Amazon blocks domestic seller accounts, forcing practitioners to seek new ways out

Last Friday, the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Commerce held talks with about 10 leading cross-border e-commerce companies regarding Amazon's suspension of Chinese sellers' store accounts to discuss its impact on local cross-border e-commerce.

Prior to this, Amazon had banned several Chinese sellers who were accused of paying for positive reviews from selling on its platform . Even some industry giants with annual sales of more than $1 billion could not escape this disaster .

Amazon's move caught Chinese sellers off guard

Since May this year , Amazon has blocked at least 50,000 Chinese seller accounts for reasons such as "improper use of the review function", "soliciting false reviews" and "manipulating reviews by giving away gift cards", causing Chinese cross -border e-commerce to suffer losses of more than 100 billion yuan.

Amazon's move dealt a huge blow to Chinese suppliers. As of August 5, 54 stores under Shenzhen Tongtuo Technology were closed and 41.43 million yuan of funds were frozen .  

On August 6, another big seller, Patozon , announced that it had suspended its research and development operations for six months until February 6, 2022.

Wang Xin , president of the Shenzhen Cross-border E-Commerce Association , said Amazon's actions against Chinese sellers were unfair.

"Not only will the offending account be blocked , but also its related accounts will be blocked, which may lead to the paralysis of the upstream supply chain and the bankruptcy of the company . Is this a penalty decision based on platform rules or a strategic decision? In fact, Amazon itself is also selling products similar to those sold by the blocked accounts . "

Where is the future for cross-border people?

Amazon's move dealt a heavy blow to sellers, but it also educated cross-border e-commerce practitioners on how to optimize operations and connect with global sellers .

After recent events , many sellers are reducing their reliance on the Amazon platform and adopting a multi-platform development strategy .

Many people have said that they will no longer put too many products on the Amazon platform. In the past, perhaps 90 % of their products were sold on Amazon, but now this proportion may be less than 30 %.

It is reported that many top sellers in the industry are setting up their own websites and equipping them with their own payment and information systems to prevent their accounts from being suddenly blocked by a single platform like Amazon one day .

Challenges remain

It is necessary for merchants to open their own online stores , but compared with the traffic and transaction volume of the Amazon platform , they cannot achieve the same results as selling on Amazon in the short term .

In addition to having their funds frozen , many sellers are also facing the pressure of clearing their inventory. They need to find ways to digest the inventory previously prepared for Amazon.

Wang Xin pointed out that developing one's own website may be relatively difficult at first and requires a lot of investment. Sellers need to familiarize themselves with new rules, build the Internet and recruit talented people .

It should be noted that Amazon's behavior will not slow down the development of China's cross-border e-commerce trade . According to customs statistics, in the first half of the year, China's cross-border e-commerce trade reached 886.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.6% . It is estimated that the growth rate of cross-border e-commerce exports in the second half of the year will not be lower than 28.6%.

Wang Xin also said that China's cross-border e-commerce will develop faster in the future because in addition to the US market represented by Amazon, some developing countries in Southeast Asia and Africa also have demand for Chinese products.

There is always sunshine after the rain. The editor also believes that after experiencing this blow from Amazon, the development of China's cross-border e-commerce will get better and better!

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Cross-border e-commerce companies

Cross-border e-commerce market