How to do a good job in cross-border e-commerce operation_Preparing to open a cross-border e-commerce store

How to build efficient operation in cross-border e-commerce?

Understand all preparations for opening a store in advance, achieve a quick start from 0 to 1, and let efficient operation become the driving engine for your business to prosper!

1.1 Must-read for getting started with cross-border e-commerce

What should I do to prepare before opening a store?

Unlike traditional foreign trade or domestic e-commerce, cross-border e-commerce involves global payments, destination country compliance policies, destination country market environment, etc., and sellers need to make thorough preparations in the early stages in order to go overseas smoothly.

Precautions (must be read before registration)

① Please prepare all of the above materials before registration to avoid interruption of registration due to a certain step of the card. If this happens, you can leave for a while and go back to the page to continue your registration by logging in with the correct email address and password you set. If you are unable to log in, please make sure the internet environment is stable. You can try clearing your browser cookies and changing your browser.

② The registration process is irreversible, and once completed, the information cannot be returned back to the previous step to modify the information. Please check that the information you have entered is correct before taking the next step.

③ Please fill in all information in Pinyin or English, unless specifically requested.

④ It is recommended to use a stable, dedicated network environment; VPN/VPS/Super Browser is not recommended.

⑤ It is recommended that the seller keep the purchase invoice. If there is an audit or category application during the subsequent business period, you may be asked to provide the corresponding purchase invoice.

⑥ For sellers in Hong Kong, China, please select “Hong Kong” in the “Country/region where the company is located” (this information cannot be changed after submission; incorrect selection may cause verification to fail).

⑦ If you have any questions during registration, you can click the “Get Support” button on the page to get the corresponding support.

⑧ During the registration process, if you see a “Unregister” button on the page, please do not click it; after clicking, you may not be able to continue with your registration.

Preparing registration information

1. Color scan of the company's business license

● Mainland Chinese companies: business license
● Companies in Hong Kong, China: Company Registration Certificates and Business Registration Regulations
● Taiwanese companies: Limited company establishment registration form, registration form for the establishment of a joint-stock company, registration form for changes to a limited company, registration form for changes to a joint-stock company, approval letter for sole proprietorship registration, approval letter for partnership business, limited partnership establishment/change registration form, unlimited company establishment/change registration form, registration form for establishment of/change to a limited partnership, registration form for establishment of/change to a closed joint-stock company

Note: These materials must be produced by mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and should be at least 45 days before the expiration date. At the same time, make sure that the company registered on the business license is in existence. You can check the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

2. Color scan of the legal representative's ID card

The name on the ID must match the name of the legal representative on the business license; it exactly matches the name on the registered Amazon account.

Note: Make sure these documents are issued by mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and that the ID card must be valid.

3. A valid credit card that can be used for international payments

VISA or MasterCard, VISA is recommended first.

Note:
① You must confirm that you have activated the payment function in the currency of the country of sale. If you open multiple stores on the Amazon site at the same time, it is recommended to use a credit card that can support multi-currency payments;
② Verify that your credit card hasn't expired and has sufficient credit limits, and that there are no restrictions on online or mail order payments.

4. Accurate and up-to-date contact details

● Contact person's email
● Contact person's phone number (it is recommended to enter the phone number of the corporation)
● Company address, contact number

Bank account used to receive payments

● Domestic bank account: Use RMB to receive global payments and deposit directly into the seller's domestic bank account in China. Select the seller's local bank account in China for the bank address;
● Overseas/Hong Kong bank account: Use a valid bank account overseas or in Hong Kong, China to receive Amazon sales payments in local currency;
● Third-party deposit account: Use the bank account provided to the seller by the payment service provider participating in the “Payment Service Provider Program”. In this case, please select the bank address as the country where the bank account opened with the seller by the payment service provider is located.

Note: Your bank account information must be true and valid. If you want to directly use RMB to receive payments and manage your payments directly on Amazon Seller Central, we recommend that you use Amazon Global Payments, which can be automatically collected through your domestic bank account, which is safe, convenient and transparent.

Funding preparation

Before starting a cross-border e-commerce business, it is critical to prepare sufficient funds. You can click to view this series of courses “1.1.3 What is the cost structure of doing cross-border e-commerce?” Evaluate the cost of opening a store in detail and complete capital preparation based on your own circumstances.

Time to prepare

You need to set aside sufficient time for data preparation, registration completion, qualification review (identity review, video verification, and address verification), and due to the special policies of some sites, you will also need to spend additional time supplementing relevant materials. Before completing all the verifications and officially opening a store, you also need some time and effort to choose the right logistics plan, learn to create a high-quality listing, and register a brand to take an efficient first step.

Therefore, it is recommended that all sellers try to set aside 1 month to prepare materials and 1-2 months to prepare to open a store. The sooner you start preparing to open a store, the better!

Manpower preparation

Understand how operational functions work

As shown in the figure below, each department has a different division of responsibilities. Operations are responsible for coordinating the entire business chain, mobilizing relevant resources for the entire company, and at the same time feeding back important information to each business link, and collaborating with the entire organization to achieve business goals.

Four core competencies required for operations

Ideal operations should master the four key competencies. Sellers can compare the advanced operating capability pyramid below, focus on whether the company's current talent structure matches the current stage of development, and optimize and adjust the team according to the actual situation and needs.

Basic operation capability: Platform operation capability

Qualified operations must master the ability to operate the platform, which can ensure that the company's strategies and tactics can be implemented according to requirements.

Advanced Operational Capabilities: Data Analysis Capabilities

On the basis of proficiency in platform operation, data analysis ability is also essential. There are many online business indicators and reports, and operators need to act like detectives to evaluate business performance based on data (such as click rate, conversion rate, product return rate, etc.) and discover opportunities for business growth. Good operations are also excellent “finders”. They can create new data dimensions or indicators (such as sales in the North American subregion) and further explore product usage scenarios for accurate target customer groups.

Advanced Operation Capability: Overall Planning Capability

In addition to the ability to analyze data, the ability to plan the overall business is also important. A senior operator must be able to grasp the state of business development from a global perspective.

Senior operating ability: market insight

After observing the market and consumers for a long time, senior operators should become experts in this category. At this stage, operators can clearly understand the position of their products in the overall market, and can also see through future market trends and how companies should respond like prophets, so as to collaborate with the entire business team to promote business growth.

Staffing recommendations: Set up dedicated operation positions

For beginners, when building a business team, it is important to set up an operation that is independent of each functional department and coordinates the entire business link!In the early stages, fresh graduates with strong learning ability can be recruited to learn the basic operations of the platform and cultivate advanced operating talents for subsequent business development. And as the head of the business (whether it's the head of the enterprise or the head of a department), you should actually participate in the operation process, so as to mobilize all business links to achieve efficient collaboration.

From opening a store registration to opening a store quickly and in compliance, what are the pitfalls that need to be avoided?

How to successfully pass the qualification review during the registration process?

Once you have completed the preliminary preparations for opening a store, the next step is to start registering to open a store!After you complete all registration information, you will enter the qualification review process. In this process, identity review, video verification, and address verification may be carried out.

Here are some tips for successfully passing the review:

Submit identity verification information

Please be sure to follow the prompts to properly submit identification information, such as the front and back of the personal information page of the legal representative's ID card or passport, and a color scanned photo of the company's commercial documents, and wait for review!

Identity verification

Amazon offers two ways to authenticate your face: “Take a picture of your face” and “record a video of your face.”
Take a picture of your face (this option may speed up verification)
- You can complete this step at your convenience without having to wait for an employee.
- Use your device's camera to take pictures of your face and government-issued ID. Amazon will compare them to complete this verification step.
Record a video of your face
Use your device camera to take images of your face and the physical copies of the documents that you submitted. Amazon will record your session and have an Amazon employee verify your identity.
Note: Sellers in mainland China are also required to provide additional documentation (i.e. a photo of your business license) to complete the verification review process.

Address verification

When filling in the company address, please fill in the actual business address in Chinese and accurately fill in the house number to ensure that it is an accurate address that can be found. The address cannot be modified after confirmation. Once everything is confirmed, you will receive a postcard with an address verification code from Amazon within 5-8 business days. As soon as you receive the postcard, please promptly fill in the verification code on the postcard into the address verification field. If you haven't received your postcard after more than 7 days, you can click Send again. You have three chances to apply, so please don't apply too often.

Qualification review notes

① Amazon requires the company's legal representative to attend the meeting. If you are not the company's legal representative, you must be authorized by the company to act on behalf of the legal representative, and you must bring the original of the following documents to the meeting:
The company's legal representative and your own valid ID or passport (issued by the government with a photo);
There is an original commercial document showing the name of the legal representative, such as a business license, business registration certificate, or registration form for the establishment of a limited company. The mainland China business license and Hong Kong business registration certificate should expire more than 45 days, and the company cannot be in a state where it has been revoked or closed by the local government or included in the “Business Abnormal List”;
There are two types of sellers in Hong Kong, China: Body Corporate and Individual/Partnership sellers. Body Corporate sellers are required to carry two documents at the same time, the Company Registration Certificate and the Business Registration Certificate, and individual/Partnership sellers are required to carry one document of the Business Registration Certificate.
Sellers from Hong Kong, China or Taiwan: If attending video verification instead of a director, they only need to verbally confirm the director's authorization in the video certification to confirm that they are an employee of the company.
② During video verification, Amazon staff may ask questions related to the company's operations. If you need to bring an assistant to participate in the video verification, please ensure that:
At the beginning of the video verification, truthfully inform Amazon staff that you are bringing an assistant;
Assistance personnel are required to attend the camera at the same time as you throughout the process, and can only provide assistance with translation, equipment debugging, network settings, etc., and cannot interfere with and answer any questions raised by Amazon staff during video verification.
③ During the video verification process, if you missed your original appointment and did not attend, your Amazon Seller Central interface will check the corresponding reminder. Please make a new appointment and be on time.

② During video verification, Amazon staff may ask questions related to the company's operations. If you need to bring an assistant to participate in the video verification, please ensure that:
At the beginning of the video verification, truthfully inform Amazon staff that you are bringing an assistant;
Assistance personnel are required to attend the camera at the same time as you throughout the process, and can only provide assistance with translation, equipment debugging, network settings, etc., and cannot interfere with and answer any questions raised by Amazon staff during video verification.
③ During the video verification process, if you missed your original appointment and did not attend, your Amazon Seller Central interface will check the corresponding reminder. Please make a new appointment and be on time.

③ During the video verification process, if you missed your original appointment and did not attend, your Amazon Seller Central interface will check the corresponding reminder. Please make a new appointment and be on time.

What should I pay attention to when operating in compliance after opening a store?

Once your store is online, you also need to pay attention to completing a series of compliance matters to ensure long-term stable operation. In summary, going overseas in compliance can be divided into three steps: understanding Amazon's selling policies, understanding the country's sales destination policy requirements, and understanding product and product safety compliance policies.

Amazon Selling Policies

The Amazon Seller Code of Conduct requires sellers to act fairly and honestly on the Amazon Marketplace. In addition, sellers also need to pay attention to account health during operation to avoid product removal or account suspension due to irregularities. Click here for Amazon's related policies.

Sales destination country policy requirements

Once you have confirmed your sales site, you need to understand local policies and compliance requirements, and prepare for compliance in advance. For example, if you choose to launch a European site, you need to complete European value-added tax (VAT) compliance requirements; if you choose to launch a Japanese site, you need to pay attention to Japanese consumption tax (JCT) compliance. Click here for compliance policies for the European site and Japan site.

Product and commodity safety compliance

There will also be specific compliance requirements for the specific categories you sell (such as high-risk products such as cosmetics and toys).

You can also use a series of official compliance tools and solutions provided by Amazon to obtain corresponding compliance support and complete various compliance requirements with greater peace of mind, effort, and convenience. Learn about Amazon's compliance tools here.

How to efficiently open the first order after opening a store, so that people can get off to a cold start one step faster?

Once you have completed a series of registration review processes, you can officially start your turbulent cross-border e-commerce journey!Next, you can focus on learning how to run your store efficiently. For new sellers, only by laying a good foundation in the early stages can pave the way for future sales and traffic acquisition, and get off to a smooth start!

The operating behavior of a new seller within 90 days of a new account is a critical period that determines the future performance of a new account, known as 90 days* of gold. In these 90 days, Amazon has planned effective operating recommendations for new sellers (including brand registration, joining Amazon Logistics, using product promotions, using Amazon coupons, etc.), so you can open up the business landscape faster, operate more efficiently, and:

First order delivery time is 1 month faster than other sellers

Stores sell about 10 times more than other sellers throughout the year

The store sold about 15 times more in the second year than other sellers

*Gold 90-day definition: FBA sellers, 90 days from the time the product is placed in stock; self-shipping sellers, within 90 days from when sellable inventory is on the shelf.

Click here for a detailed guide to Gold's 90-day operation steps.

Amazon Operations Guidance Matrix

If you have questions or need support before, during, and after opening a store, here's how to get more learning resources and detailed guidance.

Scan the QR code on the right, follow the official WeChat account of “Amazon Global Selling”, and master first-hand operation guidelines.

Click here to visit Amazon's Global Selling website to instantly learn the latest cross-border information.