Everything in e-commerce is about speed, which puts overseas warehouses in a passive position: fast warehousing so that they can sell as soon as possible; fast delivery so that customers can receive the goods and get the money as soon as possible; if it is not done well, use the overseas free period to quickly withdraw from the warehouse so as to find other logistics channels as soon as possible. There is no time to manage and feedback the inventory in detail in the warehouse, which leads to disputes when withdrawing from the warehouse, affecting the calculation of storage fees or demurrage fees. This kind of dispute will consume a lot of energy of the business and settlement personnel of both parties to provide evidence and judge, and seriously affect the cooperation between the two parties. Limited by factors such as region, time difference, communication, reality and virtuality, the two parties must sign a detailed service agreement before cooperation, and in the contract, they must constrain the trade compliance process, “rights, responsibilities and interests” and pricing compensation methods of both parties, and attach the operation process. For customers who have long-term arrears and have no orders, they should contact the customer to recharge and confirm whether to withdraw from the warehouse and clear the inventory.
Before the merchant withdraws from the warehouse, the goods must be removed from the store, and the system must be sealed first to prevent orders from flowing into the store after the withdrawal order is generated, which will interfere with the withdrawal work of the warehouse. Secondly, the warehouse must take inventory of the goods to be withdrawn, update them synchronously in the system, and inform the merchant in time. The merchant confirms the quantity to be withdrawn and generates an accurate withdrawal order according to the results of the inventory. The basis for withdrawal and settlement is the purchase, sales and inventory data on both sides of the warehouse WMS and the store ERP. Even if there is an inventory difference, the specific reason can be found to ensure that the responsibilities of the merchant, warehouse and supplier in the withdrawal and settlement are clear. For the recovery of the difference data, all inventory changes must be based on records, including warehouse entry orders, delivery orders, inventory adjustment orders, and withdrawal orders. The corresponding documents and system data can be found. In the actual operation process, based on the inventory results, the withdrawal will not be delayed due to disputes over the withdrawal quantity. Based on the handover, both parties sign and confirm the withdrawal data and hand it over to the merchant’s designated receiving logistics company.
Slow-moving inventory has always been difficult to handle. According to incomplete statistics, on average, each overseas warehouse seller has 100,000 yuan of slow-moving inventory, and some even reach several million yuan. About 70% of the inventory is sold at a discount, 19% of the inventory will be destroyed, and 11% of the inventory will be returned or handled in other ways. If these unsalable stocks are handled properly, they can also bring considerable profits. If they are not handled properly, they will become waste products that cost money to deal with. For most tail goods, sellers can conduct large-scale advertising promotions or off-site discount clearance, such as posting them on wholesale auction platforms such as Overstock and Tophatter. If they cannot be sold at auction, they can be entrusted to overseas warehouses to donate to some charitable organizations, and they can also gain some local honors. Products that cannot be sold again can only be destroyed. Abandoned goods in Europe and the United States need to be cleared by formal institutions, and there is also a fee for destruction. In view of the uncontrollable inventory risks, some overseas warehouses aim at overseas distribution and delivery, saving operation and warehousing costs, agency operation + technology output, allowing sellers to sell without stocking up.