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News & Updates

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April 27, 2021 at 10:32 pm

Shipping News: Turkey to Enforce Nationwide Lockdown from April 29 to May 17

Due to increasing COVID-19 cases in Turkey, the Turkish government decided to put the nation into a nationwide lockdown. The said lockdown will run from April 29 to May 17.

During this lockdown period, the Turkish government will allow for special delivery services, which means that our shipping arrangement is still normal. However, due to the lockdown, please expect that deliveries could be delayed.

Also, due to the lockdown, please expect delays in clearance services as the Turkish Customs will set new operating hours with regards to the lockdown. However, the Customs will still provide clearance services as usual.

While delays are to be expected in clearances and deliveries due to the new lockdown measures, we will do our very best to ensure that we still maintain our quality service.

We will let you know of any updates as soon as we have them. If you have any questions, please let us know.

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News & Updates

Posted

April 24, 2021 at 10:34 pm

Holiday News: Fulfillmen is Temporary Closed In Observance of The 2021 Labor Day

In observance of this year’s Labor Day, Fulfillmen is temporarily close its operations. We will be closed for 3 days, starting from May 1 to May 3. Normal company operation will resume on May 4.

If you have any concerns about the holiday such as shipping or logistics concern, please let us know right away so we can find a way to work around it.

Thanks and have a safe holiday!

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News & Updates

Posted

April 9, 2021 at 9:13 pm

Express Update – Current Situation for Shipments in Mauritius (MRU)

Due to the COVID-19 activity in Mauritius, Mauritian authorities had decided to extend the nation-wide lockdown until April 30, 2021.

Under this lockdown directive, all non-essential businesses are to remain closed. Essential businesses such as supermarkets are still operational but they operate under strict sanitary measures.

Because of the lockdown extension, please expect delays in clearance processes, pickup and delays.

The Mauritian authorities could extend, ease or amend any part or the entire lockdown restriction with little or no prior notice depending on the COVID-19 activity on the succeeding weeks.

Should you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

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eCommerce Order Fulfillment

Posted

April 9, 2021 at 9:02 pm

Pros and Cons of Cash-on-Delivery (COD) For E-Commerce Entrepreneurs

Cash-on-Delivery (COD) is one of the most popular payment method in e-commerce, and for good reasons. Because of this, many e-commerce stores choose to add COD to their payment option.

However, COD is not all breeze, and just like other payment options, it has its own pros and cons. Before you consider implementing COD to your store, consider its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of COD Payment Option

The obvious benefit of COD payment option is that, more customers are likely to buy your store. Here are two reasons for that.

First, your customers will be willing to buy from you knowing that in case things went bad, his or her money will not be lost. With online transactions, there’s that anxiety on the part of your customers that their money could be potentially lost to shipping problems or fraudulent e-commerce stores – but that certainly and apparently won’t happen with COD system because their money is theirs until they received the product.

Second, COD is simply simple compared to online transactions. There’s no need for credit or debit card payment, and there’s no need for online banking payment. As long as the customer has the cash ready, he/she can buy at your store with ease.

If COD encourages your customers to buy more, this meant that you can earn more sales than if you don’t have COD as one of your store’s payment options.

Disadvantages of COD Payment Option

But just as COD is a great payment option that can lead you to more sales, it has its own risks that needs to be considered.

One of the risks entrepreneurs may face is the risk of fraudulent customers. Just as there are fraudulent e-commerce stores, there are also fraudulent customers who tries to outsmart the seller or just probably trolling them – yes, they are just annoying people!

Tip: You can avoid or reduce your risk against fraudulent customers by placing restrictions before they can avail your COD option. For instance, you may opt to withhold COD option to new customers until they become regular or “establish their reputation” in your database. Or, you can simply take some risks and block any fraudulent customers the moment you see them – after all, most of your would-be customers are really legitimate who just want to buy stuffs online.

Another risk you will face with COD is the revenue loss incurred for every product return. Since returned products are not paid, you will have to carry the cost of its shipping.

Tip: The best way to minimize product returns is to simply ensure quality. While it will not totally remove your risk of product returns, ensuring product quality through quality checks will minimize your risk of product returns.

Speaking of shipping cost, many couriers charge extra payments for COD options. Since it is hard to shift that extra cost to the customer, most of the time, the burden of the charge is carried by the seller.

Tip: You can charge a little bit on the delivery fee if your customers opt for COD option. But don’t just too much as some customers are savvy and will take notice if you charged way more than the average shipping cost. And it’s simply bad!

Final Thoughts: Should You Add COD?

COD is a great payment option which works great for both the customer and the seller. That being said, you should take note of the risks and disadvantages of COD. Luckily, there are things you can do to minimize your risk and maximize the benefits of COD. Besides, as mentioned above, most of our customers are real who simply want or need to shop things online; they’re not there to destroy your business and life!

Oh, if you’re interested in offering COD, Fulfillmen can help you with that! As long as you sell to key countries, Fulfillmen works with various local couriers which allows their customers to be able to offer COD to these countries. To learn more about Fulfillmen’s COD services, click here.

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eCommerce Order Fulfillment

Posted

March 30, 2021 at 10:43 pm

5 Steps on How to Scale Your Business Overseas

Scaling your business overseas is an exciting journey. Once you had grown your business successfully in your local market, scaling it up to overseas market is a sensible next step! However, while scaling your business overseas sounds exciting (and it is exciting), it is not without challenges and obstacles. Before you scale your business to the international market, there are steps you should take to ensure that you will properly scale your business up.

In this article, we have identified the 5 steps that you need to do to scale your business overseas. Let’s get started!

1) Explore your target market

Scaling your business overseas is really a lot like when you are starting up your first business: the first thing you need to do is to explore your target market. Take the time to do market research and understand your market well. Analyze their market trends, demands and competitors. Also, since you already have a business, consider looking into your business model if it will fit into your new market or if you should do some adjustments.

Finally, take the time to assess the scale up’s feasibility – if whether your business is right for that market or you should look for another one. Once you have explored the market and you decide that that market is right for you, it’s time to go and check your finances.

2) Study your finances and get to know financial management

Before scaling up, study your finances and create a buffer around it in case that the scaled up failed.

If you are planning to scale up overseas, it is good to assume that your business is very profitable at this point. However, once you scaled up, your financials will be stretched to your new business. Therefore, ask yourself if your current profitability can sustain the new business. In the event that the new venture failed, consider how are you going to work around that with your finances.

Also, if you haven’t learned financial management yet, consider taking the time to learn even just its basics. Learning the basics of financial management is important because it allows you to see the clear picture of your business’ financial status. You could also consider hiring an accountant that specializes in international finance and markets to help you oversee your finances once you scaled up your business overseas.

3) “Localize” your marketing

What does “localize your marketing” mean? It means that you should study your new market based on their locality or nationality and, from there, you will plan your marketing campaign accordingly. Study its culture, language (which will be very useful when translating your slogan into your language) and their overall local market. Once you study their local market, Once you learned about their market, layout your marketing campaign in such a way that it connects to them rather than it connects to your local market.

Here is a good example: search engines. Not all countries actually use Google as their top search engine. So, when you plan to expand your business to a new country, consider learning which search engine is the most used in that country. Once you learned what it is, focus on working on your SEO marketing for that search engine.

4) Build personal connections to your foreign partners

Fourth, take the time to build personal connections and even visit the country you plan to expand to. While this may sound time- and money-consuming, visiting your target country and meeting your foreign partners in person will actually give you a bigger picture of the country’s culture and marketing landscape. Also, you can use this as an opportunity for social media growth: take pictures of you and the places you visited in that country. That way, you can show that your business does care about your future foreign customers.

Of course, networking is very important in business. If you are to expand your business to a new country, it’s best that you take time in building personal connections to your potential partners and associate. While you can do this online, we suggest that you actually go visit that country. Not only did you meet your foreign partners, but you also get to have a sense of the country that you are planning to expand into.

5) Scale up!

Finally, scale your business up once your new, international business is already running. But here’s the point: you don’t have to grow it all at once. Just like how you grew your first business – slow but steady – that’s also how you are going to grow your new business.

As you operate on your new business, let it be immersed in its new market. Eventually, it will shape itself to meet the specific demands of the market you chose!

 

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eCommerce Order Fulfillment

Posted

March 22, 2021 at 9:14 pm

Crowdfunding: How Fulfillmen Can Help You With Your Crowdfunding Campaign

Crowdfunding is certainly not an easy or simple task. You have to work on from designing the product to manufacturing it and, of course, raising the funds needed to have your product get started. But once all these steps are completed, you are faced with the final task: shipping the products to your customers and backers. This is where fulfillment services enter.

What is Fulfillment?

Before that, let us talk about what fulfillment really means in e-commerce.

Basically, fulfillment are services that essentially covers everything you need to ship your products to your customers – from warehousing to shipping and, finally, last-mile delivery. Fulfillment services also covers the in-between of these processes such as customs clearance, real-time tracking and even integration of the fulfillment services to major e-commerce platforms.

Needless to say, each of these processes is not simple. Therefore, working with a fulfillment center will be of great help to your business!

How Can Fulfillment Services Help Crowdfunding Campaigns?

Now, you have a basic understanding of what fulfillment is. By this point, it’s quite easier now to see how fulfillment can play a role in crowdfunding campaigns.

While crowdfunding campaign’s model is different from regular e-commerce model, fulfillment services can still play a role in crowdfunding campaigns by helping the campaign ship its products to its customers and backers.

In crowdfunding campaigns, this is basically how fulfillment works: once you have designed your product and raised enough funds to produce your products and create an inventory for them, you can ship your product to your fulfillment center. From there, your fulfillment center will take care of the shipping – from customs clearance and real-time tracking to last-mile delivery and even product returns if the situation calls for it. Now, let us break that one by one.

1) Warehousing

The first thing you must before you ship your products is to have a warehouse to temporarily keep them. This is why warehousing is an essential basic part of a fulfillment service.

Once you delivered your products to your fulfillment center, they will take care of them – from regular sanitation to proper inspection – until orders have been received. Once the orders were received, they will dispatch your products to the shipping lines.

Now, while warehousing seemed to be a basic process, it is still crucial: mistakes such as dispatching your product to the wrong shipping line or even a lack of care for the products in the warehouse would hurt your business. Therefore, make sure that you are working with a fulfillment center that has proper work ethic when it comes to warehousing and, of course, for the overall service.

2) Documentation

Documentation is the part where many e-commerce entrepreneurs have a hard time dealing with – and with very understandable reasons. The need of processing different paperworks is in itself already confusing. Then, there’s the different charges and fees that you need to settle down so that you can ship your products to another country.

A good fulfillment center will not only help you process the necessary documents, but they will also help you lessen your charges and fees whenever and wherever it is possible.

3) Shipping options

Fulfillment centers are usually partnered with different shipping lines. Hence, you’ll have some options on which lines to ship your product with. Keep in mind that different shipping lines and couriers have their specific features, so be sure to choose the shipping line and courier that will work best for your crowdfunding campaign.

4) Tracking

Of course, shipping will not go without tracking. Needless to say, it is very important that you track your packages in real-time. A good fulfillment center will allow you to track your products right from the warehouse (so you can see how your products are doing while they are stored) all the way down to last-mile delivery.

5) Integration

Finally, a good fulfillment center understands that many of their customers work with major platforms. For instance, in e-commerce, many entrepreneurs work with platforms such as Shopify and WooCommerce. But how about for crowdfunding campaigns?

Mostly, fulfillment centers that offer crowdfunding fulfillment would integrate with platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo because most of their customers are simply using them. And if you’re wondering, Fulfillmen does integrate with Kickstarter and Indiegogo!

Let Fulfillmen Help You With Your Crowdfunding Campaign!

Here at Fulfillmen, we are dedicated to help our customers grow their businesses – be it a regular e-commerce business or a crowdfunding campaign.

If you have any questions regarding crowdfunding fulfillment, we would love to hear your questions and inquiries. To do so, you may contact us by clicking here

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News & Updates

Posted

March 19, 2021 at 11:41 pm

Shipping News: Jordan to Implement New Measures on Low-Value and Non-Document Shipments

The Jordanian Customs Authority had declared new measures and updates regarding “low value, non-document” shipment products. Specifically, all low-value – that is, products with a value of less than or equal to 200 JOD – and non-document shipments shipped to Jordan are subject to the following new terms:

  • Customs fee (amended): 10% of shipment’s value with a minimum cap of 5 JOD.
  • In the event the consignee refused to pay, shipped should handle the charges.

However, there are a few exceptions to this new measures. The following products and specifications are exempted from the new measure:

  • Commercial quantities
  • Alcohol
  • Cigarettes

Aside from these new measures, the Jordanian Customs Authority circulated last March 3 a memorandum stating that Consignee ID number is currently not required. In other words, shipments can be moved into Jordan without the need to present consignee ID number.

Important reminder: Be sure to properly declare your goods and avoid shipping prohibited items. In the event you did not properly declare your goods or shipped prohibited items to the country, penalty charges will be billed to the shipper.

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News & Updates

Posted

March 11, 2021 at 11:12 pm

Shipping News: Current Lockdown Situation in Palestine

As the country faces new surge of coronavirus cases, the Palestinian government had decided to impose new total lockdown restrictions in several governorates in the West Bank.

The lockdown is expected to last until March 13. However, there is a possibility that the lockdown would be renewed if the coronavirus situation do not ease down after the imposed lockdown has been made.

According to Worldometer, Palestine ranks the 63rd country in terms of coronavirus cases. Currently, Palestine have a total cases of 203,699 with an active case of 20,006.

If you are shipping to Palestine, please expect and delays in pick up, delivery and clearance services. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us and we will help you in the matter!

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eCommerce Order Fulfillment

Posted

March 11, 2021 at 4:25 pm

Go Global: 6 Practical Tips for Cross-Border Shipping

The Internet does not only give us opportunity to make money or even start our very own business from the comfort of our homes, but it also gives us the opportunity to touch virtually every market in the world – that is, the entire world itself!

As an e-commerce entrepreneur, you have the choice to sell locally or to sell internationally – be it selling to selected foreign countries or to virtually every country in the world.

If you are planning to sell internationally, you have probably consider cross-border shipping. But what exactly is cross-border shipping?

What is Cross-Border Shipping?

Cross-border shipping is simply the process of delivering your products to your customers from another country without the need to store or establish inventory or warehouses on that particular destination country. From your warehouse and your country’s customs, the products will go through the destination country’s custom, then to the courier for last-mile delivery, and finally, to your customer.

The beauty of cross-border shipping is that, you only ship products once the sale was made. Since you don’t need to stock up inventory on the destination country (the “local distribution model”), you don’t need to carefully calculate the demand of your product on that country and, hence, virtually remove yourself the risk of stock-outs and oversupply (at least, regarding the inventory you would otherwise build for the destination country).

Essentially, cross-border shipping model is followed by many e-commerce stores because it is relatively more convenient compared to local distribution model, where you need to store inventory on your destination country.

If you are planning to sell globally, here are some of our tips when doing cross border shipping.

6 Practical Tips for Cross-Border Shipping

1) Partner with a reputable fulfillment center

Working with a fulfillment center is very important for global e-commerce because they’re the ones who will settle for your business’ shipping, warehousing and logistics needs. Therefore, finding a good fulfillment center is very crucial for your success!

Here at Fulfillmen, we our dedicated to help our clients grow their businesses. If you need a fulfillment center, we can help you in that matter! Get a free consultation. 

2) Consider customs, taxes and duties

Customs, taxes and duties are always there, so always be prepared for it and make sure to properly calculate its costs to ensure that you’ll gain a profit and not take a loss.

Fulfillmen can assist you with tax and duties. Learn more here.

3) Work with reputable shipping and local couriers

Shipping is the lifeblood of global eCommerce. Buyers expect their goods to arrive on time and at affordable shipping rates. You need to work with reliable and well-connected couriers that can help you achieve exactly that.

After fulfillment companies, shipping and local couriers are your next crucial partner in your business. Customers expect their products to arrive safely and on time, so working with reputable and reliable shipping and local couriers is very important to avoid delays and deliver your products safely to your customers.

Here at Fulfillmen, you can choose your shipping lines to maximize your shipping efforts and avoid potential delays and other shipping problems. Learn more here.

4) Double-check on your recipient’s address

The last thing you’ll want is to have everything in line but at the end of it, your shipping has failed simply because the address is incorrect or inaccurate. Double-check your recipient’s address and confirm if the address is correct or not.

5) Check for prohibited/restricted goods

In every country, there are list of prohibited or restricted goods, so be sure to know them and see if your product is allowed or not on that country.

Sure, products like illegal products are clearly prohibited, but do you know that products like meat and plants could be prohibited in certain countries too? So, check for the destination country’s prohibited and restricted goods because even “innocent” products could be prohibited in your destination country.

6) Cover your product’s insurance

Although we’d always like to think that our products will be successfully shipped to our customers, the reality is, there are possible losses in every shipment you do. So, to avoid or lessen your losses, have the proper insurance to secure your products and shipment in case something happens.

Go Global with Fulfillmen!

Fulfillmen is dedicated to helping e-commerce entrepreneurs grow big and go global in their businesses! If you need a fulfillment center you can help you grow your business, Fulfillmen is here to help you!

If you want to know more, contact us and get a free consultation (link). Our dedicated team will help you in your inquiries!

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News & Updates

Posted

January 26, 2021 at 11:24 pm

Announcement: Pre-booking for Chinese New Year 2021 (Limited Slots Only!)

Shipping during Chinese New Year is very different compared to shipping during regular business days. During this holiday, expect delays and other fulfillment and logistics disruptions ahead.

To reduce your risk to these disruptions, consider pre-booking for our special Chinese New Year offer.

When you pre-booked for our CNY offer, we will give you special priority so that your shipping and fulfillment processes would go as smoothly as possible during the Chinese New Year.

But hurry, this special offer is open for only limited slots! To avail, let your dedicated Account Manager know and he/she will guide you through the process!

To pre-book for Chinese New Year special offer, click here:

Fulfillmen Chinese New Year Pre-booking Form​

Holiday shipping is very different compared to regular business days. During holiday seasons, the shipment quantity is super big and most of them will have a tight deadline. There’s a big chance that it may impact your business. Fulfillmen is here to help you.
Book Us Now

To know more about the pre-booking, click here

Have a happy and prosperous Lunar New Year!

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