hand, because of the high penetration and influence of China's e-commerce industry, a large part of them will choose the cross-border e-commerce model. It is under the influence of the above factors that users will pay special attention to cross-border e-commerce channels when choosing equipment and products for leisure outdoor sports.