茵曼方建华：电商已死！有“七把刀”在割商家的肉……

This article shares industry insights from Fang Jianhua, founder of the e-commerce brand Inman and one of China’s earliest e-commerce entrepreneurs. Fang argues that pure-play e-commerce has run its course, summarizes current industry pain points, and outlines actionable directions for general e-commerce practitioners.

1. The pure-play e-commerce industry currently faces seven widespread pain points: high return rates, high paid promotion costs, high labor costs, high operating costs, intense price comparison pressure, high inventory waste, and higher tax and compliance costs. Many merchants report strong top-line revenue but operate at a deep loss—one example given is a merchant that closed shop after posting a net loss of RMB 5 million on RMB 60 million in annual revenue.

2. The actionable path forward for the industry is an integrated model of "AI + new physical retail + instant retail + IP matrix". AI reduces operating costs: Inman has cut its costs by 30% through AI adoption. New physical retail builds a stable, omnichannel foundation that connects online and offline operations. Instant retail taps into the fast-growing trend of 30-minute delivery for all consumer goods. IP matrix enables low-cost customer acquisition: One of Inman’s store owners grew annual sales from RMB 480,000 to RMB 20 million after building their own IP.

Drawing on 20 years of experience in e-commerce, Inman founder Fang Jianhua shares his industry assessment, outlines the current困境 facing pure-play e-commerce brands, and lays out a path for future brand growth, offering valuable insights for brand operators.

1. Pure-play e-commerce brands now face seven existential pressures: Return rates for women’s apparel can reach as high as 90%, driving up waste and costs. Paid promotion is tied to platform algorithms—brands get no orders without continuous ad spend, leading to steadily rising customer acquisition costs. Costs for labor, materials, warehousing and other overhead keep increasing, but brands cannot raise prices without losing customers, leaving them with razor-thin margins. Platforms push identical low-priced alternatives to consumers who have already expressed intent to buy from a brand, directly diverting traffic. Returned inventory is mostly damaged and can only be liquidated at steep discounts. After compliance reforms, brands face higher costs for e-commerce taxes and full social security contributions, leaving many with no net profit after a full year of operation.

2. The path forward for brands to break through is the integrated "AI + new physical retail + instant retail + IP matrix" model: AI cuts costs, new physical retail builds a resilient foundation, instant retail boosts operational efficiency, and IP matrix expands customer reach. Inman currently operates 600 omnichannel stores connecting online and offline operations, and the model has already proven its recession-resilient performance.

This article outlines current industry risks for e-commerce sellers, identifies new growth opportunities and break-through strategies, and provides guidance for sellers adjusting their operating models.

1. Pure-play e-commerce sellers should watch for seven major operational risks: High return rates eat into profits, leaving many sellers with net losses even with high revenue—one documented case is a seller that closed after losing RMB 5 million on RMB 60 million in annual sales. Paid promotion is locked into platform algorithms: Sellers get no orders a single day after pausing ad spend, leaving them no way to operate without continuous investment. Labor costs rise steadily every year, and top talent is frequently poached by competitors. All operating costs are increasing, but sellers cannot raise prices to offset them. Platform-based price matching directly diverts already interested customers away from sellers. Returned inventory creates major waste and can only be cleared at steep discounts. After tax and social security compliance reforms, previous tax avoidance loopholes are closed, leading to sharp cost increases.

2. The opportunity for breaking through lies in e-commerce practitioners collaborating to explore new paths, with a focus on four key areas: Leveraging AI to cut costs and boost efficiency, building new omnichannel physical retail, capitalizing on the 30-minute delivery trend in instant retail, and building an in-house IP matrix for customer acquisition. Multiple successful cases have already validated the feasibility of this model.

This industry sharing from a brand founder outlines how shifts in the e-commerce industry are impacting manufacturing, and identifies new business opportunities and transformation insights for factories.

1. Current changes in the pure-play e-commerce sector are creating new demands for production and design: High return rates create high waste and increase end-market inventory pressure, forcing factories to build more flexible production capacity to adapt to the "small-batch, fast turnaround" model. Thinner profit margins for downstream merchants have raised the bar for cost control, meaning factories must optimize their own cost management to win orders.

2. Factories can capitalize on new business opportunities by advancing digital transformation: First, they can adopt AI technology to cut costs, boost efficiency, and improve competitiveness. Second, they can partner with brands adopting the integrated model—Inman Kids attracted more than 100 suppliers to主动 reach out for collaboration through the founder’s IP, eventually forming stable partnerships with more than 10 suppliers, proving that IP has become a new channel for suppliers to connect with brands. Factories can also build their own IP to reach end consumers directly, launch their own omnichannel sales routes, expand market access, and reduce reliance on brand clients.

This article outlines the overall current trend of China’s e-commerce industry and the core pain points facing merchants, clarifying market demand and service directions for e-commerce service providers, offering high reference value.

1. The vast majority of e-commerce merchants currently struggle to turn a profit, with highly concentrated core pain points: difficulty handling waste from high return rates, high customer acquisition costs locked in by platform algorithms that leave little profit, shrinking margins from rising labor costs, continuous increases in all categories of operating costs, damage to original pricing systems from platform price matching, hard-to-digest high inventory waste, and sharp increases in compliance costs. Merchants urgently need targeted solutions to break through, creating strong market demand.

2. The future development direction of the industry is integrated development of "AI + new physical retail + instant retail + IP matrix". Service providers can develop corresponding service products around this direction: for example, AI cost-reduction tools for merchants, operational services for omnichannel new physical retail, instant retail channel connection services, and IP incubation and operation services. This allows service providers to capitalize on the industry transformation trend and expand their business scale.

This article outlines widespread merchant dissatisfaction with current platform rules and identifies core flaws in existing platform models, offering important reference value for platforms to improve operations and mitigate risks.

1. Two core flaws in current platform rules have sparked merchant discontent: First, platform algorithms use bidding mechanisms to control merchants, forcing them to continuously increase promotion spending. If a merchant pauses ad spend, platforms cut off their traffic entirely. This model generates platform revenue by eroding merchant profits, and will eventually lead to widespread merchant attrition long-term. Second, after a consumer has decided to place an order on a merchant’s product page, platforms immediately push identical lower-priced alternatives, directly diverting the merchant’s customers and severely damaging merchants’ legitimate interests, sparking widespread pushback.

2. Platforms need to adjust their rules to mitigate risks and capture new growth opportunities going forward: They should revise algorithm rules to create a fairer operating environment for merchants, lower merchant acquisition costs, and improve merchant retention. At the same time, platforms should prioritize building out their instant retail offerings, partner with omnichannel new physical merchants, support merchants in building IPs, adapt to the new business model, and improve their own long-term competitiveness.

This article offers first-hand insights from one of China’s earliest e-commerce practitioners based on 20 years of industry experience, reflecting new trends and emerging problems in China’s e-commerce sector, and offers high sample value for industry research.

1. New structural problems have emerged in China’s pure-play e-commerce industry: The algorithmic mechanism dominated by platform capital has steadily increased its control over merchants, and the "seven highs"—high return rates, high promotion costs, high labor costs and more—have comprehensively squeezed merchant profits. The widespread closures of loss-making pure-play e-commerce businesses proves that the traditional pure-play e-commerce model reliant on platform traffic is no longer viable, upending existing conventional wisdom about pure-play e-commerce growth.

2. A new development direction and new business model has already emerged from within the industry: the integrated "AI + new physical retail + instant retail + IP matrix" model. This model has been tested through years of practice at Inman, with multiple successfully implemented cases, proving that the integrated model delivers stronger recession resilience and profitability than pure-play e-commerce. It is a key evolutionary direction for China’s e-commerce industry going forward, and merits in-depth follow-up research from analysts.