Chongqing- Lianglu Cuntan Comprehensive Bonded Zone was busier than usual on November 9th this year. Delivery vehicles full of cross-border e-commerce goods flowed continuously through the customs bay, and batches of goods were stacked neatly in brightly lit warehouses. Business personnel and customs officers were hard at work to deliver the goods to every consumer in the shortest possible time.
However, there is something different in this twelfth year of the Double Eleven commercial promotion. Rational consumption is gradually reaching maturity in the e-commerce market as a cross-border tracking system for commodities. A dependable return mechanism has been implemented at Chongqing Customs with the support of return center warehouses, where new operational models allow consumers to buy and return with confidence.
In recent years, consumer markets and consumption patterns have undergone tremendous change both home and abroad in tandem with rapid development in the online economy. Cross-border e-commerce has become a dual-cycle domestic and international business that can satisfy consumer demand for a high-quality lifestyle.
As illustrated by the case of Lianglu Cuntan, there were 3 million cross-border e-commerce items cleared back in 2014, a number that rocketed to 13 million in 2019. The previous new format of overseas trade has quickly transformed into everyday business practice.
Customs officials at Lianglu Cuntan conduct random product inspections. (Photo from Chongqing Customs)
While the scale of cross-border e-commerce is expanding rapidly, the types of products are also gaining in number.
Chongqing Silkroad Winifit International Logistics Limited is located in the Xiyong Comprehensive Bonded Zone and experienced the first Double Eleven wave of orders on November 1, when order volumes reached 350,000 in a single day. According to company vice president Wu Tao, there are currently over 7,000 types of goods in storage at the warehouse.
Thanks to the normalization of the China Railway Express to Europe and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, both cost and efficiency in importing cross-border goods from Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand into Chongqing have been significantly improved. Consumers now truly have the world at their doorstep.
Statistics provided by Chongqing Customs confirm this fact. From 2016 to October this year, the cross-border e-commerce dispatch list of the Xiyong Comprehensive Bonded Zone featured over 15,000 commodity SKUs (Stock keeping units) from more than 100 countries around the world.
An officer from Xiyong Customs explained the e-commerce tracing system that reassures consumers of cross-border products' quality and safety. "Consumers need only scan the QR code found on the packaging with the Alipay or Taobao applications. This will immediately show the certification details of the product and manufacturer. Once a package has been received, consumers may also trace the entire logistics chain from the country of origin, the port of entry, and the bonded warehouse where it was stored."
The international cross-border e-commerce platform Tmall has settled in the Xiyong Comprehensive Bonded Zone and relies on terminal traceability through QR codes and open and transparent blockchain technical support. This has enabled all consumers to trace product origins, moderate risk, check logistics, and pursue responsibility.
Customs officials at Xiyong Comprehensive Bonded Zone carry out inspections in a cross-border e-commerce warehouse. (Photo from Chongqing Customs)
In the past, dissatisfied customers had to endure a troublesome process and bear shipping costs when applying for returns and exchanges. Although some merchants did provide return services, the lack of established procedures and liability for tax losses restricted the development of cross-border e-commerce for many years.
Now the return center warehouse model has been promoted by Lianglu Cuntan Customs. The returns experience for consumers is the same as domestic products. Additionally, corporate taxes are now returned quickly, which has greatly reduced overall operating costs for the e-commerce industry.
Zhang Ruihao from Chongqing Youyi E-commerce said, "Buyer and sellers can now trade with confidence, which means that e-commerce firms are better prepared than ever for a successful Double Eleven promotion."
Tmall, Netease Koala, and Vipshop have fully implemented the returns system. As of November 8th, Lianglu Cuntan Customs had inspected and released a total of 36,098 cross-border e-commerce returned goods with a value of 4,914,200 yuan. Tax refunds for enterprises exceeded 560,000 yuan, while over 3.4 million yuan reduced payment losses. In the return center warehouse, there had been 18,331 items processed with a value of 1,699,100 yuan.
"Double Eleven is the true test for the return center warehouse model." Stated Guo Maiping, chief of the Lianglu Cuntan cross-border e-commerce section, "Between November 1-11, the shipment volume was 1.4 million items with a value of 240 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 31.3% and 26.3% respectively."
The return center warehouse model is a product of the sixth batch of reforms promoted by Chongqing Customs in the Pilot Free Trade Zone. This model has seen the retail import return center warehouse for cross-border e-commerce incorporated into the special customs supervision area and the sorting process and related hardware facilities.
Customs officials supervise the flow of goods in the return center warehouse. (Photo from Chongqing Customs)
Customs oversees the e-commerce businesses through on-site inspections, and designated routes are specified for vehicles returning e-commerce goods whenever they enter and exit the bonded zone. Management protocol has been implemented for the supervision of returned parcels in the zone and checkpoints, logistics, unloading, and re-shipment.
Guo Maiping commented further, "We have smoothly introduced the only cross-border e-commerce returns center currently in Chongqing operation, which has minimized operating costs for businesses, and has implemented an efficient process in forward and reverse logistics to form an integrated closed-loop."
Su Dunfeng, deputy commissioner at Lianglu Cuntan Customs, added, "Over Double Eleven this year, our customs clearance service will guarantee fast traffic and management. The return center warehouse model will stimulate new growth in cross-border e-commerce as online retail imports have entered a two-way fast lane."