OSell rides e-payments to robust growth

Group sales revenue rose 30 percent y-o-y to 40b yuan in first nine months of year

While the COVID-19 pandemic has made many manufacturers uneasy about staying afloat since last year, the dark cloud has a silver lining in that riding the wave of new formats in foreign trade through big data and tools such as online exhibitions and digital payments have empowered export-oriented companies to survive and even post robust growth.

With China and its partners pushing for implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement next year, OSell Group, a business-to-business, cross-border site that brings Chinese merchandise overseas, said it plans to build more warehouses and service centers to expand into markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, while consolidating its presence in key markets in the Middle East and Europe.

Backed by sales and service networks and a large number of employees in Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, Feng Jianfeng, chairman of the Chongqing-based company, said the RCEP will support the growth of regional and global trade, cross-border e-commerce and related industries, creating a stable and open investment environment for global companies investing in the region.

Although the pandemic has affected the expansion of OSell's network channels and cross-border logistics operations, the company has been relying on innovative business models such as building overseas warehouses, cross-border business-to-business franchising service centers, branding and trading centers as well as industrial parks to ensure its operations and support foreign trade activities for companies both in China and abroad.

For instance, the company conducted more than two months of market research to sell Chinese bags and suitcases before building a sales network in Indonesia. It chose to work with local businesses to sell these bags and suitcases directly and began building a warehouse in Jakarta to ensure supplies and coordinate logistics services.

After gaining recognition of local distributors with the overseas warehouse operation mode, OSell not only developed a local language-based software to facilitate local consumers to place orders directly, but also expanded online sales channels, including exploring business opportunities in various social apps and launching a number of promotional events.

Thanks to such a localized strategy, OSell to date has more than 50,000 franchise partners across Indonesia, with nearly 10 categories of goods, including toys, garments, baby and maternal products, cosmetics, bags and suitcases.

Feng said building overseas warehouses and supporting growth of cross-border e-commerce businesses can stimulate consumption of quality products. They are also practical solutions to strengthen China's dual-circulation development paradigm of both exports and imports.

Under the dual-circulation model, the domestic market is the mainstay while the domestic and foreign markets reinforce each other.

Even though many Chinese exporters hope overseas consumers see the merit in buying their goods, small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs, typically lack the digital means to combine what is trending in the market and what their production capabilities manage to achieve, he said.

Agricultural products are among the many categories where Chinese producers earn diminished profits due to a lack of well-known indigenous brands. Feng's target is to help farmers and agricultural SMEs elevate their bargaining power.

"Based on customer insights and our extensive resources and networks in foreign markets, we suggest brands make adjustments in flavors, packaging and portions to better resonate with overseas customers," he said.

Mushrooms from Hubei province and preserved pickles from Chongqing have all rolled out overseas versions to cater to the palates of foreigners, Feng added.

The executive reiterated that leading scientific research results are only the first step in technological innovation. To truly transform these breakthroughs into production tools and solutions, the interaction of overseas warehouses, exhibitions, logistics, sufficient cash flow and other services will be needed because they are key to support cross-border e-commerce activities.