The post-90s are bound to be a generation that is restless and unwilling to be ordinary. All three partners of Maxi Electronics graduated from the School of Management of Xiamen University. After graduation, they joined a state-owned enterprise to begin their career as “iron rice bowl workers.” However, under the influence of the educational environment, cultural environment, and the background of the times, the post-90s are bound to be a generation that is restless and unwilling to be ordinary. After two years as migrant workers, they saw the general direction of future career development, and began to get tired of looking at life to the end. While working abroad, one of our partners, Zhong, unwittingly saw a big smiley face sign on the exterior wall of the Amazon warehouse. A fellow customer introduced them to the current situation and development prospects of Amazon's cross-border e-commerce. Just like that, by chance, the three partners met Amazon. After returning home, the three of them dug into research, hit it off, and decided to start preparing to enter Amazon outside of work.

As to why it's not all on Amazon full time, partner Liu said that being a conservative wouldn't be too bad to die right away. After half a year of thorough preparation, the three partners left their jobs one after another and began working full time at Amazon. From preliminary preparations in 2015, to all in after half a year, to a huge sale of 10 million US dollars for a single category on the North American site in 2022, Maxi Electronics spent 7 years exploring its own path of stardom!

First time as a boss, I don't really understand
From a migrant worker to a boss, the shift is not only about identity, but also about mentality. Migrant worker → boss. No one assigned tasks to me. I usually talk about the difficulties of starting a business. Most people are worried about lack of capital, no customers, and few employees, but Mr. Liu's first difficulty in starting a business is a change in identity. ” It took me a long time to get used to the transition from a part-time job to a freelancer and later to a boss status. No one assigned me tasks or set goals; everything was self-driven”. General Manager Liu said.

After leaving his status as a migrant worker, Mr. Liu began to arrange tasks and set goals for himself, and once he got down to running the store. Working 80-90 hours a week was the norm. As the business developed, the 3-person team gradually expanded to more than 30 people. Operations, supplier management, brand planning, finance, taxation, and human resources were fully equipped for all functions. Only then did Mr. Liu gradually break away from the specific work content and began leading and managing work. As a result, he lived a life of 9 to 6. Faced with the prevailing culture of overtime in the cross-border industry, Mr. Liu said that I do not encourage overtime; efficiency is the only correct solution.

Mr. Liu admits that he chose Amazon mainly because the services provided by Amazon are very comprehensive, the threshold is low, and it is easy to get started. The startup team is small and unable to balance all the content. Amazon FBA undertook warehousing, logistics, customer service, returns, etc., and solved a series of back-end problems. The operation team can focus on products and operations, so they can “go to sea” part-time. In addition to FBA, Amazon's constantly updated tools also provide great operational support to sellers. Mr. Liu listed a few tools he found easy to use:

01 Data Report
The inventory and sales reports contain all the data for the entire store, making it easy to analyze store operations. In particular, during the start-up period of a store, understanding and proficient use of data reports to guide sales strategies did more with less.
02 Brand module
Brand registration and protection are getting better, and the brand analysis, experiments, and customer reviews that have been added in recent years are also very useful.
03 Advertising campaigns and promotions
Throughout, it has become more and more refined and diversified.

At the same time, Mr. Liu is also a loyal recommender for Amazon's official courses. As a visitor, he was extremely impressed: “At that time, we went to Shenzhen to listen, and everyone on the team seized some opportunities to learn operational knowledge. It's much more convenient now, and there are so many more online and offline channels to learn. Abbottt, Premiere Creative’s creative director.

Casual professional women's clothing is not Maxi Electronics' first choice for entering cross-border e-commerce. Relying on the advantages of the South China Sanitary Ware Industry Belt and the supply chain resources accumulated while working in state-owned enterprises, Maxi Electronics started with existing resources and used the sanitary ware category to open up the entire process of Amazon's operations. Time and place are favorable, and Maxi Electronics quickly became profitable. But sometimes quick success isn't because of how hard you work, but because the upper limit of success isn't high. After store operations got on the right track, although sales became more and more stable, it was difficult to increase significantly, and Maxi Electronics began to encounter operational bottlenecks. After research and analysis, the three partners found that sanitary ware standards are relatively fixed, and small brands do not have a large share in the sanitary ware segment, so it is difficult for them to develop significantly later. Maxi Electronics does not have its own factory, so it is impractical to invest in technology development and patents. As a result, the steady development of Maxi Electronics began the process of secondary product selection.

Affected by the pandemic in 2020, the global apparel market reached a low point, shrinking by nearly 1 trillion dollars*. At this point, Maxi Electronics began entering the casual and professional women's clothing category. This choice can't help but be confused. The pandemic has led to home quarantine, and the popularity of “formal” clothing such as suits has declined. Under such circumstances, is choosing casual professional women's clothing a gamble?But Liu always has his own predictions. The outbreak is temporary at home, and people will return to the office when the situation eases. After experiencing the pandemic at home, people pay more attention to comfort. At this point, casual business attire with both comfort and workplace attributes will become the best choice for workers. According to the white paper “Insights on Women's Fashion Trends in Key Markets” published by Meta, 82% of key market respondents agree that working from home has increased women's demand for clothing suitable for both work, fitness, and leisure situations. Although clothing is a Red Sea market, the Red Sea can also turn blue by segmenting and positioning differences, looking at the needs of the crowd, clarifying one's strengths and weaknesses, and breaking through at a single point. Not relying on traffic thinking, running stores with user thinking, and analyzing the market and user needs. This is Mr. Liu's way to win.

In 2021, global economic trends gradually picked up, consumption capacity continued to be released, and the global apparel market ushered in a new wave of development opportunities. Among them, women's fashion is one of the hottest and fastest growing segments in apparel. The women's clothing market grew by 19.3% year-on-year in 2021, leading the global clothing market*. This time, Maxie's e-gamble won.
* (Data source: Meta “Insights on Women's Fashion Trends in Key Markets”)

Mr. Liu said, “In the first few years, Maxi Electronics also helped some factories operate Amazon stores and build brands. The early stages went very well. The factory owner felt that the cross-border e-commerce model was new, so there was a high degree of cooperation. At one point, the store was in the top few categories. However, when the overall turnover and profit were counted later, the factory owner felt that the turnover of tens of millions of dollars a year was nothing more than a joke, even though this turnover was already a good result on Amazon. Mr. Liu was also very helpless. "

The factory owner thinks that if he develops one more new customer, he can handle the turnover of your store for a year. Why bother with this. Over time, factory owners began to return to the old model. Mr. Liu felt sad. The Chinese have always been committed to improving production efficiency and developing better products, but because they don't have good brands, they are unable to achieve brand premiums, so they sell at higher prices. Even though products made in China are used all over the world, they are not recognized by consumers. In order to be able to continue on the path of the brand, Mr. Liu began to change his mindset, shift from operating an auxiliary factory to auxiliary factory operation, set up a brand department, begin market research, rearrange and position the brand, consumer portraits, brand stories, and VI, and begin the long journey of the brand with a new attitude. Mr. Liu laughed at himself, probably because he had read too many books and was somewhat idealistic. The path to becoming a brand is long, arduous, and a lot of investment. I may have to start sowing seeds in my generation and wait for the next generation to bear fruit. But I believe it's worth it because the best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, followed by now.

Although we still have a long way to go compared to our better peers, our steps are now more steady and steady, and the long road is long and bright. From 2015 to now, Maxi Electronics has developed through stepping on pits, improving, and learning along the way. Mr. Liu said that although we still have a long way to go compared to our better peers, our footsteps are now more steady and steady, and the long road is long and exciting. In the process of entering cross-border e-commerce from 0 to 1, Mr. Liu has accumulated some operating experience. He hopes it will be helpful to some sellers who want to enter the market:
01 Compliant operation, long-term principle
Adhere to customer first, long-term principle, compliant operation, and fair competition. Strictly abide by Amazon's rules, be down-to-earth, and achieve sustainable growth.
02 Brand orientation, user mindset
It does not rely on traffic thinking, is brand-oriented, focuses on cultivating user thinking, finds the right vertical segmentation circuit, upgrades and settles on products and user experience, and explores and digs deep into the brand path.
03 Interpret the direction and adapt to the trend
Keep an eye on Amazon trends, actively participate in activities, and stick to the path of branding.