With global trade shrinking, how foreign trade enterprises export to domestic

With the spread of the new overseas pneumonia epidemic and the shrinking of global trade, my country's foreign trade companies are facing unprecedented challenges. With policy support, many foreign trade companies have actively turned around and turned to the domestic market, opening up domestic sales channels. Experts believe that the cost of adjustment must be considered when exporting to domestic sales. There are differences between domestic market standards and foreign countries, and companies need to pay a certain cost to adapt. Enterprises should find out their strategic positioning and make corresponding adjustments in their business strategies according to the actual situation.

Decreased orders, cancellation of projects, and difficulty in starting construction... With the continuous spread of the new overseas pneumonia epidemic and the shrinking of global trade, my country's foreign trade companies have faced an unprecedented "life and death" test this year.

Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Implementation Opinions on Supporting the Conversion of Exported Products to Domestic Sales", which clearly stated that it is necessary to support the conversion of exported products to domestic sales to help foreign trade enterprises bail out. Many foreign trade companies actively "turn around" to the domestic market and open up domestic sales channels. If foreign trade enterprises export to domestic sales, can they be transferred? What real difficulties are still facing?


Urgent need to explore the domestic market

"At the beginning of the year, business was bleak, and only a few orders were exported to the United States in March. February and March happened to be the mature season for the production of edible mushrooms in our company. If they are not harvested and processed in time, they will soon be lost. Value, we are in a hurry every day." Lin Xiaolong, the legal representative of Jiangsu Lianyungang Yongtongxiang Agricultural Technology Development Co., Ltd. recalled that the plight of the company at the beginning of the year is still fresh.

Realizing that to wait any longer is to wait and die, Lin Xiaolong is determined to open up the domestic market. "The quality of the green and pollution-free shiitake mushrooms produced by the company is sure to be welcomed by domestic consumers. We quickly changed the production mode and sales model, changed the production line of some shiitake mushrooms in accordance with the domestic sanitation license standards, seized the production time, and seized the domestic market." Lin According to Xiaolong, the production line is now fully operational, the domestic sales channels have been basically laid, and the company's operations are gradually on track.

Lin Xiaolong's experience is not unique. Affected by the epidemic, the global economy is facing a serious recession risk this year, the international market demand has dropped significantly, and my country's foreign trade is facing major challenges. Some foreign trade companies have encountered difficulties in order diving, project cancellation, and inability to start work. They urgently need to open up a new situation to overcome the difficulties.

Switching from export to domestic sales is a way of survival for many foreign trade companies. Zhao Ping, director and researcher of the International Trade Research Department of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that transferring domestic exports to domestic sales is a necessary and feasible strategy. From the perspective of foreign countries, China's exports changed from negative to positive in April this year, with a year-on-year growth rate of 8.25%. Although exports in May continued the positive growth trend, the growth rate has dropped to 1.4%. The international market will not be optimistic for some time to come. . From the domestic situation, as the situation of epidemic prevention and control continues to consolidate, work resumes and production resumes in an all-round way, residents' consumption continues to improve. In June, the domestic manufacturing PMI rose to 50.9%, which is in a boom range, and the economy shows a recovery trend. Both supply and demand are picking up quickly.

"Transition of foreign trade enterprises to domestic sales will help enterprises make good use of the markets around them, take advantage of the rapid recovery of domestic supply and demand, hedging the pressure of order reduction caused by insufficient external demand, which will help foreign trade enterprises improve their survivability and reduce the global economic recession. The loss came." Zhao Ping said.


Where is the difficulty of transferring domestic sales

However, it is not easy for foreign trade companies to "turn around" and turn to the domestic market.

"In the first half of the year, the orders we received were significantly reduced, and many cooperation projects pressed the "pause button." Zhang Jingshan, marketing director of Yanjialong Home Building Materials Co., Ltd. told reporters that its main business involves building materials and furniture manufacturing. Hotels and schools in developing countries in Southeast Asia, Latin America and other places cooperate in project cooperation. Since the outbreak, many countries have stopped work and production, the project cannot be carried out normally, and the company's performance has been greatly affected.

Speaking of turning to the domestic market, Zhang Jingshan sighed: "For most foreign trade companies that have long received foreign orders, it is not easy to switch to domestic sales at once. As far as our company is concerned, the operation mode of the entire domestic industrial chain is quite different from that of foreign countries. Different, the project payment is relatively slow, there are more products of the same type, the competition is more fierce, we do not have the advantage. "All kinds of difficulties make Yan Jialong home company prohibitive, always hovering on the verge of "transfer".

For most foreign trade companies, the switch to the domestic market does not mean that they can switch, and they face many conversion costs. "Export to domestic sales must first consider the adjustment cost. The original production equipment and standards of foreign trade enterprises are prepared and designed according to foreign markets. There are differences between domestic market standards and foreign countries. Enterprises need to pay a certain cost to adapt." Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Su Qingyi, deputy director and deputy researcher of the International Trade Office of the Institute of World Economics and Politics, also believes that companies already have fixed buyers in foreign sales and have established a fixed cooperative relationship. When they turn to domestic sales, they need to find new buyers Home, to establish a new cooperative relationship, which also requires corresponding costs.

Zhao Ping also agrees with this view, "Many foreign trade companies produce products based on export market demand, which may not be suitable for domestic consumption preferences. At the same time, some foreign trade companies focus on processing and are not familiar with product development and channel promotion. , Brand awareness is not very high, in the process of transfer to domestic sales, you may face more intense competition."

The head of the foreign trade department of an electronic company in Fuzhou, Fujian, told reporters that more than 90% of the electronic clocks and wall clocks produced by the company are exported to Europe and the United States. Due to the different needs and aesthetics of domestic and foreign consumers, the cost of developing the domestic market is high and there is uncertainty. , "Many companies are not familiar with domestic consumers and do not understand e-commerce operations. Enterprise transformation requires not only time, but also government guidance and platform support."


Borrow both external and internal skills

Since the beginning of this year, in order to help foreign trade enterprises "return", multiple home appliance platforms have provided targeted technical support and flow inclination to help companies accurately position themselves and reach consumers directly. The battlefront has also become a weapon for many companies to quickly "get started" in the domestic market.

Dalian Darente Arts & Crafts Co., Ltd. is an enterprise that manufactures aromatherapy and candles. Although the company's performance has not been greatly affected by its technological advantages and mature international industrial chain layout, the arrival of this epidemic has also given the company's chairman Wang Lixin The alarm sounded, "There is uncertainty in over-reliance on the international market, and it is necessary for both domestic and foreign companies to grasp the risk resistance of enterprises."

Wang Lixin told reporters that the epidemic made the company determined to promote sales in the domestic market, especially to accelerate the laying of online channels, and to cooperate with e-commerce platforms such as Tmall and JD.com to use online sales to win domestic opportunities. "Online marketing can achieve products Quick connection with consumers can be exchanged for a larger market at a lower cost."

Zhao Ping said that foreign trade companies are turning to domestic sales with the help of e-commerce platforms, and accurate user portraits and marketing strategies are very important. "Transition to domestic sales is not simply to sell products originally intended for foreigners directly to the domestic market through the e-commerce platform, but to cooperate in-depth with the e-commerce platform and use the big data and other technologies to dig deeper and more comprehensively to domestic consumption. Based on the characteristics of the domestic market demand, choose appropriate products for sale on the e-commerce platform. At the same time, we must actively use new formats such as live streaming and live experience to open up sales channels directly facing consumer groups and achieve domestic sales. Channel construction."

In order to successfully transfer domestic sales and tide over difficulties, foreign trade companies need to practice their internal skills in addition to using e-commerce and other external forces. "The most important thing is to find out your strategic positioning." Zhao Ping believes that according to the different purposes of foreign trade enterprises transferring domestic sales, they can be divided into two situations. One is to solve the urgent needs by transferring domestic sales, and will continue to focus on the international market in the future. The other is to use domestic sales as the focus of the company's strategic transformation and prepare for long-term investment. For the first type of enterprise, while turning to domestic sales, it is still necessary to actively explore new overseas demand and increase its scale and strength. For the second type of enterprise, large-scale and continuous resource investment is required to build the corporate brand image by laying sales channels and active public relations, and continuously increase the domestic market share.

Su Qingyi said that to help enterprises export to domestic sales, the government should do a good job of guiding. For example, reducing the cost of companies turning to domestic sales, creating a good atmosphere in terms of supervision and environment; providing financing support to help difficult companies solve their financial problems; local governments should strengthen coordination and not only take care of local companies, but should promote domestic products in various regions. flow.