Recently, a survey of 181 e-commerce platform sellers with a total annual revenue of more than 2 billion U.S. dollars showed that cross-border e-commerce has ushered in industry differentiation in 2026. The reckless era of making money with enthusiasm has passed. Nowadays, only players with both professionalism and risk resistance can ride in this vast ocean.
The survey results show that only 23% of sellers have achieved both revenue and profit growth, another 31% of sellers are trapped in the vortex of increasing revenue without increasing profits, and 38% of sellers are in a difficult situation, with both revenue and profit under pressure.
The sellers surveyed were divided into four types: only 22.7% of “flourishing” sellers achieved both revenue and profit growth; 30.9% of “struggling” sellers faced a situation of increasing revenue without increasing profits; as many as 38.1% of “difficult” sellers experienced a double decline in revenue and profit; and finally, 8.3% of “integrated” sellers were able to maintain flat revenue and profit growth.
Consistent with conventional wisdom, Amazon remains the core battlefield for cross-border e-commerce.
93% of sellers are active sellers on Amazon, 82% still use Amazon as their main source of income, and only 18% are distributed in DTC/retail channels and other platforms.
But what is surprising is that only 49% of sellers believe that Amazon can bring the highest net profit margin, and among active Amazon sellers, only 44% of sellers have achieved growth on Amazon.
Sellers rely on Amazon while questioning its profitability. This may be the result of passive dependence rather than active choice.
Because Amazon, with its mature platform ecosystem and huge user base, has become the first door for cross-border sellers to knock on business opportunities, especially for small and medium-sized sellers who lack funds and traffic channels.
However, most sellers are addicted to Amazon’s operating logic and cannot get out of their comfort zone. Once Amazon adjusts its compliance policies and fee structure, they can only react passively.
It is worth noting that among sellers who have been in business for more than 10 years, the proportion of “difficult” types is 64%.
The “prosperous” sellers have been in business for the shortest time, with only 34% having more than 10 years, but the proportion of sellers who have been in business for 5-10 years is as high as 78%.
This shows that experience may no longer be a moat, and middle-aged and old sellers may fall into “difficulties” due to the shackles of traditional operating thinking.
In addition, among the big sellers with annual revenue of more than US$5 million, the proportion of “distressed” sellers is as high as 38%, and only 20% of sellers are “thriving”.
However, among those with annual revenue of less than US$500,000, there are 25% “flourishing” sellers.
This shows that scale may increase revenue, but it may also amplify risks. Profit growth depends on the seller’s refined operational capabilities, rather than winning by scale.
There are four main reasons that lead to the differentiation of sellers’ profits.
First of all, in the operation of cross-border e-commerce, track selection is no longer the focus. The core gap lies in specific execution capabilities.
The data shows that the gap between the proportion of prosperous sellers among private label sellers and wholesale sellers is very small, while difficult sellers span 13 categories.
This shows that in the same model and category, some people can achieve growth against the trend, while others are in trouble.
Sellers should not blindly follow the trend of operating models or chase popular categories, but should strengthen refined operations.
Secondly, excessive advertising investment is also an important reason.
54% of struggling sellers are overwhelmed by advertising and platform fees, falling into a vortex of increasing revenue without increasing profits.
Thirdly, prosperous sellers are 40% more likely to use DTC/retail as their main source of income than distressed sellers, indicating that it is important to get rid of dependence on a single platform.
Finally, applying artificial intelligence to all aspects of cross-border e-commerce has become an unspoken rule in the industry. However, most sellers follow the trend and use AI without realizing its true value. The focus of “AI + cross-border e-commerce” is to embed AI into the entire operation process.
In general, cross-border e-commerce has completely shifted from extensive growth to an era of intensive farming in 2026.
As platform rules continue to tighten, sellers should calm down and build core advantages, optimize operational efficiency, balance channel layout, abandon ineffective investments, strengthen the use of tools, and use every penny and every energy on the cutting edge.
