The Logistics of Logistics Reducing Cost and Improving Transit Time for eCommerce Shipments from China with Brian Miller
Brian Miller and Joe Lynch discuss eCommerce shipments from China, which can be challenging for small to mid-size eCommerce companies. Brian and his company, Easy China Warehouse have a unique approach that can reduce the cost and transit time for shipping from China to the USA.
About Brian MillerBrian Miller is the founder and CEO of Easy China Warehouse (ECW) based in Shenzhen, China. Prior to founding ECW, Brian co-founded a blue tooth speaker eCommerce company so he understands the unique challenges faced by eCommerce companies shipping from China. Earlier in his career, Brian held leadership positions with Chinese manufacturing companies. Brian earned a BS in Business Administration from The University of Connecticut. Brian speaks fluent Mandarin and lives in Shenzhen.
About Easy China WarehouseEasy China Warehouse, based in Shenzhen, specializes in warehouse and transportation solutions for eCommerce and Amazon FBA sellers. With its proximity to Hong Kong, Easy China Warehouse (ECW) can provide customers with the fastest and most economical shipping lanes in the world. ECW ships to all Amazon FBA warehouses globally and can drop ship from its Chinese warehouse directly to customers anywhere in the world. In addition, they provide value-added services such as product kitting, bundling, simple assembly, and package, and insert manufacturing. ECW provides the most flexible and cost-effective global fulfillment solution for eCommerce sellers manufacturing in China.
Key Takeaways – Reducing Cost and Improving Transit Time for eCommerce Shipments from ChinaTypical Problems for eCommerce Shipments from China (particularly LCL)
- For many eCommerce companies, their product is manufactured in China and then shipped to the USA.
- Smaller eCommerce companies, especially start-ups, do not always have enough product (sales) to fill a shipping container so they are forced to use Less Than Container Load (LCL) services.
- Less Than Container Load (LCL) is a shipment that will not fill a container. With an LCL shipment, you pay for your load to be shipped in a container with one or more loads from other customers of the freight transport provider.
- While LCL is a good option for many, it is more expensive than buying a full container and the consolidation and coordination often increases the transit time.
Reducing Cost and Improving Transit Time for eCommerce Shipments from China
- On the podcast, Brian Miller explained another approach to ocean shipping for eCommerce companies that typically would use LCL. Brian's company, Easy China Warehouse, and other companies like his use this approach.
- Rather than ship your product to a freight forwarder in China for LCL consolidation and eventually shipping to the USA, the product is shipped to a China warehouse that labels the product with shipping instructions (UPS, FedEx) and consolidates it with other companies product. While it is similar to the LCL consolidation, the process is faster and saves days or even a week in transit time.
- Since the product is labeled in China, the breakdown and shipping coordination in the USA is greatly reduced saving more time and money.
- Since Brian's company, Easy China Warehouse specializes in eCommerce shipments, they understand the unique challenges faced by eCommerce companies.
Related Topics:
5 Biggest Mistakes Sellers Make When Using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) with Ephraim Ausch
Selecting an E-commerce Fulfillment Partner with AJ Khanijow
The Logistics of Logistics Podcast