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Category Archives: News & Updates

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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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News & Updates

Posted

March 11, 2021 at 11:12 pm

Shipping News: Current Lockdown Situation in Palestine

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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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News & Updates

Posted

January 6, 2021 at 8:35 am

Announcement: We want to Know Your Opinion

Dear valued customers,

Fulfillmen is always committed to bringing you our quality service. We always find ways on how to better serve you and your business.

However, we also need to know how we are doing to see how we canimprove our services. You can let us know how we are serving you by answering our survey. This will only take around 10 minutes or less. By answering our survey, rest assured that our team will find innovative ways to serve you in the future. Thank you!

Please click this link to take the survey

Fulfillmen Customer Satisfaction

Fulfillmen continuously strives to improve and enhance our customers' business by providing the very highest quality, up-to-date, value added products and services possible. In order to achieve our goal we would highly appreciate your feedback.
Take the Survey Now!
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News & Updates

Posted

December 30, 2020 at 8:59 pm

How Brexit Will Impact Ecommerce In the UK and EU Region

Ecommerce in the UK and EU region will be affected following the Brexit starting this coming year, January 1, 2021. Sellers to and from the UK should expect new regulations, duties, customs and other obligations to meet which resulted from Brexit.

If you are selling to and from the UK (or if you are selling from the UK to EU), you should learn the new rules and prepare for it before they are implemented. Otherwise, you may experience problems such as blocked shipments at customs, possible fines and annoyed customers.

How Brexit Will Affect Your Ecommerce Business

Brexit will directly impact merchants selling from and to the UK by reinstating a customs border between the EU and the GB and by introducing new VAT rules for goods imported into the UK.

If you are selling to and from the UK, Brexit will affect your e-commerce business by re-establishing a customs border between the Great Britain (GB) and the European Union (EU). Brexit will also affect your store by adding new VAT regulations for any goods imported to the UK.

Depending on where you’re from and where you sell to, here’s how Brexit will affect e-commerce stores:

If you are from outside UK selling to UK

  • You’ll need to collect VAT any orders sold to the UK worth below ￡135
  • E-commerce businesses will need to file for VAT to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on a quarterly basis.
  • Any orders worth ￡135 and above are subject to import VAT and other duties.

If you are from UK selling to EU

  • You are not required to collect VAT on any orders delivered from the UK to the EU as long as the EU customer will import the order.
  • Buyers carry the responsibility of paying respective import VAT and duties for their orders.
  • Customs documents will be asked by respective authorities with orders that are being delivered to the EU.

How to Prepare for Brexit E-Commerce

Although the changes being made to regulations within the UK-EU region sounds confusing, getting prepared ahead of the time is key to manage these changes. Here’s what you can do to prepare for Brexit’s effect on e-commerce:

1) Apply for VAT whenever applicable

If you sell to the UK and ship orders below ￡135, you will need to register your store for VAT purposes at the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). However, this rule does not apply to goods delivered from the UK to any parts of the EU except if the goods or products specifically comes from Northern Ireland.

If you are not sure about the new VAT rules, contact a tax professional or authority in your country of sale to give you advice on the matter.

2) Adjust your tax rates

Depending on where you’re from and where you’re selling to, you may need to adjust your tax rates to ensure that you’ll profit after the new VAT regulations. Otherwise, you may find yourself losing money due to the new VAT rule.

3) Prepare for Brexit customs

Apply for a UK and EU EORI number to clear goods: Regardless of      where your business is based if you sell into the UK and/or the EU, you’ll need two Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) numbers: a UK EORI (register for one with HM Revenue and Customs) and an EU EORI. Used on customs declarations, an EORI number uniquely identifies the exporter in customs procedures and documentation.

Regardless of where you’re from – UK, EU or anywhere in the world – if you are selling on UK and/or EU, you’ll need two EORI numbers: EU EORI and UK EORI. These are used on customs declaration for identification and documentation purposes.

Here’s the information needed during customs declaration and compliance:

  • EORI number
  • VAT registration ID
  • Amount of VAT collected on your goods
  • Country of origin, harmonized code, description and the total value of each product in your shipment.

4) Review your shipping options

Shipments between the UK and EU will be subject to customs starting Jan 1, 2021. There are two options available to your business when it comes to dealing with customs fees:

Imports and exports between the EU and UK will be subjected to customs borders by January 1, 2021. Depending on the new customs rules, be sure to update your shipping options based on the location of your delivery.

Here are two options you have when it comes to customs fees:

Delivered Duty Paid (DDP): you are responsible for any import costs and your customer don’t need to pay for any fees regarding the shipment of the product.

Delivered at Place (DAP): You only need to ship the product and the customer has to pay for any import fees.

5) Update your shipping and return/refund policy

Finally, be sure to update your shipping and return/refund policy as you see fit for your business.

Based on the new rules, let your customers know which shipping policy is applicable to them – if it’s DAP or DDP. If it’s DDP, let them know that you are collecting import and customs fees on their behalf.

Also, let them know if the customs fees are refundable or not. While it’s possible to have them refunded, this policy is always not clear.

 

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News & Updates

Posted

December 22, 2020 at 11:07 pm

US E-Commerce Market News: What Will Happen To The US E-Commerce Market After the Blizzard?

Recently, the northeastern region of the United States was struck by a blizzard which caused accidents, power outages, heavy traffic and even some casualties. Needless to say, the blizzard will affect the e-commerce market situation in the US, especially in the northeastern region.

So, if you are selling mainly to the US market, read more to find out how the blizzard will affect the US e-commerce market from the time it happened.

Blizzard and Its Aftermath

In the past few days, a blizzard struck different states in the northeast part of the United States, including New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Due to the blizzard, several northeastern states declared a state of emergency to address the weather disturbance and its aftermath.

In New York, the snow in Central Park, New York exceeded 10 inches according to the National Weather Service. To put into perspective, this is double of the snowfall from last year – which is 4.8 inches only!

In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency to address the issue concerning the blizzard. He even ordered state offices to be closed as the blizzard hit the state. Rail and bus services are also suspended by the New Jersey Department of Transportation due to the weather disturbance as well.

In Pennsylvania, several trucks slipped out of control at Interstate 80. A total of 66 vehicles – 55 commercial vehicles and 11 passenger vehicles – were involved in the said accident. This incident also caused multiple injuries and two casualties – one from the crash and one due to the person’s medical condition while being stuck on traffic.

In short, the blizzard’s effects on the northeastern part of the US is really bad – note that there are other accidents, injuries and casualties caused by the blizzard in the different parts of northeastern US.

Needless to say, businesses are also affected by the blizzard. One apparent effects of the blizzard against businesses is the delay it caused due to accidents which led to heavy traffic.

More Than Just The Blizzard

However, the blizzard and its aftermath are just the tip of the iceberg. If anything, the blizzard only worsen the already problem currently being faced by many Americans today – the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, among others.

Here are some of the factors got worse the situation after the blizzard struck the country:

Pandemic-Related Financial Problems

Because of the lockdowns and restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, many people were laid off from their jobs and businesses – especially small businesses – closed down. This apparently took a toll on many Americans’ wallet.

According to a MagnifyMoney survey, 43% of consumers will have to tap their emergency funds due to the coronavirus pandemic. To those who got laid off due to pandemic-related reasons, that number will even jump to 64%!

As long as businesses can’t get up due to the lockdown restrictions, unemployment may continue to rise. The US government’s solution since the beginning of the pandemic was to offer stimulus checks – but where is it?

Where Are The Stimulus Checks?

The $1,200 stimulus check was expected to be delivered to millions of Americans eligible for it, however, they still hadn’t received the stimulus check. In addition to that, the new rounds of stimulus check for December dropped from $1,200 to $600, making many Americans angry – considering that the first check was already delayed for nine months.

What This Means For Your Business?

Due to the financial and economic problems faced by many Americans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we can expect that they will spend less for pure consumption. Even if they are willing to spend for the holidays, the high demand coming from high volumes of orders plus the recent blizzard that struck the northeastern part of the US meant that deliveries will be slowed down and delays will increase as couriers like FedEx, USPS and UPS are dealing with high volumes of orders.

Right now, many Americans are concerned with winter, especially to those that are struck by the blizzard. For instance, heaters were easily sold out for many stores due to very high demand. Many Americans are also looking for winter-related products to ease the cold. If you can address this demand, it will be good for your business and your customers.

In short, e-commerce business in many parts of the US would be slow and low. Hopefully, in a short period, the American economy will rebound and grow again so everyone is happy – it will be a win-win situation for businesses and their customers!

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By

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News & Updates

Posted

December 4, 2020 at 12:13 am

Announcement

Dear valued customers,

Earlier this year, we waived off our handling fees for all plans at Fulfillmen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We understand that many businesses are suffering from the pandemic, and we like to help you by temporarily removing all handling fees. 

However, we would like you to know that since November this year, our handling fees are back as according to your plan. Thank you for your understanding. 

Sincerely,

 

Fulfillmen Team

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By

in

News & Updates

Posted

November 25, 2020 at 9:23 pm

E-Commerce Black Friday: 6 Tips to Make It a BIG Success

Black Friday presents e-commerce entrepreneurs and businesses an opportunity to make BIG sales and BIG profits for their stores or companies. Just think about this: just last year, in 2019, e-commerce and digital businesses acquired a whopping $7.2 billion in digital sales! On top of that, these all happened in the US alone!

In short, you can make way plenty of profit this coming Black Friday! However, with its opportunities comes responsibilities that your e-commerce store should be able to handle. This includes potentially very large order volumes and dealing with couriers as they are expected to deliver massive amounts of products to customers.

So, you should prepare for the upcoming Black Friday event if you want your e-commerce business to get the maximum profit it can generate! To help you with that, here are 6 fulfillment and e-commerce tips that we can give you to help you make your Black Friday sales a BIG success!

6 E-Commerce Tips to Make Black Friday a BIG Success

1) Adapt and Earn!

Black Friday is certainly not a normal day for e-commerce businesses: expect massive amounts of order volume, potential new customers that will flock on your store and other stuffs that can disrupt – yes, disrupt! – your regular fulfillment system.

In this case, be flexible and adapt to your current market situations. Be willing to change your fulfillment system a little bit if you have to. Maybe it’s paying overtime for your staff, increasing your operational time for your warehouse (as much as high as 24 hours), or laying out a new structure for your team to manage your entire fulfillment and e-commerce system for Black Friday.

Whatever it is, be willing to adapt to meet the potentially high demands from plenty of customers!

Most important of all, you should have your customer service representative team ready for floods of questions and inquiries. Have a plan on how your customer service rep will manage such amounts of potential questions – without losing it down to your customers.

If you want to earn big this Black Friday, be sure you’re willing

2) Prepare Your Bestsellers Before Black Friday

We like to promote bestsellers all the time because, well, they sell best! If we heavily promote bestselling products on any given day, it makes sense if we would promote them too during Black Friday!

As a bestseller, your product will mostly be in high demand, so you should prepare your bestselling product/s before Black Friday!

Be sure that your warehouse and fulfillment team know where your bestselling products are located so that once they are ordered, they can readily shipped it. Better yet, simply put your bestselling products out in the warehouse so everyone can easily see them and deliver them when the order comes!

3) Make checkouts easier for your customers

Complicated checkouts meant lower sales simply because your customer don’t even know how to deal with your checkout process.

If you find that your carts are often abandoned, maybe it has to do with your checkout system – so, to avoid any potential sales loss, ensure that your checkout is simple and easy for your customers.

Also, give as much options for your customers as possible during checkouts. Whenever possible, be flexible with shipping options, payment methods, etc. Sometimes, a customer really wants to buy your product, but because their preferred or only option is not available, they can’t get the purchase – and you lose their sale!

4) Coordinate with your partners

Prior to Black Friday, be sure that you will coordinate with your partners – most especially, couriers – and let them know what to expect ahead this coming Black Friday. By letting them know the potential order volume they have to deliver, they can be prepared in time (or let you know of any limits).

Regardless, you and your courier partners won’t be surprised when Black Friday sales start pouring in.

5) Take time to build relationships with customers

As mentioned above, prepare your customer service rep in engaging plenty of customers – this time, not only for questions, but for follow-ups during delivery. Until the product is delivered, keep in touch with your customers so they know that you won’t leave them alone until they get their product.

6) Be prepared for returns (Boomerang Thursday)

Black Friday may be boom for sales, but be prepared for the bust: Boomerang Thursday. Expect returns from many customers, and prepare your fulfillment warehouse team to process any returns for efficient processing in the warehouse!

Conclusion

Black Friday comes with massive amounts of potential sales. But with potential sales, comes responsibilities that you should do to ensure you get the profits that you can get from Black Friday!

With Fulfillmen, we will take care of the fulfillment and warehouse side of things! We will make sure that your store’s fulfillment side will be prepared for Black Friday – from beginning until the end!

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Alibaba Logo in orange background

By

in

News & Updates

Posted

November 11, 2020 at 9:46 am

11.11 China’s Singles Day: Alibaba 2020 Sales Record

If there is one day to best sell to the online Chinese market, it’s probably on November 11 – dubbed as China’s “Singles Day”! Singles Day is the world’s biggest event for 24/7 online shopping, and Alibaba is getting most of the pie!

According to BBC, this year’s Singles Day will be made up of a whopping 3 million workers and 4,000 ships and planes as they are ready to deliver the goods! But there’s more to that!

Because of the lockdowns and other restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely restricted international (and to some degrees, even local) travel, experts are expecting what is called “revenge spending” from consumers. What does that mean? Revenge spending means, because the consumers weren’t able to travel and go to vacations, they may choose to spend their money instead on purchasing goods, even luxury ones!

 

An Opportunity to Take

In other words, selling on Singles Day will really be profitable for online entrepreneurs and sellers! This is especially great because in the past months, e-commerce was hit by the pandemic. Now is the chance to recover from losses from these past months!

Alibaba 2020 Sales Record

laptop on a glass table

In fact, even before Singles Day, you could already make a big profit – case in point: Alibaba’s 2020 sales record!

According to China Daily, Alibaba’s Tmall Singles Day had already hit a whopping 372.3 billion yuan ($56.28 billion) in just 10 days starting from November 1!

Maybe, we can expect more today at Singles Day! So, go take advantage of the opportunity, too, and earn as many profits as possible! China’s e-commerce and fulfillment is certainly blooming, and let’s hope this trend will continue upward!

 

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eCommerce Order Fulfillment, News & Updates, Tips & Tricks

Posted

October 15, 2020 at 3:42 pm

Tips and Right Practices on How to Move Your Shipments From China to India During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Delivery man carrying a box

Are you an eCommerce business owner from India looking to ship your products from China to your home country? Or are you an international business looking to expand your market to India? If you are one of these, and if your main concern is how to move your products from China to India, then this article is for you!

 

As a business owner, shipping your products from one country to another is certainly no easy task even though it sounds simple. This is especially true if you are just new in the business.

 

Specifically, shipping products from China to India is not easy. Here are two main reasons for that:

 

  1. We are currently facing a pandemic that slows down international travel, including shipments and commercial deliveries.
  2. The political tension between China and India.

 

Aside from these two main reasons, there are other hassles which are just part of any ordinary shipping processes: customs fees, possible delays, fluctuating delivery fees which can hurt your finances, long transit times (especially worsened because of COVID-19), and the hassle of paperwork and documents.

 

So, what are the best ways to ship your products from China to India despite the current situation? Here are some of the tips we have to help you ship your products accordingly – with less hassle on your part!

Tips and Right Practices on How to Move Your Shipments From China to India:

Delivery man checking the package
Checking order quantity

Tip #1: Check your order quantity before purchasing your products from a direct Chinese vendor

 

 

As much as possible, try to forecast or predict your order volume and check the current local wholesale market rate. In this way, you will know the potential cost before you proceed with the shipment. This will help you see how much you will need and not be surprised by any additional or unexpected costs (or if there are unexpected costs, you are likely to be prepared for it).

 

You may want to check out for good deals, too. Although this is not always the case, you may find a less expensive cost than your calculated cost for the exact same shipment.

 

 

Man packing the package
Preparing for Shipping

Tip #2: Ship your products as commercial shipments

 

Ship your products under your IOR in a commercial mode so that you can use your IEC and GST for clearance. Aside from that, there are two more advantages when shipping your products as commercial shipments:

 

 a. Clearance will be easier because you can use your KYC for clearance purposes.

 

 b. You will pay your CBD pay duty based on the CTH code only.

 

Finally, once your shipments are cleared, you can move your products from your local facility. From there, you can use local courier services for last-mile delivery.

 

 

 

More Tips When Importing Products from China to India

When importing products from China to India, consider these tips too:

 

 a. Don’t put too many items in the same AWB. If you do, the customs may block your shipment.

 

 b. Send payments only through an approved bank or payment getaway. In this way, you’ll have a BRC or proof for accounting purposes.

 

 c. Import products under your IEC. Many cargo agents do malpractices like consolidating shipments together. Don’t do this as this can cause you the trouble along the way.

 

 d. Truthfully declare your goods. Truthfully declare your shipment’s quantity, value, specific items, and other information asked from you. Never lie or miss any information as it can get you into trouble.

 

 e. Don’t import sensitive items right away. If you’re just starting out, it’s best to stay away from products like liquids, pure battery products, etc. These are sensitive items, and they may add hassle on your part if you try to import them. In addition, these products need extra documents such as BIS for custom clearance as required by the customs. Try to avoid targeting these items if you are just starting out.

Do Not Import Using the B2C Model

 

Last tip for this article: do not to import using the B2C or “business-to-customer” model. Although this sounds simple than importing as a commercial shipment, this is actually more confusing and complex compared to commercial shipments. You will be asked for a lot of documents such as passport, Adhar card, etc. – and add the fact that most consignees might even refuse to give these for security or privacy reasons.

Conclusion

Importing products from China to India can be hard especially because of the pandemic and the problems between the two countries. However, there are things you can do to lessen the hassle and potentially avoid any unnecessary problems.

 

Although this article is written to address the pandemic, this is very much applicable even on regular times. Best of all, these tips and practices are applicable for any entrepreneur as long as you intend to ship products from China to India!

 

If you need more help, Fulfillmen can help you with your shipping and importing needs. We specialize in shipping products from China to India! If you have any questions, you can contact our customer service representative who will gladly assist you with your inquiries.

Indian Shipping Channel

Planning to ship from China to India? Check out FULFILLMEN'S latest logistics services that mainly focuses on shipping from China to India via express shipping.
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