Part 2
Differences between Traditional Foreign Trade and Cross-Border E-Commerce
Warming-up
Write down the Chinese names of the following platforms, and use the example below as a reference to give a short introduction to each of them.
Example:
Taobao: a shopping platform owned by Alibaba, provides Internet stores for customers and dominates online sales in China.
(1) Amazon: ____________________________
(2) eBay: ______________________________
(3) JD: ________________________________
(4) AliexPress: __________________________
(5) Tmall: ______________________________
(6) Mia: _______________________________
Listening
Listen to the following sentences and fill in the blanks.
(1) CBEC has gradually become an important driving force for China's ______________.
(2) The volume of China's foreign trade continued to rise in December, but at a ______________ pace than expected.
(3) Comparing the traditional foreign trade model with cross-border e-commerce, we can find some ______________ of developing the CBEC platforms as a new driver of ______________.
(4) International expansion through cross-border e-commerce can only be realized after ______________ merchants have overcome ______________ challenges.
(5) Cultural differences, customer trust, logistics, ______________ , and legal and regulatory barriers are among the ______________ facing CBEC.
Speaking
Sam and Jim are friends. They came across each other in a restaurant and talked about their job development. Complete the following dialogue with the sentences or expressions in the box.
Sam: Hi, Jim! (1) ______________ ! How are you doing?
Jim: Hello, Sam. I'm doing great. Glad to see you here and how's your job?
Sam: Well, not that good.
Jim: Why are you saying so? What happened?
Sam: You know, nowadays, the international trading environment (2) ______________.
Jim: Yeah. I've really heard that there are (3) ______________ platforms for oversea customers to buy products online.
Sam: Yes! (4) ______________ those cross-border e-commerce platforms are more convenient for customers, and cheaper, (5) ______________ our traditional foreign trade business went down.
Jim: (6) ______________. But please (7) ______________. I believe you can also gain a lot by transferring to the CBEC field.
Sam: You're right. My colleagues and I (8) ______________. This afternoon, we'll have a training course on this theme.
Jim: Yes, be cheerful. You're always hardworking. I do think you can get a new and better development by doing CBEC businesses.
A. quite many
B. I do understand your situation
C. Just because
D. is not as good as before
E. don't be upset
F. Long time no see
G. are taking steps to do so
H. the volume of
Tips: At any time, please maintain an attitude of conscientious studying and lifelong learning, and keep a positive and optimistic mind as well.
Reading
How to Sell Internationally?
Nowadays it is not unusual to purchase on some CBEC platforms and find the same product cheaper than you can find it domestically, even when shipping is included. This is especially true inside Europe but also outside in markets such as China and the U.S. The only thing buyers usually have to accommodate is the increased shipping time. However, even this barrier is becoming blurred as retailers start to store inventory in local markets.
By opening up to the international market in the right way, you put your products in front of, literally, hundreds of millions of new potential oversea buyers. Potentially, they can get products which cannot be reached before, or they can get at prices they can't find through traditional international trading. Because the latter business mode usually includes several levels of distributors, and each level needs to make a profit.
While you are doing cross-border e-commerce businesses, there are two main approaches to grow your cross-border sales through marketplaces. If you know a country where your products are either unique or competitive, you can start selling them on that market. The alternative is to start testing in multiple markets at once by listing your items internationally on marketplaces.
The obvious ones are eBay and Amazon, and there are others. This means you don't have to invest huge amounts in marketing in multiple countries or regions but can still see what sells well and use that as a basis for deciding which markets to mainly focus on.
With both approaches, fully localizing your products and/or website is fundamentally important if you want to get the best results. This means making sure your prices are converted, shipping is set properly, sizes are converted and of course your products are in the buyer's local language.
Tips: No matter what kind of work we are engaged in, it is necessary for us to know how to adapt to conditions and how to think in a different way.
Words ＆ Expressions
1. Words
domestically /dəˈmestɪkli/ adv. 境内
accommodate /əˈkɒmədeɪt/ v. 适应
barrier /ˈbæriə(r)/ n. 障碍物
blur /blɜː(r)/ v. 变模糊
store /stɔː(r)/ v. 储存
local /ˈləʊkl/ adj. 当地的
literally /ˈlɪtərəli/ adv. 不夸张地
potential /pəˈtenʃl/ adj. 潜在的
traditional /trəˈdɪʃənl/ adj. 传统的
latter /ˈlætə(r)/ adj. 后者的
distributor /dɪˈstrɪbjətə(r)/ n. 经销商
approach /əˈprəʊtʃ/ n. 方式
marketplace /ˈmɑːkɪtpleɪs/ n. 市场
unique /juˈniːk/ adj. 独特的
competitive /kəmˈpetətɪv/ adj. 有竞争力的
multiple /ˈmʌltɪpl/ adj. 多样的
obvious /ˈɒbviəs/ adj. 明显的
invest /ɪnˈvest/ v. 投资
localize /ˈləʊkəlaɪz/ v. 使地方化
fundamentally /ˌfʌndəˈmentəli/ adv. 根本地
convert /kənˈvɜːt/ v. 转换
2. Expressions
open up 开发
make a profit 获利
at once 立刻
focus on 专注于
local language 当地语言
Exercises
1. Tell whether each of the following statements is true (T) or false (F).
(1) ______________ With the shipping fee, it is usually more expensive to purchase on those CBEC platforms.
(2) ______________ CBEC business mode is different from the traditional international trading.
(3) ______________ Even when you know your products are unique or competitive, you still need to test the market till you start selling them.
(4) ______________ It is not always necessary for Amazon sellers to invest huge amounts in marketing.
(5) ______________ Fully localizing your products with local languages would be really helpful.
2. Fill in each blank with the correct form of the given word.
(1) Because of capital control, investors must pay a high price to invest overseas, which makes them to invest ______________. (domestic)
(2) This App helps the ______________ keep their selling systems up all the time. (retail)
(3) If a company is not ______________, it can hardly develop. (competition)
(4) He's always early to be in his office. He ______________ enjoys his job very much.(obvious)
(5) Many people want to get ______________ jobs, because they don't want to be far away from their families. (local)
3. Translate the following sentences by using the provided expressions.
（1）他的公司花了半年才适应了市场。（accommodate to）
__________________________________________
（2）哪些人是你的潜在客户？（potential customers）
__________________________________________
（3）高收入人群通常可以有众多的选择。（multiple choices）
__________________________________________
（4）跨境电子商务模式使得零售商能够降低价格并仍然获利。（make a profit）
__________________________________________
（5）这家公司一直专注于客户服务。（focus on）
__________________________________________