Is International Fulfillment necessary for cross-border shipping?
Online shopping has become a craze these days. Attractive offers by different vendors have made people shop like there is no tomorrow. As this is slowly proliferating all over the world, it is easier to find a probable audience for your products around the globe.
The international market has a lot of potential; hence you can increase your financial revenue by expanding your business. When you are targeting international customers, there are a few things you need to check upon especially the delivery time, as customers look out for a quicker shipping service. If your package gets stuck in customs clearance it will cover longer transit time. Due to this, you may lose a customer as well as they prefer to have the product which they ordered to reach them at least by the estimated time frame. Before you go forward for a fulfillment service, you must have a good customer base beforehand as outsourcing involves a little extra money.
You can always catch more flies with honey hence if you are providing a unique offer than your competitors you can stay ahead in the competition as faster delivery is always a USP of e-commerce business. International fulfillment comes with its own advantages some of them are listed below:
1. An easier way of storage:
Setting up a warehouse to store your products in another country is not an easy task especially when you are in a different country as you don’t know anyone who can help you to set up things and with a different set of rules and regulation. So an easier option of doing it is to outsource the fulfillment process to a third party fulfillment agent who can do all the work on behalf of you. By outsourcing, you can be free from managing the warehouse thereby saving money and time.
2. Eliminates tax and duties for customers:
When you are shipping your products to an individual customer based in abroad, the customer will have to pay customs duties and taxes each time you send the package. By sending the package directly to the fulfillment center in bulk, you will be paying the duties and taxes thereby reducing the burden on the customer.
3. Expedites the delivery time:
Once you outsource to a third party fulfillment service, the entire process of picking the parcel, packing, delivering it to the customer and customer support is completely looked after by them. Since the product is already near the customer’s location, delivery time is reduced which in turn makes customers happy and satisfied. With this, you can also stay far ahead of your competitors.
4. Reduced Shipping cost & product price:
It is advisable to send your bulk package through cargo ship, which might take longer transit time but will definitely reduce the cost of shipping. Since fulfillment centers handle multiple clients and are tied up to different courier services and clients you will get a discounted shipping rate. Having warehouse strategically located near the majority of your customers allows you to deliver packages on time to your customers and also save money on shipping. Thus you don’t have to add extra shipping price in your product price thus you can offer a reasonable price to your product which attracts the customers.
5. Amazon FBA
If you are selling your products to Amazon.com customers then you don’t have to worry about the fulfillment as Amazon looks after the end to end process from packing to delivery. You don’t have to worry about giving customer assistance in the local language of the country as Amazon provides world-class customer support relative to the location of the customer. With Amazon FBA you can be stress-free and look into other aspects of the business. You can also ship to Amazon FBA warehouses located in the US, UK, Australia through the eCourierz website.
If you have potential existing customers abroad then choosing a fulfillment service is a good option as it is a difficult task to set up things from the scratch in an unknown country. If you are not comfortable outsourcing to an unknown fulfillment center then opt a well establish fulfillment service from the marketplace such as Amazon.
