Why do vertical e -commerce do not do it without Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo?

Once clamoring for "doing Taobao" or "Jingdong" in a certain field, such vertical e -commerce platforms are now encountering Waterloo. Maternal and baby e -commerce head platforms Honey buds recently issued an announcement saying that the Honey Emperor APP will officially stop the service on September 10 and shut down the shelves. The hot mom gang valued at nearly 10 billion yuan, rumors were reported as early as March this year, and the APP could not be found in the App Store. Vertical e -commerce such as Siku, Beibei.com, Mushroom Street and other vertical e -commerce companies are also difficult to be good.

The rise of vertical e -commerce platforms such as Honey Bud, Spicy Mom Gang, Siku, Beibei.com, and Mushroom Street has a great relationship with the high -speed development of the Chinese Internet industry. On the one hand, the user scale is in a high -speed growth state, and the other. In terms of user needs, opportunities can be seen everywhere in the Internet industry. Therefore, vertical e -commerce has greatly met user needs in the segment.

However, when users of the Internet industry grow up and lack the capital market support, they have a test of self -hematopoietic capacity of vertical e -commerce platforms. Most vertical e -commerce platforms were in a loss state. Traffic and users, vertical e -commerce only takes care of the eyes, and can not care about the "future" at all. In the past ten years, many of the successful Internet companies have rely on discounts and discounts to the user scale. Finally, they have been recognized by market and capital. There are countless successful examples in front of vertical e -commerce platforms. The success of vertical e -commerce is also the trend of the industry.

From the perspective of vertical e -commerce platforms such as honey buds and hot moms, they can't do comprehensive e -commerce companies such as Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo. Why? Why does vertical e -commerce fail?

1. The number of users of the comprehensive e -commerce platform is larger, and the user tags are more complete

Although many users are dissatisfied with the user experience of platforms such as Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo, they still meet the largest user needs.

The fourth quarter of the fiscal year in fiscal year in fiscal year in fiscal year, the number of active users in the Chinese retail market in this quarter was 811 million, an increase of 32 million compared with the number of annual active users as of December 31, 2020.

JD.com's Q1 quarterly financial report showed that as of March 31, 2022, JD.com ’s active purchase users have increased by 16.2%to 580.5 billion compared with 499.8 million in the same period in the same period in 2021.

Pinduoduo's Q1 quarterly financial report in the Q1 of 2022 shows that as of March 31, 2022, the number of active buyers for many years reached 881.9 million, an increase of 7%year -on -year.

The user order of vertical e -commerce platforms is completely compared with Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo. The advantage of the comprehensive e -commerce platform is that the user label is more complete, because users not only buy clothes, shoes, buy shoes, buy shoes on the platform Maternal and infant products, the comprehensive e -commerce platform meets most of their online shopping needs, and the platform can analyze the consumption level, shopping habits, etc. Essence

2. The per capita cost of the comprehensive e -commerce platform is lower and the customer acquisition ability is stronger

In the early days of China Mobile Internet, there were a lot of cheap traffic on each platform to obtain, and the investment in vertical e -commerce platforms was low. The current competition in the mobile Internet industry can no longer be successful by the advantages of user experience and product experience. Even Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo are buying a large number of traffic. Where does the traffic and users of vertical e -commerce come from?

Compared with vertical e -commerce, the per capita customer acquisition cost of the comprehensive e -commerce platform is lower. On the one hand, their brand is more aware and attractive; on the other hand The cost on the body is very low, and vertical e -commerce does not have this advantage.

As we all know, the comprehensive e -commerce platform has always been in terms of revenue, such as Double 11 Evening Party, 618 Gala and various variety shows. Taobao, Jingdong, and Pinduoduo have spent a lot of marketing costs. We are obviously unable to smash money like a comprehensive e -commerce platform. In the long run, Taobao, JD, and Pinduoduo have gradually occupied the user's mind, and the living space of vertical e -commerce platforms has become smaller and smaller.

3. The comprehensive experience of vertical e -commerce platform is weak

As a retailer, e -commerce not only involves traffic, selling goods, supply chains, logistics, after -sales, customer service, quality control, etc. are all very important parts. In February 2022, Tmall also learned JD.com and gradually started the self -operated e -commerce "cat enjoyment". For consumers, several core needs of their online shopping are trust, logistics, and after -sales, and these key chains have tested the platform's ability.

For example, logistics, JD.com has self -operated logistics, Alibaba not only has Cainiao Station, but also cooperates with many logistics companies. On this basis, its self -operated user experience will become better. So, can we cooperate with a third -party logistics platform to sell and ship directly? In fact, many vertical e -commerce companies did so in the early days.

But the problem is that third -party logistics does not absolutely guarantee the quality of service. Even if SF Express, sometimes there are problems. Logistics problems. Consumers do not blame the logistics company. Three -party logistics will also indirectly increase the operating costs of the platform. The advantages of vertical e -commerce platforms are low prices. As soon as logistics costs come up, they can hardly guarantee the price advantage. Without this to support it, why should consumers shop on the vertical e -commerce platform to shop on the vertical e -commerce platform. Woolen cloth?

If e -commerce is compared to a large online shopping mall, the number of SKU determines the size of the platform. The number of SKUs is related to large and small factories, brands, and agents. When vertical e -commerce has traffic and popularity, factories, brands and agents are willing to cooperate with them, but once this advantage is gone, it is gone. They are naturally more willing to cooperate with big platforms such as Taobao, JD.com and Pinduoduo. If vertical e -commerce expands the SKU like Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo, it will undoubtedly increase the platform's operating costs and control capabilities.

Judging from the current situation, whether it is a comprehensive e -commerce or vertical e -commerce, there is only one problem -reduction and efficiency, on the one hand, reduce operating costs, on the other hand, to improve self -hematopoietic ability. It can be seen that the Internet giants have long begun to cut off for projects that do not make money, and they are becoming more cautious in various expenditures. The days of vertical e -commerce are even more sad. They need to continue to expand. Once the costs are reduced, the user growth will inevitably decline. It is difficult to make the project profitable by the only user scale on the platform. At present, the capital market It is also very cautious about e -commerce projects, which means that vertical e -commerce is difficult to get external support.

- END -