32: Chapter 32 A First Exploration of Cross-Border Travel

Chapter 32: Exploring Cross-border E-commerce

Chairman Wang Shunyi had originally thought that the overseas market was just about registering an account, listing a few products, and then waiting to collect the money. But once he actually started doing it, he realized it was nothing like that.

On Monday morning, he called Park Min-ji and the new channel specialist, Li Dongxu, into the small meeting room. Li Dongxu had just joined the company last December and had previously worked in cross-border operations at Coupang, so he was quite familiar with the Southeast Asian market. The three of them sat around a small round table, with laptops and a few Americanos spread out on the table.

"Dongxu, you go first. How exactly do we handle cross-border e-commerce?" Chairman Wang Shunyi stuck a straw into his coffee cup but didn't drink.

Li Dongxu opened his laptop and pulled up a spreadsheet. "President, I've organized the information. There are a few mainstream platforms currently—China's Taobao Global, JD International; and Southeast Asia's Shopee and Lazada. The entry barriers are different." He pointed to the data on the spreadsheet. "Taobao Global requires business qualifications, product certification, and proof of trademark registration, with an approval cycle of two to four weeks. JD International is stricter; it also requires financial statements and brand authorization letters. Shopee and Lazada are relatively simpler, but they still require Korean business registration documents and product certifications."

Chairman Wang Shunyi frowned. "Product certifications—what do we have?"

Park Min-ji flipped through her notebook. "Korean food certification and ISO22000. Most platforms recognize these. But for China, we might also need import food registration."

"Import food registration? What is that?"

"It means that imported food in China needs to be registered in advance by finding a domestic import agent to handle it. It usually takes one to two months." After Park Min-ji finished speaking, she glanced at Chairman Wang Shunyi's expression.

The office was quiet for two seconds. Chairman Wang Shunyi pulled the straw out of his coffee cup and stuck it back in.

"Let's start with the simple one first." He said, "Dongxu, which platform do you suggest we start with?"

"Shopee. The Southeast Asian market has a fast onboarding process and is friendly to overseas merchants. Once we've got things running smoothly on Shopee, then we can consider China."

"Let's put China on hold for now. Then it's Shopee."

Park Min-ji and Li Dongxu both nodded.

Over the next two weeks, the team began preparing the onboarding materials. Park Min-ji dug out the company registration certificate, product inspection reports, and trademark registration certificate, and had them translated into English. Li Dongxu studied Shopee's commission rules—they charge six to ten percent per order, depending on the category; there are two types of logistics: one using the platform's recommendations, and the other finding your own. Chairman Wang Shunyi focused on product selection and pricing.

"Dongxu, which countries does Shopee mainly cover?"

"Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Taiwan, China. Indonesia and Thailand have the most users and the strongest purchasing power."

"What about consumption habits?"

"Southeast Asian consumers are price-sensitive. If we price our fire chicken noodles too high, they might not sell well."

Chairman Wang Shunyi thought for a moment. "What about the river snail rice noodles? There are many Chinese people there; they should be able to accept it, right?"

"river snail rice noodles have a certain foundation in Malaysia and Singapore. There are many Chinese people, and they already eat rice noodle-based foods." Li Dongxu paused, "I suggest making the river snail rice noodles the main product, with the fire chicken noodles as a supplement. Price it slightly lower than in Korea to drive sales first."

"Alright."

After the application was submitted, Chairman Wang Shunyi began to ponder the logistics. In cross-border e-commerce, logistics is the lifeline. If it's too slow, customers complain; if it's too fast, the costs are unbearable. He called Li Dehao, a logistics provider he had worked with before.

"Brother Dehao, Happy New Year. It's Sunyi."

"Sunyi, Happy New Year. What's up? Do you have more goods to ship?"

"It's not domestic; it's cross-border. I want to ship to Southeast Asia. Do you know any reliable logistics companies?"

"Cross-border?" Li Dehao paused on the other end, "I know one called Hannya Cross-border Logistics that specializes in routes from Korea to Southeast Asia. The prices are decent, and the service is stable. Shall I send you their contact information?"

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

A few minutes later, a phone number was sent over. Chairman Wang Shunyi dialed it, and a young woman answered.

"Hello, Hannya Cross-border Logistics."

"Hello, I am Chairman Wang Shunyi from Shunyi Foods. I would like to inquire about logistics services from Korea to Southeast Asia."

"Yes, Mr. Wang. Which countries are you mainly shipping to?"

"Initially, it will be mainly Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia."

"Our company has a dedicated line service. From Korea to Singapore and Malaysia, the shipping cost is about eight to ten dollars per kilogram; to Thailand and Indonesia, it is ten to twelve dollars. The delivery time is five to seven working days."

Chairman Wang Shunyi calculated it in his head. A pack of river snail rice noodles is two hundred grams; the shipping cost is about two dollars.

"Are there discounts for bulk shipments?"

"For monthly shipment volumes exceeding one hundred kilograms, there is a ten percent discount. Exceeding five hundred kilograms, a twenty percent discount."

"Okay, I'll consider it."

After hanging up, he opened the Shopee website again and searched for river snail rice noodles. A bunch of results popped up on the page—some imported from China, some produced in Vietnam, with prices ranging from two to eight dollars. Those imported from Korea were generally between five and seven dollars, which was about what he had expected.

"The price isn't unreasonable." He muttered to himself and closed the laptop.

In the evening, the three of them gathered together again.

"The entry application has been submitted; it should be approved by next week." Park Min-ji said.

"I've roughly inquired about logistics; the shipping cost is about two dollars per order." Chairman Wang Shunyi said, "Adding the platform commission and packaging, the total cost is about three dollars and fifty cents."

"What about the pricing?" Li Dongxu asked.

"Five dollars and fifty cents for the river snail rice noodles, and five dollars for the fire chicken noodles. It's a bit cheaper than in Korea, but it counts as mid-to-high-end on Shopee." Chairman Wang Shunyi looked at them, "Do you think this price is okay?"

Park Min-ji thought for a moment and said, "It's not cheap. But our products are of good quality; as long as the marketing keeps up, people should buy them."

"Then, for the next steps, Minji, you prepare the product copy and images. Shopee has an English interface, so it must be in English. Dongxu, you study the platform's promotional tools and see what we can use."

The two of them nodded.

After the meeting ended, the office quieted down. The sky outside the window had already darkened, and the streetlights were glowing with a dim yellow light. Chairman Wang Shunyi sat in his chair, staring at the ceiling in a daze for a while.

He had never walked the path of cross-border e-commerce before. He didn't know if the road ahead was smooth or full of pitfalls. But if he didn't walk it, Shunyi Foods would forever be just a small local brand in Korea. He took a deep breath, picked up his phone, and sent a message to Park Min-ji.

"What do you want to eat tonight? My treat."

She replied very quickly: "Didn't you say you wanted to save money?"

"An exception for today."

"Then let's have army stew."

"Alright. See you at the usual spot."

He stood up, turned off the lights, and walked out of the office. The sensor lights in the hallway turned on and then went off. The sound of footsteps echoed in the empty corridor for a while and then faded away.