Most if not all e-commerce businesses want to take advantage of the global retail opportunity that exists. A lot more money can be made when you expose your goods to more potential customers.
But there are a variety of challenges and complications that can come with international fulfillment.
Different countries have different regulations and rules you must abide by. Shipping costs can vary considerably from one region to another. Packaging needs can differ depending on the product and where it needs to be shipped to. Mapping out efficient routes and building partnerships with the right services can be a lengthy process.
Unless you are familiar with the ins and outs of getting your hard-goods delivered around the globe, and you have the company infrastructure to support it, you aren’t sufficiently ready to take advantage of the opportunities in front of you. But this doesn’t mean that it can’t be done.
Using a service like Floship can make international fulfillment easy. Here’s how:
Hong Kong Fulfillment
What’s so special about Hong Kong? It’s the world’s largest air-freight hub. It is strategically located for shipping goods across the world.
Shipping from Hong Kong is also cost-efficient – oftentimes, you’ll be hard-pressed to find cheaper rates for getting your hardgoods delivered to a variety of different parts of the globe. This is because it requires the mapping of routes as well as the development of strategic partnerships with couriers.
Whether you’re just looking to add a region to your business, or you have plans for global expansion, Floship can ensure the smooth delivery of goods to different locations at the lowest cost possible.
Warehousing
Setting up and running a warehouse can be quite costly. You need to rent or buy a physical location to store your wares. You need staff to oversee the picking, packing and shipping process. You need an inventory management system and fulfillment software. You need packaging materials. You may even need other physical equipment and machinery.
A warehouse is one of the hardest things to scale in an e-commerce business. The bigger you get, the more variables there are. The more products you offer, the easier it becomes to make a mistake.
If you can find a partner you trust, outsourcing the warehousing of products makes a lot of sense.
Cost-Efficiency
A service like Floship is cost-efficient for a number of different reasons.
With Floship you get:
- International fulfillment without lengthy contracts and hidden fees.
- End-to-end delivery of products.
- A full suite of courier rates. Partnerships have been built with as many delivery services as possible so that fulfillment costs can be kept low.
- Discounted bulk rates for crowdfunding projects. This may be less applicable to established e-commerce businesses, but if you’re looking to test out an idea in the market, and you end up needing to get orders out to backers in a variety of different locations, it’s good to know that there is a streamlined option you can count on.
If you’re going to be serving a worldwide audience, you absolutely need to be able to do it without racking up astronomical bills. When you’re working with experienced professionals, this will prove far simpler to achieve.
Final Thoughts
One of the advantages of outsourcing fulfillment is that you get to free up more of your time.
Most business owners would prefer to focus on building their business and marketing as opposed to setting up systems and figuring out the best packaging options through trial and error. This doesn’t make any sense when you can work with an experienced team that knows how to handle a variety of different situations.
There has never been a better time to expand globally, but competition is only going to increase. Now is the time to start making plans for growth.
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- Create a Plan B To Keep Your Fulfillment Flowing
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