Some Amazon warehouses have suspended receiving goods, and sellers may have difficulty getting their goods into the warehouses

Amazon’s warehouse explosion problem is not the first time, but every time it reappears , it always makes it difficult for sellers to get goods into the warehouse and products cannot be put on the shelves in time, which in turn affects the sales performance of that period, which is a headache for sellers. In this case, many sellers turn their attention to overseas warehouses in order to minimize risks and investment costs.

Amazon warehouse overflow problems frequently occur , making it difficult for sellers to get goods into warehouses

Recently, some sellers and freight forwarders reported that the DTM2 warehouse in Germany was overwhelmed , and four other warehouses ( LEJ5, MUC3 , DUS4, PAD1 ) issued notices to stop accepting goods since May 16 .

In fact, Amazon has experienced several warehouse explosions at multiple sites in 2021 and the first four months of 2022 alone, including the US site, which is the main market for sellers.

In mid-2021, FTW1 in the United States was severely overwhelmed. It was understood that the delivery teams at that time were lined up on the highway, the unloading time was extended, and the time for sellers to put their goods on the shelves was constantly delayed.

It is understood that FTW1 warehouse is one of Amazon's large warehouses for distribution of goods, and is also one of the warehouses with the highest frequency of warehouse explosions in the US station. It is located in Dallas, USA, and many domestic sellers' goods are often assigned to this warehouse. In addition, SBD1 in the US station is also a warehouse with a high frequency of warehouse explosions.

For warehouse explosion problems, sellers generally have no choice but to wait. If they are building a new warehouse, they will have to change orders. Warehouse explosion problems not only cause sellers to face delays in the entry of goods into the warehouse, but also seriously affect the seller's subsequent capital turnover and sales if goods cannot be entered into the warehouse and shipped in time, and will also incur additional time and financial costs.

The main common reasons for warehouse overflow problems include insufficient warehouse capacity, slow delivery by sellers, and more goods entering the warehouse than leaving the warehouse. If FBA delivery is relatively slow at a certain point in time, the accumulation of goods and end-of-line delivery will cause warehouse overflow.

In addition to warehouse overflows during peak seasons and the inability to put goods on shelves in a timely manner, due to the large size of the Amazon platform itself, sellers will inevitably encounter other problems when using FBA .

For example, a seller revealed earlier that the quantity of the product was missing when it entered the FBA warehouse . According to the backend inventory data report, the seller suspected that the goods were lost during the transfer from Amazon to the warehouse. After contacting customer service and providing the corresponding invoice and other information, the seller still could not find the lost goods. In the end, he could only blame himself for his bad luck. Small problems like this happen from time to time.

At present, small and medium-sized sellers still mainly rely on FBA , and the demand for overseas warehouses is mainly reflected in relocating warehouses and changing labels, handling unsaleable inventory , etc. However, if the sellers have large shipments during the peak season, FBA alone cannot fully meet the demand , and logistics services from other channels become the sellers' "lifeline".

Overseas warehouses have become an alternative channel for many sellers due to their advantages such as faster delivery speed, improved buyer's shopping experience, and avoiding warehouse congestion during peak seasons.

For long-term development, overseas warehouses are the "trend of the times"

Usually, many sellers do not have their own overseas warehouses, so the choice of third-party overseas warehouses becomes particularly important. It is common in the industry to use third-party overseas warehouses and FBA at the same time. Some sellers believe that it is better to prepare the goods in overseas warehouses first than to catch up with the peak of orders but not be able to ship them. "The one who has the goods is the winner."

Therefore, when sellers develop to a certain level, in addition to FBA , they will also use overseas warehouses as a supplement to meet their own personalized needs. Whether from the perspective of the supply chain or the product itself, overseas warehouses can play an important role at critical moments, which is also the advantage of many big sellers. It is reported that Leckey’s first overseas warehouse began to operate in 2013 , not only serving its own cross-border e-commerce business, but also becoming one of the company’s revenue.

Logistics and warehousing are key links in cross-border e-commerce. They are not only valued by big sellers, but in order to promote the "going global" development strategy more quickly, the country also strongly supports the development of cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses. " Studying and formulating policies to support the development of overseas warehouses and facilitate returns and exchanges of cross-border e-commerce " was one of the contents of the State Council's executive meeting on April 13 .

In the past two years, with the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce and the demand for relocation of sellers whose accounts were banned some time ago, third-party overseas warehouses have become more popular. Coupled with the repeated outbreaks of the epidemic and unstable factors such as logistics, overseas warehouses have attracted more attention from sellers than before.

As demand increases, the number of overseas warehouses on the market also increases. Sellers need to conduct multiple screenings to cooperate with overseas warehouses with higher cost-effectiveness.

In general, when choosing an overseas warehouse, in addition to price, sellers are mainly concerned about the following aspects: the management and control capabilities of the overseas warehouse, which is reflected in the standardization and efficiency of operations; the information capabilities of the overseas warehouse, such as the smoothness of each link and the timeliness of data; the service level of the overseas warehouse, including the resolution of daily problems and cooperation according to the needs of sellers.

However, the overseas warehouses on the market are of varying quality, and many sellers have fallen into traps in overseas warehouses, such as no compensation for lost items, overseas warehouses running away, irregular operations, etc. , which have sounded the alarm for sellers.

In order to avoid unnecessary losses, it is particularly important for sellers to choose a reputable overseas warehouse. Among them, Rakuten has been deeply involved in the overseas warehouse industry for more than 20 years and has accumulated rich experience.

Shanghai Lotte Express Co., Ltd. was established in 1997 and mainly focuses on cross-border logistics services in the North American market. Its business scope includes e-commerce parcels, commercial express, cargo transfer, private express and other express needs . It has branch warehouses in Shenzhen, Yiwu, Guangzhou, Toronto, Vancouver in Canada, and New York and New Jersey in the United States.

The New Jersey overseas warehouse in the United States was built in 2013 , covering an area of ​​approximately 32,000 square feet. The distribution range covers the entire continental United States, ensuring same-day delivery, and supporting services such as labeling, warehousing, drop shipping, and customized return packages .

Drop shipping: providing sellers with one-stop service from beginning to end .

Customized return package: After the product is returned, after warehouse inspection, repackaging, relabeling and other services, the returned product can be put back on the shelf for secondary sale and distribution.

After years of development, Rakuten's overseas warehouses have also acquired their own advantages : self-operated warehouses in the United States : flexible warehouse expansion, multi-warehouse layout to improve the efficiency of last-mile delivery; stable efficiency : direct flights every day for the first leg, one express ship per week, unloading of containers on the same day, putting on the shelves the next day, and completing delivery within three working days; high-quality and low-cost terminal channels : the lowest UPS terminal discount account in the United States, you can make an appointment for UPS, USPS, and FedEx to pick up the goods on the same day.

Timely and effective information exchange is also the key to overseas warehouses. Rakuten's overseas warehouses are managed by a Chinese team to help improve communication and operational efficiency. The customized overseas warehouse system can achieve seamless integration of the OMS and WMS systems, update inventory and order status in real time , and provide platform API integration support . For peak seasons prone to problems, Rakuten also has warehouse emergency plans : formulate corresponding peak season emergency plans to avoid warehouse explosions during peak seasons and ensure peak season logistics timeliness.

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