Cross-border e-commerce is experiencing unprecedented growth opportunities. According to data from China's Ministry of Commerce, the import and export volume of cross-border e-commerce in China has grown nearly tenfold over the past five years, reaching 1.92 trillion yuan (approximately $265 billion) in 2023, representing an 18.6% year-on-year increase.
Facing this booming market, an increasing number of enterprises are focusing on and actively participating in cross-border e-commerce. However, Amazon's mass account suspension incident in 2021 sent shockwaves through the industry, with repercussions still being felt today. Sellers have been seeking new development paths, leading to intense competition between established players and newcomers in the cross-border e-commerce sector.
During this transformative period, industry participants have gained a deeper understanding of the importance of multi-channel operation strategies for enhancing resilience against external uncertainties and reducing single-channel risks.
The Rise of Independent Stores
Independent stores have emerged as the new frontier in this context. Inspired by the successful model of SHEIN, numerous cross-border e-commerce sellers are actively transitioning to decentralized independent store platforms, aiming to take control of their own destiny. The call for sellers to build their own "independent stores" has grown increasingly louder within the industry, gradually evolving into a wave of DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) brand globalization.
However, the first critical decision in transitioning to independent stores is often the choice of website-building SaaS platform. With numerous options available in the market, sellers frequently find themselves overwhelmed. Recently, Huawei introduced its Petal Engine independent store solution, which is expected to attract significant attention from sellers.
Huawei's Entry: Leveraging Years of E-Commerce Experience
Some might wonder why Huawei, known for its 5G communications and automotive systems, would venture into cross-border e-commerce independent stores. Why should sellers trust Huawei in this domain? The answer lies in Huawei's extensive practical experience in cross-border e-commerce.
After ten years of continuous development and operation, Huawei's official online store has expanded to 25 countries and regions worldwide, accumulating over 300 million registered users. In 2020, its sales revenue exceeded 30 billion yuan ($4.1 billion), with user scale and activity ranking among the industry leaders.
Behind Huawei Store's success lies the robust technical support from Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), which has developed over 20 data product services through long-term accumulation, including search, recommendation, marketing, analytics, and user profiling. Originally designed for internal use, Huawei began considering how to share these valuable services with enterprise clients, leading to the creation of Petal Engine.
Meeting Market Demand
Beyond internal business needs, Huawei's launch of Petal Engine responds to the growing trend of independent stores in cross-border e-commerce. Market data shows that China's cross-border e-commerce independent store market grew from 0.2 trillion yuan in 2016 to 0.8 trillion yuan in 2020, with projections indicating it will capture nearly 50% market share by 2025.
While platforms like Shopify have lowered the barrier to entry for independent stores, domestic SaaS providers still face challenges in reliability, security compliance, and ecosystem development. Petal Engine aims to address these gaps while helping mitigate potential supply chain risks in cross-border e-commerce.
Comprehensive Solution for Sellers
As a new driver for business growth, Petal Engine offers a full range of services from store setup and decoration to product management, order processing, cross-border payments, and logistics tracking.
The platform provides flexible website-building tools with over 50 free templates, supports role-based product management, and offers advanced order processing features. Built on Huawei Cloud, it ensures global compliance and security while delivering high performance across regions including Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.
Perhaps most significantly, Petal Engine addresses the critical challenge of customer acquisition by providing access to Huawei's massive global ecosystem: over 10 billion connected Huawei devices worldwide, 730 million monthly active users, and 10 media platforms with over 100 million monthly active users each.
Digital Transformation Expertise
Huawei's digital transformation journey, which began in 1997, has positioned it as a leader in this field. The company's comprehensive digital overhaul has yielded impressive results: product failure rates reduced by over 95%, supply chain fulfillment rates improved from 20% to 85%, and processing efficiency increased by 35%.
With its entry into cross-border e-commerce independent stores, Huawei is poised to share its digital capabilities—including user profiling, precision marketing, AI translation, search recommendations, and AR technologies—with sellers through Petal Engine. As the platform evolves, these technological advantages are expected to deliver continuous benefits to sellers operating in global markets.