1. Transforming overseas, Amazon is the first choice
When AKKO was founded, domestic e-commerce was in a hot period. With its stylish appearance and high-quality product performance, AKKO, a “young” brand, also joined it and “boomed” along the way, achieving a good record of No. 1 in the domestic e-commerce vertical category of Double Eleven. Having accumulated a certain amount of e-commerce operation experience, although it has captured many domestic fans, Jack, who is in charge of operating the AKKO brand, thinks this is not enough, because if he wants to continue to expand the brand's influence, he needs to go overseas so that more users who like this category can see, and if he wants to achieve this process, Amazon is definitely the first choice. Like many cross-border sellers, Jack led AKKO's overseas expansion, first choosing the US site where demand is high, then expanding to a European site with high potential, and quickly connecting products and brands to 30+ European countries here. According to Statista data, in 2021, Europe's Internet population ratio reached 91%, and e-commerce consumption per capita reached 1,930 euros, which is predicted to reach 569.2 billion in 2025. With such a rapid per capita e-commerce consumption level and a high Internet population rate, in Jack's view, demand for the keyboard category will also grow more and more, so he is very optimistic about AKKO's prospects in Europe. Jack only used one document, which not only launched nine major European sites, but also captured many local “fans” from 30+ other European regions. We first started with the Italian site where VAT came down the fastest, then opened the German site. Soon the French and Spanish sites were officially operated, and then extended to other European sites. Now, through export plans, our products have covered 30+ European countries.

2. Focus on segmented fields to enhance the strength of nuggets
Jack has been a “keyboard fan” since he was in school. In fact, he has always paid attention to the voices of users in the segmented field. Especially during his time overseas, he discovered that although AKKO's products are very popular in the US, they are unable to meet the needs of some European users. Most products on the market are “American layout” keyboards, but there are many small non-English speaking countries in Europe. Because of the different input methods, the corresponding key order and usage habits are not the same, so many local users need a “European keyboard” even more. However, during his research, Jack discovered that there is a shortage of localized products in Europe. Although there are many well-known keyboard brands that sell big in Germany and Sweden, most of the keyboards produced by these brands are mainly “American keyboards,” which still cannot meet local needs. After discovering this gap in demand, in order to provide better products to as many users in as many segments as possible, Jack took the R&D team and invested a lot of time, energy, and cost to design and restart the model, which would inevitably satisfy local European users and accept a “European keyboard”. We have made many changes in product design. For example, we changed the American-style rectangular “enter key” to a “7 shape” suitable for Europeans; for example, on the premise of understanding input habits, we replaced the keys for some symbols and characters to make keys that are more in line with local input habits. Although the production process is complex, it can meet the needs of these segments, and everything is worth the effort.

3. Move to a “high threshold” and tap big potential
Jack discovered that although the European platform has great potential, it is not something that can be achieved overnight if it wants to hit the list and sell big. After seeing that many of his peers were persuaded to retreat by higher tax policies and complicated logistics and warehousing, Jack was more certain that if he wanted to seize the “mining” opportunity, he needed to enter the market as soon as possible. After going deep into the European site and quickly opening up 30+ European countries, Jack, with the help of an Amazon account manager, found a solution to the problem of how to solve the logistics and warehousing problem, which was to use Amazon Logistics Europe's integrated service Pan-EU. After actually using it, I discovered that Pan-EU is an indispensable logistics tool for cross-border sellers in Europe. It will help us flexibly solve the problem of multi-country delivery in Europe. You only need to send the products to any two or more FBA warehouses in Europe. Once a user from another European region places an order, Amazon will help him automatically transport these goods to warehouses at various European sites, and flexibly complete the distribution of products across regions within the European station, saving Jack a lot of energy in logistics and transportation.

1. Multi-party research, listen to users' voices
As a post-95, Jack's quick thinking and strong observation skills are Jack's strengths. In order to make a good product, he not only often checks reviews and comments on the Amazon back office to learn more about users' preferences and usage experiences, but also tries to join different “keyboard fanatics” groups through more domestic and international social media channels to dig deep into the “first-hand” feedback data of “insiders.” And this collected information is a “source of inspiration” for new products. Jack once saw someone mention the “keyboard is easy to mistouch” issue on Discord. In the eyes of others, this is just a simple comment, but for him, this is the point where the product can be further optimized. As a result, after extensive research, I found the reason: Asians generally have smaller hands than Europeans, and the pressure level is different. If you want to improve the comfort of European users and avoid miscontact, you must not only modify the size of the keys and spacing, but also adjust the pressure grams in trial and error to find the compression level suitable for European habits, and in the end, it was well received by many users.

2. If you choose a segmented field, the product needs to be made more refined
Careful Jack discovered that in Europe, users in industrial countries such as Germany and France are very interested in DIY keyboards that can be assembled by themselves. For example, changing his favorite keycaps and adding lubricant to the bearings, etc., not only had a sense of participation, but also made minor modifications to the product according to his own habits and preferences, so Jack focused his product development on a “DIY customized keyboard.” At the same time, he also discovered that there are many local IP fans. In order to make the products more differentiated, they not only designed many creative themed keyboards, but also tried joint partnerships to bring more choices to keyboard enthusiasts. Most of the keyboards we have come into contact with before are pure colors such as black, white, and gray. In order to achieve “differentiation,” the sublimation process is specially used to make colorful designs, and wear a “coat” for the keyboard. Jack also studied color preferences in different countries and regions, and customized different “main” color systems and element themes. For example, for industrial-style European users, we mainly promote black gold and black silver with strict colors. For America, where fashion and technology coexist, they will customize corresponding fashion elements. These “personalized” keycap sets disrupt traditional designs and bring new experiences to life and office, so that users can also feel the “temperature” from keyboards. Now that we have chosen this segment, we must stand from the perspective of users and strive to improve the product itself, starting from solving the needs, and such products will be more valuable.

3. Every detail is inseparable from the efforts behind
Jack has strict requirements for the product development process. It takes half a year for each keyboard to be selected and put on the market, and it will pass layers of quality inspection to ensure that every product is a quality product. We have a strict quality inspection system, materials, production line, storage, delivery, and hierarchical quality inspection, and are responsible for every product delivered to users. In order to shorten the development cycle of new products, Jack also uses official “business opportunity detectors” and “product selection compass” tools with the help of Amazon account managers to effectively save time for early product selection research and speed up the launch of new products. Currently, under Jack's leadership, AKKO's team consists of 150 people to guarantee quality control issues from the source with Amazon product selection professional tools and the team's joint operation.

1. Identify your position and win “differentiated” competition
Jack attaches great importance to AKKO's brand building. He believes that the brand building process is the process of capturing consumers' minds and creating goodwill. Just like in order to improve the user's visual experience when shopping, Jack paid special attention to listing optimization issues. Examples include beautifying display images and optimizing titles and content. This has obvious effects on attracting accurate users and increasing traffic and conversion rates. It also leaves a deep brand impression in the hearts of users and empowers brands to go overseas. If you want to break through the Red Sea market in the keyboard field, you must insist on being a good brand, because in such a general environment, only brands can last longer. AKKO's advantage is to achieve “differentiated” competition based on a full understanding of product and segmented requirements. AKKO, which integrates design, R&D, and production, not only relies on its strong supply chain advantages, effectively reduces the price of customized keyboards, and enters with an average customer unit price acceptable to the public, filling the cost performance gap in the middle and high-end product lines. They also always think about pain points from the perspective of segmented fields, bring detailed solutions to the needs of niche users, and “capture” the mentality of more and more “enthusiasts” in mainland Europe.

For European consumers, the focus is more on the full experience of the brand, not just the product itself. By building a brand and creating a positive and loyal brand image, we can better help increase product sales and brand reputation. What gave Jack the most sense of accomplishment was that he had pre-sold a DIY customized keyboard kit on Amazon, known in the industry as the “Aluminum Dadao”. Its highly textured full-bottom aluminum material, plus a specially designed keycap, was especially loved by European and American users as soon as the pre-sale information came. Some users were even willing to pre-order in advance and wait two months to buy new AKKO products. This recognition added more confidence and motivation for Jack to firmly follow the path of a good brand.

2. Make concerted efforts online and offline to continue to build brand power
In order for more overseas consumers to know AKKO, Jack expanded as many channels as possible and expanded the brand layout. We have not only built a brand flagship store on Amazon, but have also opened offline channels in more than 50 countries around the world, linking both online and offline, making the brand more influential when going overseas. Jack values Amazon's influence on the brand globally. In August of last year, he also launched new Amazon European sites such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, and Poland. What he didn't expect was that even though it was a new site, demand was not lower than other mature sites, and the return on investment was even higher, and it was easier to do. The spring promotion just came to an end. In addition to mature European sites such as England, Germany, and France, we also promoted new sites such as the Netherlands and Belgium, and reached more European countries through export programs, such as Austria, Portugal, and Ireland, increasing sales by 7.9% from the existing site. This made Jack more determined to increase investment and operation of new sites in the future, thereby creating more new opportunities for growth.

The emergence of a new European site is certainly a new opportunity to “speed up” for many cross-border sellers. Emerging sites that stand “on the shoulders” of mature sites, whether in convenient geographical locations or vast user needs, have great potential. Coupled with the advent of more Amazon tools, it has greatly reduced the difficulty of operating multiple sites in the European region. As a result, Jack is more determined, dives deeper into new sites, and explores local opportunities, making it a top priority for future operations.

Finally, Jack shared some experiences and suggestions with new sellers who are setting up overseas:
1. Do a good job in positioning and let the maritime do more with less:
Being a brand is inseparable from good crowd positioning, and sometimes segmentation also has great potential.
2 Do a good job in the product and get out of the internal quagmire:
Over the years, in the internal “cage” of the price war, many companies have been burdened to move forward. In fact, in the end, competition still has to be product-centered. Doing a good job within the product will be more effective than a “price war” under internal scramble.
3 Layout planning, don't limit yourself:
If you do a cross-border business, don't just look at popular North American sites. In fact, potential sites like Europe will also have many good opportunities. As long as you cross the “threshold,” there will be less competition. Therefore, if you go overseas to cross the border, choose a site that suits you, be deeply rooted in this, and do your best, you will see amazing results.