Logistics costs are the largest expense for e-commerce companies, and are also the most important factor affecting profits. With the booming development of cross-border e-commerce, going overseas in the logistics field has become inevitable. "Overseas warehouses" as collection and transit warehouses for overseas direct mail are becoming a "must-have" for the vast majority of import e-commerce companies.
In the "Government Work Report" by Premier Li Keqiang, "cross-border e-commerce" was specifically mentioned as a government work priority, and "overseas warehouses" were also mentioned: "We must encourage innovation in business models. Expand cross-border e-commerce pilot projects, support companies in building a number of 'overseas warehouses' for export products, and promote the development of comprehensive foreign trade service companies."
What is an overseas transit warehouse?
Overseas transit warehouses, as the name suggests, refer to e-commerce customers first sending goods to local overseas warehouses by sea/air/express delivery, etc., and then transferring them to FBA warehouses or other warehouses based on the required quantity of goods.
Why choose an overseas transit warehouse?
According to a survey conducted by iResearch Consulting, price factors accounted for 48.4% of the primary reasons for choosing online shopping, while "convenience, speed and door-to-door delivery" accounted for 25.7%. It can be seen that price factors and convenience are currently the most important factors attracting consumers to shop online. This is also the reason why e-commerce companies are now engaged in continuous price wars and investing heavily in logistics.
Logistics costs are the largest expense for e-commerce companies, and are also the most important factor affecting profits. An article titled "Amazon's Money-Making Tool: Logistics Master" published in "Wealth Creation Magazine" mentioned that "logistics execution costs" (including transportation, order processing, warehousing, shipping and return costs, etc.) are the largest expenditure of e-commerce companies besides sales costs. In the 1990s, Amazon's "logistics execution costs" once accounted for 20% of total costs. Now it has dropped to around 10%. The reduction in logistics costs has become a "weapon" for Amazon to turn losses into profits.
What is the use of overseas transit warehouses?
1. Restocking during peak seasons takes a long time, because failure to prepare stocks in time will result in a reduction in the seller’s listing weight.
2. Multiple accounts can be operated.
3. Some goods cannot be directly prepared for FBA and must first be transferred to overseas warehouses.
Many people say that transit warehouses have become a safe haven for cross-border e-commerce, because the product categories covered by overseas warehouses are very wide, from lightweight and compact 3C data cables to large household products. It can not only help sellers quickly deal with the problem of listing goods, but also when encountering problems such as returns and product removals, it can transfer the goods to other accounts for listing and selling, saving a large part of the expenses and helping e-commerce sellers avoid risks. It is very flexible.
As an e-commerce seller, how can you carefully choose an overseas transit warehouse?
1. Supply large-volume delivery services
Overseas transit warehouses can provide wholesale shipping services that FBA does not have. The larger the volume of goods sold by cross-border sellers, the greater the advantages of the transit method will be, and the fees incurred will be more reasonable.
2. Reasonable storage costs
FBA has storage restrictions, and the costs of third-party overseas warehouses are much lower than those of FBA. Choosing an overseas warehouse with reasonable storage fees can help cross-border sellers reduce costs.
3. Efficient overseas warehouse WMS management system
A stable and mature logistics management system is an important link in ensuring that overseas warehouses can complete the entire process efficiently. A complete overseas warehousing management system can check the in and out status of e-commerce sellers' goods in real time, update order status in a timely manner, and eliminate inventory crises for cross-border sellers.
4. Provide value-added services such as returns and exchanges
Providing professional overseas warehouse return and exchange services is also a basic guarantee and support for sellers' products, which can effectively reduce the losses caused by product returns.
Choosing overseas warehouse transit can not only effectively shorten the time it takes for consumers to receive goods and reduce its own logistics costs, but also reduce the risk of delays in some links. Why not do it?
