The cross-border e-commerce sector is witnessing a clear divergence in corporate strategies: while some companies are scaling back operations to weather economic uncertainties, others like Great Star Technology are aggressively expanding through acquisitions and IPOs. This bold approach demonstrates strong financial capabilities and market competitiveness in the current economic climate.
Strategic Expansion: Great Star Tech Invests Heavily in Power Tools Product Line
In November 2023, Great Star Technology announced plans to acquire 70% equity of Ailun Cleaning Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. for up to 280 million yuan. This strategic move aims to leverage Ailun's proprietary technologies and patents to develop products better suited for North American markets and e-commerce channels, thereby diversifying the company's product portfolio.
Ailun Cleaning, established in 2010, has emerged as a global leader in high-pressure cleaning equipment manufacturing. Despite pandemic-related challenges in 2022, the company maintained solid profitability and is projected to achieve net profits exceeding 40 million yuan in 2023.
This acquisition represents Great Star Tech's continued expansion in power tools, following previous purchases of SHOPVAC (a leading North American vacuum brand) and BeA (a European industrial-grade nail gun brand). The company's WORKPRO brand has become particularly familiar to e-commerce sellers in this space.
With the global power tools market exceeding $41.5 billion in 2021 and showing steady growth, Great Star Tech is establishing itself as a regional leader in several product categories. The company invests approximately 200 million yuan annually in R&D, launching over 1,500 new products each year while expanding into emerging sectors like photovoltaics, energy storage, and home products.
Financial Strength: The Foundation for Aggressive Expansion
Great Star Tech's acquisition spree is backed by consistent financial performance. Since its 2010 IPO, the company has grown revenues from 1.88 billion yuan to 10.9 billion yuan in 2021, representing 252% growth. Even during the pandemic, the company achieved 28.96% revenue growth in 2020 with net profits increasing 50.85% year-over-year.
Remarkably, by Q3 2022, Great Star Tech had nearly matched its full-year 2021 net profit, reporting 1.26 billion yuan with particularly strong performance in the third quarter (622 million yuan).
The company employs a hybrid "online+offline" sales model. While brick-and-mortar channels dominate, e-commerce contributes significantly—Great Star Tech became Amazon's top Chinese seller of hand tools by 2020. After introducing power tools, its cross-border e-commerce revenue surpassed $100 million (approximately 710 million yuan), with ambitions to maintain over 50% growth in this segment.
Strategic Insights: Product Innovation as Core Competitive Advantage
Great Star Tech's approach mirrors that of other product-focused cross-border sellers like Anker Innovations, which has similarly expanded through strategic investments in new categories including smart home devices and drones.
In the current challenging market environment, many sellers are retreating from new product development to minimize risk. However, Great Star Tech's example suggests that carefully planned category expansion—when supported by strong R&D and financial resources—can create new growth opportunities. Some sellers report 30%+ annual growth precisely through successful category expansion.
The fundamental lesson remains: product innovation and quality constitute the most durable competitive advantages in cross-border e-commerce. Companies that maintain focus on these core competencies while strategically expanding their offerings appear best positioned to navigate market fluctuations successfully.