DHgate: Cross-Border Demand for E-Cigarettes Surges as Transaction Volume Grows

Introduction: According to reports, cross-border e-commerce platform DHgate recently shared statistical data showing that consumer electronics performed strongly among the best-selling overseas categories in the first half of 2014, accounting for 25.6% of sales. Demand for e-cigarettes surged even more sharply.

China E-Cigarette News reports: DHgate recently revealed that consumer electronics stood out among the best-selling overseas categories on cross-border e-commerce platforms in the first half of 2014, accounting for 25.6% of sales.

Hou Jianchen, Director of DHgate’s 3C industry division, said the consumer electronics sector grew rapidly in 2014 and has maintained stable growth momentum. At the same time, overseas demand for e-cigarette accessories, mini speakers, headphones, Android TV Boxes and similar products has been strong, making them key product lines for DHgate in 2014.

According to DHgate data, search trends for e-cigarette accessories on Google Trends have been rising in recent years, and total monthly sales of e-cigarette accessory products on the DHgate platform have shown continuous growth since 2013.

It is understood that e-cigarettes, which began experiencing explosive growth in 2012, have remained a highly sought-after “hot product” in the industry. By the end of 2013, many countries had introduced policies aimed at regulating the e-cigarette market, which affected some manufacturers. Even so, demand for e-cigarettes remained strong. According to Wells Fargo statistics, over the past two years

e-cigarette sales in Europe and the United States doubled. Sales were about 200 million units in 2012, rose to 400 million globally in 2013, and were expected to reach 630 million in 2014. Both domestic and overseas markets remained optimistic about the e-cigarette business, and overseas demand for e-cigarette accessories rose accordingly.

It is reported that DHgate sellers of e-cigarette accessories are currently concentrated mainly in the United States and Europe. The Philippines and Malaysia are also showing rapid growth.

In addition to e-cigarette accessories, search trends for small speakers have also been rising in recent years, with NFC and Bluetooth as the main hot product categories. The number of sellers increased threefold year-on-year, while the number of buyers grew by more than four times. According to Google Trends and DHgate transaction data, Bluetooth-enabled small speakers accounte

d for 51% of total sales volume (GMV), while NFC accounted for 9%.

DHgate data shows that 49% of small speaker orders came from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

In addition, demand for headphones and Android TV Boxes has been strong and is showing a sharp upward trend. At present, headphone transaction volume on the DHgate platform is mainly driven by the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and Australia.

Related search keywords show that “smart box” is a commonly used search term. In terms of products, the current mainstream offerings are quad-core or dual-core Android TV Boxes. Octa-core chips are still mainly used in mobile phones, and there are currently not many Android TV Boxes using them, but demand for such products will certainly grow stronger in the future.

Android TV Box GMV mainly comes from the United States, followed by the Netherlands, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil. Compared with other product lines, the order sources for Android TV Boxes are more widely dispersed.