Amazon refocuses strategy 
2019-07-04
Amazon is “still in China,”  and plans to increase investment and improve customer services with a focus on cross-border e-commerce services, the company said in Shanghai yesterday.
The company, which will shut its local online retail services this month, is now offering 20 million overseas products to Chinese consumers directly, covering home appliances, milk powder, clothing and IT gadgets.
On its cross-border debut in 2014, it only offered 80,000 products, said Amazon China in Shanghai.
Amazon is “still in China” and it will continue investing in the country, “in the sectors where we have unique advantages,” it said.
In the first quarter, Amazon China’s cross-border trade volume enjoyed double-digit growth year on year, following a record level in 2018.
From July 18, Amazon China will close its local online retail services. Amazon has told sellers not to use Amazon.cn after the deadline as it focuses on cross-border sales into China. It will provide Chinese consumers products directly from its overseas sites, Amazon said in April.
Amazon will maintain key businesses in China — from Kindle, its cloud service Amazon Web Services to cross-border e-commerce operations Amazon Global Store and Global Selling.
In the domestic online retail markets, Amazon faces tough competition from local rivals Alibaba and JD.com.
For cross-border e-commerce services, Amazon will increase investment in logistics and related marketing events, it said.
Between July 14 and 17, Amazon will be offering heavily discounted products mainly from Amazon marketplaces in the United States, Britain, Japan and Germany. According to a recent survey, 86 percent of Chinese look forward to shopping for deals in brands from other countries, because it costs less. 
