Zhimeitong | International Highlights

For more information, pay attention to the public number: Zhimeitong Research Institute

[Pinduoduo will launch a cross-border e-commerce platform in September, the first stop in the United States] Pinduoduo is preparing a cross-border e-commerce platform, the application is expected to be launched in mid-September, and the first stop is the United States. The model will follow the example of Shein, the largest independent cross-border e-commerce station in China, and is attracting investment in all categories. A number of first-level supervisors of Pinduoduo’s community group buying business “Duoduo Maicai” have been transferred to take charge of the specific matters of the overseas project.

Amazon is testing a new feature in its app that will show users TikTok-like product photos and videos for shoppers to share with other users. The test is currently only available to a handful of Amazon employees, according to a person familiar with the situation. It is reported that the internal name of the feature being tested is "Inspire". The feature will appear on the homepage of the Amazon app and take shoppers to an interface that displays product images and a video stream. Shoppers can like, share and ultimately buy items. While most of the information is now still pictures, sources say the new feature also has video content.

01. North America

[US media: The United States is forming an "extreme high temperature zone", which will affect more than 100 million Americans in the next 30 years] The latest research shows that there will be an "extreme high temperature zone" from Texas to Illinois in the United States. It is estimated that by 2053, Areas in this belt will experience a heat index as high as 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.67 degrees Celsius) at least one day a year.

[U.S. poll shows that more than 80% of respondents are worried about a recession] A new poll of 2,000 American adults conducted by the U.S. home mortgage financing giant Freddie Mac shows that 84% of respondents are concerned about the upcoming U.S. of respondents expressed concern about a recession, and half of those surveyed were concerned about losing their jobs. Additionally, 58% of respondents said their rents had risen in the past year due to high inflation. For several months, U.S. inflation has remained high, consumption has begun to slow down, and weak domestic demand has dragged down economic performance. Many economists believe that the U.S. economy is showing a worsening trend.

[Amazon asks US regulators to withdraw subpoena: bypass company to harass Bezos and disrupt operations] E-commerce giant Amazon accuses the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of harassing founder Jeff Bezos, the current CEO and other high-level executives during the investigation process , interfere with the company's business operations.

Amazon filed a petition with the FTC on August 5, accusing the FTC of bypassing the company's legal counsel and issuing a Civil Investigative Demand similar to a subpoena to about 20 executives, without giving a valid reason, asking the FTC Withdraw the subpoena.

[Young TikTok "net reds" organize to protest against Amazon: do not cooperate unless they meet the demands of the union] 70 young TikTok "net reds" spontaneously organized a boycott of Amazon, announcing that they would stop all cooperation with them until the company meets the demands of the Amazon union. The group, which has a total of 51 million followers on TikTok, said the campaign, called the "People Over Prime Pledge," was aimed at pressuring Amazon to meet employee demands, including a $30 minimum wage and increased paid vacations. And to stop activities suspected of being "union sabotage".

[Target: 2022 Q2 financial report to achieve revenue of $26.037 billion] Target: 2022 Q2 financial report to achieve revenue of $26.037 billion, the previous value was $25.16 billion, and the expected value was $26.09 billion, 0.20% lower than market expectations; Earnings were $0.39, compared to $3.64 before and $0.73 expected, 46.58% lower than market expectations.

[The commercial version of Netflix does not allow downloads, and the resolution may only be 480p] Netflix will soon launch an advertising version of the service, but this service does not allow subscribers to download TV series or movies, which means that they cannot be watched offline. Someone found a piece of code in the Netflix iOS app that shows that all versions of Netflix can be downloaded except the ad version. The standard Netflix package allows users to download content and watch it offline, and the ad-free version is more expensive than the ad-free version, which Netflix clearly wants to differentiate.

[FedEx WeChat video account officially launched] FedEx announced that the official FedEx WeChat video account "FedExPlus" was officially launched. Scenes. At that time, users can see official corporate videos such as FedEx's latest developments, excellent services and solutions, technological innovation and sustainable development around the world.

[DHL Express announces the introduction of SIA's first Boeing 775 freighter] DHL Express officially announced the introduction of Singapore Airlines (SIA)'s first Boeing 775 freighter. The freighter, in dual DHL-Singapore Airlines (SIA) livery and with a maximum payload of 102 tonnes, will carry cargo on the Singapore-Incheon-Los Angeles-Honolulu-Singapore route 3 times a week from August 2022 .

[Spotify extends free trial period for members to three months] Music software Spotify announced that its personal paid free trial period is three months, available to eligible users and first-time users of the software. In addition, Spotify said that for whatever reason, people who cancel their paid plans before July 15 can re-pay within three months for a fee of $9.99, or less than $4 a month.

Both deals are running now and will run until September 11. After the three-month trial, continued subscriptions will automatically renew for a recurring monthly fee of $9.99. Both offers are open to all eligible users in the 135 Spotify sales territories around the world.

The move is apparently aimed at Apple Music. The latter currently offers new users a free trial period of one month or more.

[Twitter employees keep leaving: Elon Musk is mentally exhausted] Multiple Twitter insiders say that Twitter employees are tired of the company's previous litigation battle with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, which has led to a steady increase in recent weeks. Employees leave.

In April, Musk announced the acquisition of Twitter for about $44 billion in cash. But on July 9, Musk announced the termination of the deal. On July 13, Twitter took Musk to court. On July 20, the judge announced that the case would be heard in October.

[Blue Water Vaccines soars 65%, plans to develop monkeypox vaccine] U.S. vaccine maker Blue Water Vaccines said it plans to use its technology to develop a monkeypox vaccine, as of press time, the company's shares surged 65.10% in early trading, reported $4.21.

BWV said it will develop the vaccine using the norovirus coat and protruding virus-like particle platform. The company is already using the platform to develop vaccines for multiple diseases, including flu and malaria vaccines. The BWV statement comes as the current monkeypox outbreak has been declared a public emergency by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of the 16th, there were 127,000 confirmed monkeypox patients in the United States. Two vaccines are being used in the U.S. to prevent monkeypox – Jynneos by Danish vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic A/S and ACAM2000 by Sanofi (42.4588, -2.35, -5.25%) (SNY.US).

[SHOPLINE and Atome reach cooperation to help sellers go abroad successfully] In order to help cross-border independent sellers improve their conversion rate, SHOPLINE has recently reached a cooperation with Atome, the leading brand in the new consumption model of "pay first, pay later" in Asia. DTC brand empowerment helps sellers to successfully go overseas.

02. EU region

[European electricity prices hit a record high across the board, the EU energy inflation rate broke historical records, and experts worry that "winter is coming"] As the European benchmark, Germany's electricity price will rise above the 500 euro/MWh mark in the next year, and the electricity price contracts in France and northern Europe will be the same Even new highs. Economists bluntly said that the euro zone is now more likely to fall into recession, in addition to expensive natural gas, electricity supply is also facing many constraints, "Europe is about to usher in a cold, dark winter."

[German natural gas crisis triggers a rush for coal] Buffalo coal has become a hot commodity in the German capital, Frithjof Engelke, head of Berlin's century-old company Hans Engelke Energy, said, "With such a rush to buy in summer, It's unprecedented, everyone wants coal." He and his team are frantically taking orders, arranging truck deliveries (already booked through October), and preparing supplies for customers who are picking up coal directly from the warehouse. The Berlin municipality says 5,000-6,000 households still use coal for heating, a fraction of the city's 1.9 million. Frithjof Engelke also said that its customers are usually elderly, and this year new customers have arrived en masse, and the business has also expanded to wood pellets and fuel oil. With natural gas prices soaring, operators will be better able to pass on rising energy prices to consumers this fall. Although the price of coal has risen by 30% in the summer, it is still cheaper than the price of wood, which has doubled in price.

[German natural gas importer Uniper has a net loss of 12.3 billion euros in the first half of the year] Uniper, Germany's largest natural gas supplier, announced its first half results on August 17, local time. The company posted a net loss of 12.3 billion euros in the first half of the year, mainly because it was forced to buy higher-priced gas following a cut in Russian gas supplies. Uniper said adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the first half were -564 million euros and adjusted net profit was -359 million euros. More than half of the net loss under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) of more than 12.3 billion euros (6.5 billion euros) was related to the impact of expected future gas cuts. Uniper said the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline had been cut by a fifth.

[ING: EUR/GBP will fall back to 0.8350] The pound strengthened after the Bank of England's hawkish rate hike, and the EUR/GBP was under pressure. The EUR/GBP is expected to fall back to 0.8350. Overnight index swaps show the market has priced in the BoE policy rate for March 2023 from 2.72% at the end of July to around 3.40% yesterday. On this basis, the UK's inflation rate increased by 10.1% year-on-year in July, exceeding expectations and hitting a 40-year high. Any further rise in gas prices could take EUR/GBP all the way back to 0.8350. The US as a natural gas exporter does not face these challenges, so GBP/USD is forecast to remain below 1.20.

[EU says Europe may experience worst drought in 500 years] The EU says Europe may be suffering its worst drought in 500 years. In 2018, Europe experienced its worst drought since 1540, EU spokesman Barker said. And current data suggests that this year's drought could be more severe than 2018.

[EU plans to provide 15 million euros in aid to southern African countries by 2024] A document disclosed by the European External Action Service shows that the agency plans to provide 15 million euros in financial assistance to the Southern African Development Community by 2024 to help Mozambique stabilizes the security situation to ensure local gas production by European companies. This aid will be 5 times the current aid. Mozambique's natural gas reserves are second only to Nigeria and Albania in Africa. European oil and gas companies such as France and Italy have invested in local gas exploration and are building liquefied natural gas terminals. However, the domestic security situation in Mozambique is unstable, and it is necessary for the Southern African Development Community countries to send troops to assist the Mozambique government to stabilize the situation. The EU has provided 2.9 million euros in aid to SADC for this purpose.

[Institutional analysis: European energy crisis may help oil prices out of trough] The agency pointed out that there are signs that although more crude oil supplies from Libya (and possibly Iran) and the deepening of the global economic slowdown have caused oil prices to plummet, traders may still Underestimating the impact of the European energy crisis on oil prices. The continued surge in gas prices in Europe is alarming, and it's hard to be sure there won't be a knock-on effect if European gas prices soar to $375/bbl of oil equivalent. It is difficult to fully assess the impact of Europe's energy crisis on oil prices, but in the past two months, European gas prices have risen by a total of 160%, and this rally does not seem to be ending soon. Europe's already aging oil-fired power plants are expected to will be put into operation again as a result. Combined with Europe's imposition of a ban on Russian crude later this year, the energy crisis is sure to heat up crude trading heading into winter.

03. Other regions

[UK inflation rate reached 10.1%, a 40-year high] According to data released by the Office for National Statistics, the UK's latest inflation rate reached 10.1%, a 40-year high. Rising prices such as energy and food are the main factors driving up inflation.

[Gazprom warns European natural gas prices may soar 60%, Gazprom gas exports fall by more than 36%] Gazprom (Gazprom) said that due to Western sanctions, the company's exports and production continued to decline, European natural gas prices this winter It may soar by 60% to more than $4,000 per thousand cubic meters (about 27 yuan per cubic meter). According to Russian gas news, the current European spot natural gas price has reached 2,500 US dollars per thousand cubic meters (about 17 yuan per cubic meter). The report pointed out that Ukraine has closed a route for Gazprom’s exports to Europe, and at the same time, due to equipment disputes, Gazprom has cut the gas transmission capacity of the “Nord Stream-1” natural gas pipeline to 20% of its production capacity. Gazprom said in a statement that from January 1 to August 15, the company's total natural gas exports fell 36.2% year-on-year to 78.5 billion cubic meters; production fell 13.2% year-on-year to 274.8 billion cubic meters .

[Russia forecasts a 38% increase in energy export earnings this year compared to last year] A document from the Russian economic sector predicts that with the increase in oil exports and rising natural gas prices, Russia's energy export earnings will reach 337.5 billion US dollars this year, more than in 2021. An increase of 38% will form a strong support for the Russian economy.

[Survey: Rapid depreciation of the yen hits Japanese companies] A survey by Imperial Japan Database showed that more than 60% of the companies surveyed said they were hit by the recent rapid decline in the exchange rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar, mainly due to rising import costs and profits. drop etc. In the second half of July, Imperial Database sent a questionnaire to about 25,000 companies across Japan on the impact of the depreciation of the yen, and received responses from about 11,000 companies. The Japan Broadcasting Association reported on the 16th of this month, citing the survey results, that 61% of the companies that responded to the questionnaire said they were negatively affected by the depreciation of the yen, and only 4% believed that the depreciation of the yen was beneficial to them.

[The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised its benchmark interest rate from 2.50% to 3.00%] The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised interest rates by 50 basis points to 3.00%, in line with market expectations and the highest interest rate level since 2015.

[Carlsberg's second-quarter revenue misses expectations] Danish beer giant Carlsberg reported lower-than-expected second-quarter revenue, despite a pick-up in bar and restaurant sales, but earnings were hit by higher commodity and energy prices.

"Global uncertainty remains high and rising input cost pressures are a particular challenge for us in the quarters ahead," CEO Cees 't Hart said in a statement . Earnings Carlsberg maintained its full-year forecast . Earlier this month, the company raised its organic profit forecast to "high single-digit" growth. The world's third-largest brewer said second-quarter sales hit 20.51 billion Danish crowns ($2.81 billion), missing analysts' forecast of 21.6 billion Danish crowns.

[Wintersea Group’s revenue in the second quarter was US$2.9 billion, and its Shopee platform GMV reached US$19 billion] Shopee’s parent company, Sea (Wintersea Group), released its financial report for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022.

According to the financial report, in the second quarter of this year, Sea’s total revenue reached US$2.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29%; e-commerce and other services revenue reached US$1.756 billion, a year-on-year increase of 75.6%; digital entertainment business revenue reached US$900 million, a year-on-year decrease. 12.1%; merchandise sales revenue reached US$287 million, an increase of 11.7% year-on-year.

In the second quarter of this year, Sea's net loss was US$931 million, a year-on-year increase of 114.7%; gross profit reached US$1.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17.1%; adjusted EBITDA totaled US$506 million, a year-on-year increase of 1999.7%.

Zhimeitong | Logistics Highlights

For more information, pay attention to the public number: Zhimeitong Research Institute

[Baltic dry bulk index rose capesize ended a 4-day losing streak] The Baltic dry bulk index rose 7 points on Wednesday, or 0.5%, to 1394 points. The capesize index rose 24 points, or 2.3%, to 1,083 points, with average daily earnings up $195 to $8,978. The Panamax index fell 45 points, or 2.4%, to 1,805 points, extending its 17th consecutive session of declines, with average daily earnings down $411 to $16,242. The VLCC index rose 33 points to 1,659, extending its fourth straight session of gains.

Zhimeitong | E-commerce highlights

For more information, pay attention to the public number: Zhimeitong Research Institute

[Amazon Japan: Modification of product description pages for weapons and similar weapons from August 17] Amazon Japan issued an announcement saying that from August 17, 2022, the platform will modify the product description of products restricted for sale: weapons and similar weapons page. Sellers of toy and model guns need to pay attention to this change.

For toy guns or model guns, made of materials other than metal (plastic, wood, etc.), showing a built-in insert in the barrel (in the case of a revolver-type firearm, showing a built-in insert in the rotating magazine) Items); for a product made of metal, describe the barrel completely blocked by metal and paint the entire surface white or yellow (gold), except for the grip.

[From August 31, Amazon will authorize automatic returns for some products from sellers] Amazon Europe announced that in order to further ensure operational efficiency and provide buyers with a high-quality service experience, Amazon will exempt some products from automatic return authorization. This means that starting August 31, 2022, Amazon will automatically authorize policy-compliant return requests on behalf of sellers.

Products eligible for automatic returns include: products classified by Amazon as "dangerous goods"; product subcategories are specialty medical supplies and specialty dental supplies; product categories are groceries and wine; product categories are video, video games, software, and DVDs; Products that Amazon classifies as "hygiene" from product categories such as Baby, Beauty, Health & Personal Care, and Personal Care Appliances.

[eBay updates auto parts return policy] eBay Australia announced that from September 20, 2022, when buyers return items that do not fit their vehicles, eBay will provide sellers with additional protection. eBay said that if a seller returns an item in the "auto and truck parts" category because it doesn't fit their vehicle, it must accept the return, even if the seller has a no-return policy. However, if a seller adds part compatibility information to a product listing, i.e. selects a product from the eBay catalog, or enters item-specific information and specifies a compatible vehicle, eBay will provide the seller with the following protections: eBay will bear the eBay return label , and send it to the buyer; eBay automatically removes "not as described" return rates from seller service ratings; eBay automatically removes any bad reviews about the transaction.

[eBay implements policy protection for Yiwu order transactions that cannot be delivered normally] Recently, eBay has learned that some Yiwu sellers are unable to carry out normal business operations due to the impact of the epidemic, including normal delivery. At present, eBay has decided to implement policy protection for some transactions that have already occurred, but cannot be shipped normally due to logistics obstruction, insufficient inventory or limited manpower.

For transactions shipped from Yiwu and the payment time is from August 3 (inclusive) to August 31 (inclusive) Beijing time ("epidemic impact period"), if the seller is at 23:59 on August 31, Beijing time 59 If you submit an order cancellation application before seconds and the transaction cancellation reason is Stockout, the eBay platform will protect it uniformly. remove.

eBay recommends that sellers must cancel transactions that cannot be shipped normally (Cancel Transaction) before Wednesday (August 31) Beijing time. This protection is expected to take effect within a week from August 16. During this period, Seller Standard will be temporarily affected. Please don’t worry, Seller Standard will be updated in time after the protection is completed.

[Lazada and American Bank AmBank Provide Over US$400,000 in Loan Funds for Malaysian Sellers] American Bank AmBank announced a partnership with Lazada, a Southeast Asian e-commerce platform, to provide micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and sellers in Malaysia with loan services. AmBank will exclusively provide up to US$448,000 (RM2 million) for local entrepreneurs and sellers on the Lazada Malaysia platform to maintain and expand their online businesses.

[Announcement on the protection of intellectual property rights of the CHRISTOFLE brand added by Dunhuang.com] Dear Dunhuang.com merchants:

Dunhuang.com has always respected the intellectual property rights of others, and we hope that the vast number of sellers of Dunhuang.com will also respect the intellectual property rights of others. Recently, the platform has received relevant complaints from relevant brands, and some sellers sell products that infringe the relevant intellectual property rights of CHRISTOFLE and other brands. Sellers are requested to conduct self-inspection on the product information of the store (including products that have been removed from the shelves). If unauthorized, please delete the relevant products immediately.

The platform will strictly monitor and crack down on intellectual property infringement. Please conduct self-examination in a timely manner to ensure that all products in the store do not infringe intellectual property rights. If in the process of monitoring or review, it is found that there is an infringement problem in the seller's account, the platform will punish it according to the relevant rules of the "Dunhuang.com Seller Violation Management Rules". If the violation is serious, the platform will directly impose a penalty of closing the account.

[Dunhuang.com released the August promotion incentive policy to create "benchmark sellers"] Dunhuang.com issued an announcement saying that in order to help promote the sales growth of merchants and is committed to expanding the population of Dunhuang.com's benchmark merchants, the Ministry of Platform Ecology has specially formulated incentives for the August promotion period Policies to help businesses sell well. The policy applies to all stores, and the applicable time is from August 23, 2022 to August 30, 2022; the content of the policy rights and interests is penalty adjustment and incremental rebates.

The week before the event (August 16-August 22), the seller's GMV must be greater than $7000, and the GMV of the week of the event has increased compared with the previous week. According to the increase, different levels of rights and interests can be obtained, as follows:

The first tier, the activity week increases by 80%-150% compared with the previous week, and the seller can be punished to adjust the rights three times; the second tier, the activity week increases by 150%-200% compared with the previous week, and the incremental part of the rebate 3 %; the third gear, the activity week increased by more than 200% compared with the previous week, and the incremental part of the rebate was 5%.

[AliExpress launched "Special Simple Rate" in Brazil to facilitate sellers to calculate shipping costs] AliExpress launched "Special Simple Rate" service in Brazil, this new service allows Brazilian sellers to know that they are delivering to buyers in different regions of Brazil The cost of the product at the time of production can be greatly shortened at the same time. The service allows sellers to sell products with the same shipping value to different regions of Brazil, and for shoppers, this service can increase the availability of free shipping items.

According to reports, the solution calculates the shipping cost based on the weight and size of the package, which means that the shipping fee for a package of the same weight and size is always the same regardless of the destination in Brazil. This new service also allows sellers to better calculate shipping costs.