The operation process of overseas warehouses is generally divided into three stages in the industry. The first leg: domestic goods collection and delivery to overseas warehouses, the warehouse: order operations and inventory management, and the last leg: outbound distribution and after-sales service. The local management of overseas warehouses is actually the same as that of domestic e-commerce warehouses. It needs to be designed one by one from aspects such as storage space planning, storage location specifications, SKU coding, and picking processes. Let’s first talk about the two processes.
Usually, full-link logistics and transportation in overseas warehouses involves multiple partners. During the process of cargo turnover, the entrustment relationship and handover work need to be fully controlled. There are only a handful of overseas warehouse companies that can deploy in multiple places around the world, and even fewer have the qualifications for freight forwarding, international trade, customs clearance, etc. and have been operating overseas for a long time. A convenient and reliable overseas warehouse system is the basis for automatically and efficiently driving business processes. Overseas warehouse companies with good IT capabilities will have obvious advantages in this regard.
1. Heading.
For the first leg of preparing goods and delivering them to the warehouse, the seller can choose to self-delivery or the overseas warehouse will be responsible for the entire process. The premise is that the overseas warehouse operator has sufficient transportation and customs clearance capabilities. In order to avoid cross risks or joint liability, many overseas warehouses often Sellers are encouraged to entrust agents to deliver goods themselves. Sea freight LCL or FCL is the main international logistics method, and air freight is more suitable for emergency replenishment.
If self-delivery, the seller must specify the goods details and transportation method, carrier, waybill number and other information when submitting the overseas warehouse entry form, as an ASN arrival notification to facilitate warehouse inspection and entry. ;Sellers need to arrange customs clearance and tax payment for goods at home and abroad by themselves, and all must be shipped under the DDP trade model.
At this time, the customs clearance documents, packing lists and other documents accompanying the goods for air and sea transportation cannot be reflected in the overseas warehouse as the importer, tax payer or owner of the goods, and can only be used as the carrier’s delivery. address. When the seller packs by himself, if a single package exceeds 50 pounds, pallets must be stacked and weight limits must be met. Otherwise, bulk unloading fees for the entire container may be incurred. Inaccurate information on the warehousing order or reservation may lead to delays in unloading, warehousing, and shelving. , deposit and other additional charges.
Some overseas warehouses provide “double clearing of goods in and out” and goods delivery services. Most of them have public warehouses at the port to conduct unified inspection, marking, packaging and palletizing of goods, product photography, and composite weighing. and other value-added services, responsible for warehousing and booking, domestic port customs clearance and destination country customs clearance, and consignment to the destination, realizing one-stop cross-border transportation and warehousing services including FBA. After the goods warehouse is put on the shelves, the seller has inventory and can sell online. Note that in order to optimize logistics costs and inventory, the frequency of the first trip must be arranged scientifically.
2. Customs clearance.
The postal customs clearance method of direct mail uses overseas warehouses to ship in batches, which is a bulk cargo trade customs clearance method. The trade customs clearance systems of various countries are very mature, but the requirements for customs clearance qualifications are high and certification inspections are strict. If the seller does not have a customs clearance agent, many FBA first-leg and double-clearance logistics providers can provide similar services.
Export customs clearance, overseas warehouses are also different from ordinary foreign trade sales, tax refund procedures are incomplete, the foreign trade comprehensive services mentioned above, overseas warehouse BBC export service model (B merchant/B overseas warehouse/C overseas buyer ), which is more convenient to operate than cross-border e-commerce B2C direct mail export. It is not limited to logistics operations. Foreign trade service providers can provide sellers with one-stop services such as customs clearance, foreign exchange collection, tax refund, and financing.
For import customs clearance, the first priority is for the seller to confirm that all goods meet the relevant quality parameters and safety standards of the destination country. If this is not met, there will be no further discussion. Customs clearance is usually completed by the consignee or customs declaration agent when goods enter the country. The price must be declared truthfully and the declaration elements must be complete. For example, the required importer and consignee information (US EIN/IRS number, European EORI number, Australian ABN number, etc.), such as Japanese overseas warehouses must be cleared in the name of the company with import rights. Taxes such as import duties, VAT and miscellaneous fees are generally paid in advance.
3. Final journey.
The previous article introduced overseas delivery, which is similar to the choice of overseas warehouse delivery. There are not many express delivery companies in developed markets, but the product types and service levels are obvious, and the timeliness and price vary greatly. The main concerns in the final process are: first, the order processing timeliness. After the order is generated, the warehouse personnel will receive the outbound task immediately. Due to the time difference, timely picking, packaging, and outbound delivery within 24 hours can best reflect the operational level of overseas warehouses.
The second is the selection of distribution products. The selection of distribution channels is very particular. The main dimensions are fast high price, slow low price, heavy goods and large packages, but factors such as product value, customer requirements, off-peak seasons, etc. are also considered. . Sometimes in order to get good reviews from users, using better express delivery rights is considered a marketing expenditure. The larger the scale of overseas warehouse shipments, the better discounts you can get from local large customers.
The third is tracking feedback. After completing the shipment, the overseas warehouse will provide the delivery logistics order number in a timely manner, and the seller will upload it to the platform. Because goods are shipped locally, customers have higher requirements for timeliness and traceability. Overseas warehouses need to assist in providing inquiries and monitoring delivery or returns to facilitate sellers’ control.
4. After-sales value-added services.
In cross-border e-commerce business, there will be a large number of returns and exchanges, and under direct mail conditions, basically only resends are possible. Overseas warehouses are much more convenient and can help sellers handle a lot of after-sales, including providing many value-added services in every link. Returns and exchanges need to be inspected piece by piece, which is labor-intensive, such as rearranging, cleaning, packaging, labeling, and even inspection and repair. Some assembly and identification are difficult, which reduces processing efficiency.
When the tag or logo is lost, you have to search it from the SKU library or wait for feedback from domestic sellers. If the returned goods are defective and cannot be re-sold, they can only be placed in the bad goods area for destruction. If they can still be re-sold, they will be put on the shelves for a second time and priority will be given to matching sales orders for shipment. The hidden cost of returns is too high, so the return rate should be reduced as much as possible. When customers feedback product problems, seller customer service should first use coupons and other benefits to appease consumers.
Bad goods and slow-moving goods have high shipping costs and complicated procedures, so there is basically no need to transport them back to the country. If the unsalable goods can still be cleared, they must be “cut and stopped” in a timely manner. Out-of-season and out-of-warranty goods may become scraps if their residual value does not cover the warehouse rent and must be destroyed. In FBA, defective returns will be classified into Unfulfillable inventory and can no longer be sold through FBA.
Europe and the United States have relatively strict pollution control laws. The recycling and destruction of mobile phone 3C electronic products also requires an environmental protection fee. In response to this business, overseas markets have also spawned service providers that specialize in handling “inventory scrapping” of sellers’ returns and “dead stock” of slow-moving goods. Therefore, when using overseas warehouses, merchants must pay attention to concentrating sales resources, promoting product sales, timely dumping, and speeding up circulation. Cash flow is more important than profit. Nowadays, FBA charges additional warehouse rent for goods that have been in the warehouse for a long time.