Chinese online retailers prefer to sell on Amazon (AMZN)

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Online merchants in China prefer Amazon over any other e-tailer when it comes to selling goods to foreign customers, according to a survey from Payoneer.

In fact, 62% of online retailers in China sell on Amazon’s marketplace. Online merchants in China prefer the e-commerce giant over the likes of AliExpress (40%) and eBay (28%), citing Amazon’s “simple and fair rules” as a significant driver for choosing Amazon. However, the survey notes that 59% of Chinese online retailers also tend to sell on more than one marketplace, and 33% sell on more than two. Amazon first started to allow Chinese merchants to sell on Amazon’s global sites in 2007.

Chinese merchants cite high traffic volume, satisfactory local customer support, and ease of selling as the main reasons for choosing Amazon’s marketplace over others. Amazon is most beneficial in helping Chinese merchants sell to multiple global markets:

• 91% of Chinese merchants selling on Amazon are listed on the US site.
• 26% of Chinese merchants would also like to sell on Amazon in Europe.
• 12% aspire to list their products on Amazon in the UK.

China is the world’s largest e-commerce market, with $589.6 billion in sales originating from Chinese vendors in 2015, a 33% year-over-year (YoY) increase, according to the National Bureau of Statistics in China. The increase in Chinese retailers selling online, especially to mainland Europe and North America, means greater logistics hurdles for major e-commerce sites. However, Amazon has been gradually developing its in-house logistics network to better serve the growing number of cross-border transactions between China and the rest of the world.

In fact, Amazon China recently registered with the Federal Maritime Commission to operate as an ocean freight forwarder in the US. This means that Amazon China can fulfill orders for its third-party merchants by taking merchandise from China to the US via its own cargo ships. Meanwhile, traditional delivery parcel firms like DHL and FedEx are starting to expand their global logistics offerings to better serve the growing e-commerce cross-border market, as well. Based on the preferences of Chinese merchants to sell overseas, we expect to see delivery logistics firms focus more heavily on China in the future.

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