60,000 Gua Sha Tools Sold in 6 Months — How an AliExpress Merchant Embraced Smart Logistics Strategy to Deliver Globally
Located in Hangzhou, OCOAC, a top-performing AliExpress merchant specializing in the health and beauty category, joined on the eCommerce bandwagon in 2009 and came onboard AliExpress just five years ago. Most recently, with the booming popularity of traditional Chinese health and beauty equipment such as the gua sha tool and roller, OCOAC saw their sales for a single product hit nearly 60,000 in just 6 months.
We spoke to Monica who looks after OCOAC’s e-store on AliExpress to find out how they are leveraging the eCommerce boom and internet trend.
“Back in the second quarter of 2020, we witnessed a surging demand for gua sha tools. Most recently, this trend has been revived, in what appears to be the third wave of consumer demand.”
While the use of gua sha tools for health-related purposes has predated eCommerce, its recent rise to global prominence can be attributed to the increasing popularity of short videos on social media and influencer reviews. In fact, it is evident that gua sha tool have evolved from a passing fad to a mainstream beauty and health product with a global appeal.
Smart Logistics Strategy to Ramp Up Global Sales
For low-cost items such as gua-sha tool, consumers typically approach them with the desire to satisfy their curiosity or what is commonly referred to as ‘fear of missing out’ i.e. FOMO. Hence, it is critical that the total cost of the product, including shipping, is kept low to avoid deterring consumers from making the purchase.
Here, OCOAC strategically offers free cross-border shipping for their gua sha tools. By adopting a shipping model comprising a mix of direct cross-border shipping and overseas warehousing, OCOAC is able to leverage Cainiao’s smart order consolidation to bundle large quantity of these small-sized products to increase cost efficiency.
Using Cainiao’s smart order consolidation, goods, especially those below US$5, can be upgraded from economy to standard shipping services, allowing merchants to establish a competitive edge over others in the form of faster shipping services, while safeguarding their profit margins.
This shipping model also allows OCOAC to flexibly define their logistics strategy according to the destination country. For example, in the case of Russia, OCOAC pre-stocks their gua sha products in the overseas warehouses in anticipation of a demand surge from their ongoing in-market promotions. This allows a faster local dispatch and delivery efficiency to enhance shopping experience for Russian consumers.
Monica highlighted, “As gua sha tools are small and light, one might not acutely detect the impact of using overseas warehousing. However, for goods that weigh one kilogram and above, it can result in a price difference of at least US$10. For example, such goods that are directly shipped from China to Russia would typically be sold at US$35 whereas if the goods are shipped out of the local warehouse in Russia, it can be priced as low as US$20. But bear in mind that there are also a multitude of factors that have bearings on the suitability of having overseas warehousing as part of one’s shipping strategy, such as warehouse capacity, cash flow liquidity and capital turnaround, stock availability etc. This is especially the case for small merchants who might not have the capacity to pre-stock larger volumes of goods overseas.”
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