Today, when everything has shifted online after digitalization, many people are involved in shopping from other countries, i.e. foreign countries. However, it seemed to be an impossible task earlier to ship products from one country to another without the involvement of a dedicated entity. But now the fulfilment centres are available worldwide to get all these done in no time. They make sure that every buyer enjoys their end product through a seamless delivery. In this blog post, we will discuss the process of how the fulfilment centres facilitate international shipping.
Strategic Location & Inventory Management
We can find several fulfilment centres located around the world to serve international markets. They are responsible for making sure that a sufficient amount of required products is available closer to customers in different regions. This also serves as a benefit for them in reducing shipping charges and times. The ecommerce fulfilment centres keep a timely record of all the products to keep them really for shipping as and when required. As a result, businesses also save a lot on delays caused by stockouts and reduce the need for costly express shipping options.
Efficient Order Processing
When an international customer orders a product, the fulfilment center’s work gets handy. They do not waste any extra time over quickly picking, packing, and preparing the products for final shipment to the buyer's doorstep. This efficient order processing process by the fulfilment centres uk make sure that no orders to be shipped internationally are delayed. If in case some paperwork is required for international shipments, the fulfilment centres keep them pre-ready.
Navigating Customs Regulations
One of the biggest challenges the ecommerce fulfilment service face while facilitating international shipments is ‘customs rules.’ As the product needs to be shipped internationally, i.e. it will be traveling from country to country, every country has a different set of customs rules. This might become a problem if there is no dedicated entity to deal with it. But with the fulfilment centres, this major challenge has also been overcome easily. The fulfilment centres know how to deal with the different customs regulations of different countries. They keep all the paperwork, like invoices and packing lists, handy and make sure that shipments follow the destination country’s import laws. With the help of this expertise of fulfilment centres, all other problems associated with expensive delays and fines get solved easily. As a result, the international shipping process becomes smoother.
Optimizing Shipping Routes and Costs
Just like people with in-country shipping requirements, international buyers also wish to get their orders delivered as soon as possible. To do so, the fulfilment centres partner with multiple shipping providers from different countries to optimize international shipping routes and costs. They help businesses as well in saving their precious money by negotiating well with these shipping providers. Additionally, the end buyer also does not need to pay extra or too much for an international order.
Handling International Returns
Letting the order reach out to the international buyer is still a smooth process, but what if the customer returns it? The second major challenge after customs rules is ‘handling international returns.’ Although the process remains the same (just in a reverse format, for example: from the destination country to the country where the business is), the fulfilment centres need to handle international returns very carefully as any small mistake can cost them too high.
Opt for order fulfilment centre from Thrive Fulfilment.