The United States, which ranks first in global e-commerce, is very attractive to cross-border e-commerce sellers. If Chinese cross-border e-commerce sellers want to enter the US market, it is very important to understand the US e-commerce environment and economic environment.
Geographical overview
Trading in the United States is different than in any other country. The United States is composed of 50 states. Although the states are under the unified jurisdiction of the federal government, most of the decision-making power of laws and regulations is still in the hands of the state governments. However, with a GDP of nearly $17 trillion, a population of 309 million, and an Internet coverage rate of 87%, the United States has become the most attractive place in the eyes of global business.
American consumers have shown good acceptance of overseas e-commerce. More than 70% of American e-commerce users have purchased things on foreign websites. E-commerce websites from the United Kingdom, China, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia and other countries are the most popular .
The United States is home to many of the world’s leading technology companies, and the entire country, from consumers to merchants, is a loyal fan of online shopping.
Electronics, clothing, furniture and home furnishing are all areas where long-distance buying and selling and online shopping happen frequently. More than 20% of e-commerce sales come from the apparel segment, and 22% from electronics sales.
Corresponding to the scale of e-commerce in the United States, many challenges and opportunities coexist in this field. Many big retail brands have brick-and-mortar stores in every state, but there’s no guarantee they’ll reach every customer’s door. And e-commerce can just bring the brand to more consumers, which is why Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Home Depot also stand in such an important position as the top ten online retailers. Their physical presence builds their brands, and their online services help them reach a larger and more regular customer base.
For companies wanting to enter the US market, the local acceptance of online activities, openness to cross-border trade, and fast access to global logistics companies all mean huge opportunities. But at the same time, the different legal, tax, cultural and economic characteristics of each of the 50 states are challenges that companies need to face.
E-commerce environment:
There is no need to say much about the technical background of the United States. Many well-known and well-known brands all over the world come from this country. Although the geographical factors of the United States have increased the difficulty and cost of infrastructure construction, the national network coverage has reached nearly 87%, reaching the same level as many European countries. The Internet user population in the United States is still growing at a rate of 7%, reflecting a good growth trend. The development of infrastructure has also attracted more people to the Internet and online business. After all, not all customers in all regions have the opportunity to experience the physical stores of those popular brands. It is precisely because of these two factors, high network coverage and geography, that American consumers are more receptive to online shopping. The U.S. Department of Commerce report shows that the total online retail sales in the U.S. reached $305 billion in 2014 and are growing at a rate of 15%.
The main categories of online retailing include electronics (22%), clothing accessories (20%). Therefore, it is not difficult to guess that the top ten online retail companies in the United States are all comprehensive e-commerce websites.
Like all markets, the US market has its own peak shopping periods, such as Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November, Black Friday falls on the day after Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday falls on the following Monday. The previous two sales days have always existed, but now a new branch of online shopping has been added. According to eMarketer’s data, during the peak shopping period in 2015, US e-commerce achieved good results again, with sales increasing by 13.4%. The growth rate of offline sales continued to slow down, only 1.7%, the lowest growth rate since the economic depression in 2008-2009. The highest sales growth of the entire shopping season was on December 23, when Adobe recorded a 56% increase in e-commerce sales. For those who think about buying Christmas gifts very late, December 23 is the last day of remedy. Logistics can achieve one-day delivery, which provides great convenience to shoppers. However, for cross-border e-commerce, I am afraid that the sales peak will not appear on this day. After all, it is not easy to realize temporary orders before the delivery festival. But the Christmas season really cannot be ignored.
mobile terminal. Mobile (phones and tablets) account for more than 30% of online sales in the US. This trend will continue and change the way shoppers interact and transact with brands. Smartphone accounts for 14% of the transaction volume, which slightly exceeds the tablet computer transaction volume (13%). For example, in August 2014, more than 158 million U.S. consumers interacted with brands through their apps or mobile websites. In 2016, the value of online transactions enabled by mobile terminals is expected to reach nearly $115 billion.
Social network. With the rapidly growing social network user base (expected to reach 200 million by 2020), retail brands are also leveraging this critical communication channel. Facebook is by far the biggest social networking platform, but others like Pinterest, Instagram also play a big role in some fields and age groups.
search. In the US, Google accounts for the vast majority of search traffic, at 64%. But Bing and Yahoo! There is also a certain number of user groups, although not necessarily huge, but they can still reach millions of potential customers.
cross-border consumption. According to a survey commissioned by FedEx and conducted by Forrester Consulting, 76% of online consumers in the United States have bought something from a foreign e-commerce website.
According to PayPal, in 2015, 36.5 million cross-border online shoppers purchased goods worth $26.9 billion, and by the end of 2016, this sales had increased by 10%. Among them, 11% of consumers chose Chinese shopping websites because of the price, and 6% and 5% of consumers chose shopping websites in the United States and Canada to buy things they could not buy in the United States.
