Congestion at US ports spreads northward, and sellers complain about slow payment returns!

The United States, which just experienced a snowstorm two weeks ago, is still in a state of logistics delays. Ships waiting to berth outside the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach continue to spread to the northern ports, and ships at the Port of Oakland also began to queue up in long queues.

Sellers are waiting for restocking while they are racking their brains over the slow payment process, because the money is tied up in the goods and it is difficult for them to get their funds back ...

Sellers complain: Logistics is slow! Payments are even slower

To the outside world, cross-border e-commerce, especially Amazon, is a "guaranteed profit" business with high profits, high salaries, and high commissions. Outsiders are eager to join the game and work on Amazon alone.

Little did they know that under the influence of the epidemic, while cross-border e-commerce is developing rapidly, it is also facing "small" blows such as slow logistics and slow payment . The survival status of small sellers is being "hit again and again"...

One seller said, " Due to out-of-stock, sales have dropped by more than half. In February, we sent the goods to five freight forwarders, but none of them delivered on time. The payment cycle is 2-3 months, which can break the capital chain at any minute. The express delivery used to be cheap and on time, but now it is no longer the case. The newcomers who entered the industry last year and this year have missed the opportunity to make huge profits. "

Many sellers share the same feelings about the slow payment due to slow logistics ↓↓

"Amazon is putting too much pressure on funds. Logistics is still slow this year, logistics is not strong, and turnover is even slower. "

" The latest situation is that for every 100,000 yuan in payment , we have to order an additional 200,000 to 300,000 yuan of goods. "

“Amazon’s money really all goes into the goods…”

"It's hard to make money if the cost-profit ratio is 1:1. You can only make money if the ratio is 1:2 or 1:3 or even higher."

Previously, the editor had asked a domestic e-commerce seller that his products were basically sold on Tmall, but a very small amount of goods were sold on Amazon. One of the main reasons was that the turnover cycle was too slow.

For example, it takes three months from production to payment on domestic e-commerce platforms , but six months on Amazon. In addition, logistics are slow, and the capital turnover period is even slower. The payment is nowhere in sight, and the investment cost is even higher.

Therefore, what sellers are most looking forward to now is that the goods can arrive at the warehouse quickly, be put on the shelves quickly, and be delivered to customers quickly.

Southern California congestion spreading to northern ports

A few days ago, severe congestion in Southern California, the United States, dealt a heavy blow to sellers who had just started work. Now there is a new development in the state's congestion: congestion is spreading to northern ports.

Foreign media reported that the congestion caused by the COVID-19 crisis has affected Southern California ports and has now spread to the north and east, causing the import and export volumes of the Port of Oakland to drop by more than 11%.

The Port of Oakland reported a drop in cargo volumes in January due to widespread congestion in the supply chain .

The Port of Oakland reported a drop in cargo volumes in January due to widespread congestion in the supply chain .

As a result, imports last month were 11.9% lower than in January 2020. Exports fell 11.3%.

Factors contributing to the decline included late arrivals of ships from Southern California, where as many as 60 vessels were waiting for berthing space , and a temporary loss of berthing capacity at Oakland's largest offshore terminal, which was assembling new ships.

The port called the drop in freight an anomaly at a time when U.S. importers face growing consumer demand. It expects container volumes to increase in the coming months because of crowded ships.

“A lot of cargo is stuck on ships after it leaves Southern California, waiting to get here,” said Brian Brandes, director of the Oakland Seaport. “Our concern is getting it to our customers as quickly as possible.”

U.S. container imports from Asia are expected to remain strong through at least June, putting pressure on the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where ships connect before arriving in Oakland.

Traffic jams in Southern California have delayed ships in Oakland for up to a week, so ships are arriving at the port hours late and sometimes miss their docking times.

Abandoned Amazon package reappears on the roadside

According to foreign media reports, a New York man found about 20 Amazon packages on the roadside . He wrote on social media that the man initially handed the packages to the police, who asked him to contact Amazon , but Amazon told him to keep the packages . The man was shocked : excuse?! How can Amazon do this? ?

One of the recipients told CNN that Amazon replaced her order , and she became concerned about her privacy when she learned that Amazon had a stranger deliver the package to her, and strangely , the buyer 's package was marked as "delivered."

Sellers expressed their opinions on Amazon's seller forums , with some believing that the packages were deliberately abandoned by Amazon delivery drivers , while some said that Amazon was not overly concerned about the packages because they believed that the ultimate cost would be borne by third-party sellers.

One seller was distressed. “The problem we have to solve is that many packages are sent by third-party sellers. Once the customer says they did not receive it, the third-party seller will have to bear the product cost and shipping fee. ”

Amazon Japan sales exceed 2 trillion yen for the first time

When talking about Amazon, many people first think of the European and American markets. However, as these two markets become increasingly saturated, many sellers are fighting in the European and American markets while looking for a new potential market. Especially after experiencing the various riots and logistics congestion in Europe and the United States last year, sellers have a stronger desire to do so.

For Chinese sellers, the Japanese site is a good choice. If you do it well, you can make money right at home.

The potential of Japan's e-commerce market should not be underestimated.

Relevant data show that Japan's e-commerce scale ranked fourth in the world in terms of global e-commerce sales share in 2019. Another data shows that by 2022, the value of Japan's e-commerce market is expected to exceed US$113 billion. In addition, from the growth trend, the scale of Japan's e-commerce is also growing year by year, and the degree of e-commerce relative to traditional retail is also increasing year by year.

Among the many e-commerce platforms in Japan, Amazon Japan is a very high-quality e-commerce site, ranking second among Japanese online retailers after Rakuten Ichiba.

According to Japanese media reports on the 27th, the annual report "Form -10" submitted by Amazon to the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) recently showed that Amazon's sales in Japan in 2020 increased by 27.8% over the previous year to a new high of US$20.461 billion (2171.46 billion yen), breaking 2 trillion yen for the first time.

Data shows that Amazon Japan 's sales in 2019 were US$16.02 billion and US$13.829 billion in 2018.

In 2020, Amazon 's annual sales in Germany were US$29.565 billion (an increase of 32.9% over the previous year), and in the UK were US$26.483 billion (an increase of 51.1% over the previous year).

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