eCommerce: How to Ship Your Products

As brick-and-mortar stores close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers are turning to online shopping and thus putting pressure on merchant’s fulfillment processes. During this time, you could be opening a digital storefront and shipping for the first time. You could be dealing with closed warehouses and shipping suspensions by Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) causing you to diversify your supply chain. Some merchants might be experiencing an influx of online orders and trying to handle it the best way they can.

No matter what your situation is, we hope to cover your top options when it comes to successfully shipping online orders.

Q&A: The Future of Cross-Border Commerce and International Shipping Experience

Learn from FlavorCloud Founder/CEO Rathna Sharad on cross-border commerce’s explosive growth and the challenges of the international shipping experience. 

Trends like the “The Amazon Effect”, growth in eCommerce, success of direct-to-consumer brands, and lower barrier of entry in the global supply chain space are all leading the explosive growth of cross-border commerce. Online selling through webstores, social media, and marketplaces are making it easier than ever for brands to reach more customers around the globe. It doesn’t matter where a customer is located, they’re searching and finding the products they want. Merchants should be ready to serve them. 

The challenge isn’t necessarily reaching customers online, but rather shipping your products overseas, which often doesn’t always go as smoothly for both parties. Merchants have to prepare customs documentation an fees like duties and taxes, all while maintaining favorable shipping costs to your customers. Just like domestic shipping, you must think about selecting carriers, shipping rates, last mile delivery and returns. 

To understand more about the complexities of international shipping, we sat down with our friends over at FlavorCloud, experts in cross-border commerce. Check out this Q&A with their Founder/CEO Rathna Sharad to learn more about what cross-border commerce is and how merchants should approach international shipping to ensure the best possible experience for your customers. 

5 Challenges of Endless Aisle for Retailers

(This post was last published on May 4th, 2016. It’s been updated for accuracy and completeness.)

Retailers are missing out on nearly $1 trillion in in-store sales because they don’t have on hand what their customers want to buy. When customers can’t find what they want on your shelves, they’re quick to shop online or with one of your competitors.

There’s a lot of reasons why your shelves might be empty like miscalculating labor costs, customer satisfaction, and poor communication between vendors and retailers. To combat this problem, retailers of all sizes are turning to technology to ensure their shelves stay stocked, or appear to have an endless aisle of products consumers are looking for.

Implementing this retail strategy isn’t easy though. This article discusses some of the common challenges of deploying an endless aisle program.

What is Retail Supply Chain Management and Why Is It Important?

(This article was last published on November 22, 2017. It’s been updated for completeness and accuracy.)

Online shoppers continue to push retailers to meet their delivery expectations. They want free, fast, and multiple delivery options at check out and retailers deliver as promised. If something does go wrong, shoppers aren’t forgiving either.

In fact, 84% of consumers say that they won’t return to a brand after just one poor delivery experience.

The stakes are high for retailers. Delivery speed, price, and pick up options can dictate whether a customer buys from you or another competitor. It’s an important part of the purchasing decision that can’t be ignored.

Unfortunately, managing your backoffice operations to optimize for fulfillment is one of the hardest aspects of selling online. If you’re a growing business, it’s overwhelming to understand and take action to improve your processes for customers. To help you, this article covers the basics of supply chain management and why you must make it a priority for your online business. (more…)

Third-Party Fulfillment Services: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) Alternatives

(This post was last published on December 12, 2017. We’ve updated it for accuracy and completeness.)

Consumers expect affordable (free), fast, and flexible delivery options when they order online. Free and discounted shipping is a leading reason why shoppers turn to marketplaces like Amazon to purchase. The “Fulfilled by Amazon” logo makes such a difference for shoppers because it guarantees that the seller will meet their shipping expectations.

Amazon’s advanced fulfillment system is one of their biggest differentiators. It also sets the bar high for merchants. Amazon has the resources and technology to provide customers with free and fast, even within 2-hour, shipping.

If you’re a smaller merchant though, order fulfillment is a painful process. It’s tough to meet the expectations set by Amazon for your customers. Many merchants then rely on third- party fulfillment providers to manage their fulfillment processes and protect their bottom line.

While Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a popular third-party fulfillment service, it’s not for everyone. This post helps you compare top alternatives to FBA.