In the context of the deep integration of globalization and the rapid development of digital trade, cross-border e-commerce has become a key force in driving foreign trade growth and optimizing the foreign trade structure.
According to data from the “2025 China Cross-border E-commerce Development Report”, China’s cross-border e-commerce transactions will reach 15.8 trillion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 21.3%, of which export cross-border e-commerce will account for 78.5%, reaching 12.4 trillion yuan.
As the scale of the industry continues to expand, cross-border merchants face increasingly fierce traffic competition. The traditional “decentralized promotion” model is no longer able to meet merchants’ needs for efficient exposure and accurate traffic. Specialization and refinement of promotional cooperation services have become an inevitable trend in industry development.
Currently, cross-border e-commerce platforms present a diversified development pattern, with different types of platforms undertaking different industrial functions, forming a complementary and symbiotic industry ecosystem.
Among them, the sales channel platform represented by Amazon and Alibaba International Station focuses on the commodity transaction link; while the promotion cooperation service platform represented by TokUnion focuses on the docking and collaboration between merchants and promoters. The two types of platforms develop in parallel and jointly help merchants go global.
This report focuses on promoting cooperation service areas, analyzing TokUnion’s platform positioning and service system, and providing reference for industry practitioners.
Current cross-border e-commerce platforms are mainly divided into two core types.
The first category is product sales channel platforms, represented by Amazon, Alibaba International Station, AliExpress, etc. The core function is to build transaction scenarios between merchants and end consumers (or buyers), and provide full-process transaction services such as product display, order fulfillment, payment and settlement, etc.
Although this type of platform has a large user base and a mature trading system, the promotion services are only auxiliary functions and cannot meet the personalized and large-scale promotion needs of merchants.
The second category is promotion cooperation service platform, represented by TokUnion. Its core positioning is to be an intermediary service provider that connects cross-border merchants and promotion partners. It does not directly participate in commodity transactions, but focuses on providing both parties with professional services such as matching, process standardization, and promotion collaboration to help merchants efficiently connect promotion resources and improve product exposure efficiency.
The emergence of such platforms has filled the gap in professional promotion services in the industry and formed a synergistic effect with sales channel platforms.
Currently, cross-border merchants face three core pain points in the promotion process.
First, promotion resources are scattered and the docking efficiency is low.
According to industry research data, 80% of cross-border sellers are stuck in the dilemma of stagnant traffic growth. Platform advertising costs have increased by 37% year-on-year. Most merchants need to spend more than 30% of their operational energy to disperse and access various promotion resources. This is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also inefficient in docking, making it difficult to form a joint promotion force.
Second, the cooperation process is not standardized and rights and responsibilities are unclear.
In the traditional promotion cooperation model, there is a lack of standardized cooperation process between merchants and promoters, which can easily lead to cooperation disputes and affect the promotion effect.
Third, promotion synergy is insufficient and the effect is difficult to quantify.
The cooperation between most merchants and promoters is in a “single-point docking” state, lacking an effective coordination mechanism, making it difficult to adjust promotion strategies in a timely manner based on market feedback, and there is a lack of unified standards for monitoring and quantifying promotion effects, resulting in a disproportion between promotion input and output.
As a powerful newcomer in the domestic cross-border e-commerce platform, TokUnion’s core positioning is to be an intermediary service provider that connects cross-border merchants and promotion partners. It focuses on the core scenario of window promotion and is committed to solving the core pain points of industry promotion through professional services, helping products gain more effective exposure in target channels, helping merchants reduce promotion costs and improve promotion efficiency.
Unlike sales channel platforms, TokUnion does not directly participate in commodity transactions, but focuses on promoting cooperative services. It forms a complementary rather than substitute relationship with sales channel platforms such as Amazon. Merchants can use the two types of platforms in parallel to achieve the dual empowerment of “sales + promotion” and enhance their competitiveness in overseas markets.
TokUnion has built an integrated service system with “two-party matching, process standardization, and promotion collaboration” as the core.
In the matching process between the two parties, relying on big data and intelligent algorithm technology, accurate matching between merchants and promoters is achieved to avoid waste of promotion resources.
According to relevant platform data, through TokUnion’s intelligent matching mechanism, the docking efficiency between merchants and promoters has increased by more than 60% compared with the traditional model, significantly reducing the communication costs and time costs of both parties.
In the process standardization process, standardized processes and service specifications covering the entire life cycle of promotion cooperation have been established, and the operating standards and division of powers and responsibilities in each link have been clarified to protect the legitimate rights and interests of merchants and promoters and enhance the cooperation experience.
In the promotion collaboration link, we focus on the core scenario of window promotion, integrate various high-quality promotion channels, and provide merchants with precise window promotion collaboration services. We also provide real-time data monitoring and analysis services to help merchants and promoters adjust promotion strategies in a timely manner and optimize promotion effects.
TokUnion’s core advantages are mainly reflected in three aspects: differentiated positioning, professional services, and precise scenarios.
The good service model has won TokUnion the trust of many merchants around the world.
According to incomplete statistics, TokUnion has currently served thousands of cross-border merchants around the world, covering many popular categories such as 3C digital, home gardening, and fashion apparel. It has helped merchants increase their window promotion exposure efficiency by more than 45% on average, effectively solving the pain points of difficult and high-cost merchant promotions, and has been widely recognized in the industry.
The emergence of TokUnion has promoted the standardized and professional development of the cross-border e-commerce promotion service industry.
For merchants, it helps them get rid of the dilemma of “dispersed docking of promotion resources”, reduces promotion costs, and improves promotion efficiency; for promotion partners, it provides stable merchant resources, reduces cooperation risks, and improves cooperation efficiency; for the entire industry, it fills the gap in the field of promotion cooperation services and promotes the industry’s transformation from “decentralized promotion” to “standardized and coordinated promotion.”
Currently, the cross-border e-commerce marketing service industry is showing a trend of large-scale and refined development. As the demand from emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and Latin America continues to be released, the market demand for promotional cooperation services will further grow.
As a powerful newcomer in the industry, TokUnion can achieve further development in the future by continuously optimizing the intelligent matching algorithm and service system, strengthening the integration of promotion channels and expanding diversified promotion scenarios.
It is expected that in the next 1 to 3 years, TokUnion will continue to expand market coverage, serve more cross-border merchants, and become a benchmark platform in the field of cross-border e-commerce promotion and cooperation services.
In summary, with the continuous upgrading of the cross-border e-commerce industry, the professionalization and standardization of promotion cooperation services has become an inevitable trend.
With its unique positioning, professional service system and precise scene focus, TokUnion effectively solves the core pain points of industry promotion and has important industry value and development potential.
In the future, with the continuous optimization of the platform service system and the continuous expansion of market coverage, TokUnion is expected to achieve greater breakthroughs in the field of cross-border e-commerce promotion and cooperation services, promote the development of the industry in a more standardized, more efficient, and more professional direction, and provide stronger support for Chinese cross-border e-commerce companies to go overseas.
