American political correctness stumbles Chinese bosses

In just three months, Shenzhen cross-border e-commerce boss Chen Linsheng has participated in four consecutive brand overseas forums.

As a major seller of home furnishing products focusing on the U.S. market, Chen Linsheng, who has dozens of employees, feels increasingly anxious as he looks at the declining profit figures.

Because he felt that transforming into a brand with a higher premium was a good way out, he began to frequently participate in various forums, live broadcasts, and closed-door meetings with the theme of brand overseas. Various articles on how to build a brand also appeared in his circle of friends.

“But after we found someone to design the logo and website, and took a new set of product pictures, we didn’t know what to do.” Chen Linsheng told us with a wry smile. Now he has not figured out how to transform, and the idea of ​​​​making a brand has gradually been put on hold.

Chen Linsheng’s situation is the epitome of many businesses deeply involved in the US market.

In recent years, this most prosperous and powerful overseas market has changed.

On the one hand, the costs of traditional large platforms such as Amazon and Google are increasing day by day (such as advertising costs) . On the other hand, cross-border e-commerce companies such as Temu, SHEIN, and TikTok are impacting the U.S. market at low prices with a large number of Chinese products.

Coupled with the rising costs of domestic manufacturing, Chinese bosses who once made huge profits in the U.S. market have entered a period of pain.

In order to find a way out, many people, like Chen Linsheng, have focused on the way of going overseas for brands with greater profits and higher premiums, but like him, they can’t figure out the way and finally give up.

Bosses who go overseas often face problems such as insufficient localization, inability to tell stories, and data and traffic-oriented thinking . Only by handling these aspects can the stumbling blocks on their branding road be removed.

The more politically correct you are, the more you get into trouble