How Startups Save on Import Costs by Using a Canadian Fulfillment Center

The last decade has seen Canadian fulfilment centers achieve more prominence in the import industry. Different factors have contributed to this upward trend – one of which has been the rise of online sales platforms like Amazon. 

Small-to-medium-sized ecommerce businesses all hope to gain a share of the market on a global stage. In other words, this business growth, especially in the online space, has led owners to look for ways to increase their earnings by branching out to meet the demand of customers both near and far while obtaining their supplies at the lowest possible cost. 

This is where the need for partnering with a Canadian fulfillment center comes into play. By working with a Canadian fulfillment center, business owners can look forward to saving on expensive import tariffs while growing their customer base – all without investing a ton of revenue.  

How a Canadian Fulfillment Center Saves Money

Business owners have looked to Canadian fulfillment centers to carry out their import strategy to enable them to source their products at a less expensive price without cutting corners in customer satisfaction. But how does this work? 

Basically, the company itself obtains its goods from China or some other location that charges less than a domestic vendor. In turn, the Canadian fulfillment center assists in carrying out the import logistics by applying Section 321, which helps the business owners to circumvent costly tariffs on their orders. This keeps the small and medium-sized businesses from having to raise prices which would adversely affect their profits. 

More specifically, the Canadian fulfillment center maintains compliance with these regulations by identifying which goods can be shipped duty-free. This is especially important because both the logistics expert and the business owner are better able to project costs early on and therefore, plan a strategy for importing and then getting the items shipped to customers. Plus, the logistics expert divides up the shipments to where each one doesn’t surpass the $800 value. Also, the expert schedules the arrival of the shipments to where they don’t fall on the same day, which is another condition that’s outlined by Section 321. 

Additional Benefits Includes Savings on Warehouse Costs  

Furthermore, the business that works with a Canadian fulfillment center gains additional savings from not having to rent warehouses or hire additional employees to handle the sorting, packaging, and shipping. The fulfillment centers carry out these procedures and handle the cost by storing the imported supplies upon their arrival and preparing your products for shipment directly to the customer. This is a key benefit for fulfillment clients who are located far away from the centers that receive their products or who want to save revenue that would otherwise go toward warehouse-related expenses. 

How Customers Benefit from a Canadian Fulfillment Center

Additionally, an ecommerce business can count on providing the best experience for its customers with the enhanced efficiency that comes with partnering with a Canadian fulfillment center – the reason being that the warehouse team takes care of the unpacking and sorting of products. From there, they dispatch shipments to various repositories who then get the goods to the customers. The client then doesn’t have to worry about delayed deliveries or expensive shipping costs. Because the logistics managers at the fulfillment center can electronically submit de minimis entries through the Automated Broker Interface. This cuts down on time which often translates into lower costs compared to the previous processes that involved extensive hard-copy paperwork. These savings might appear to be a small amount on the surface, but they do make a difference. 

Another benefit is for business owners that might wish to expand into a broader market. This often involves customizing products, which is another strategy that could potentially increase business. You might expect additional expenses related to these measures. However, with the guidance from Canadian fulfillment centers, this initiative can take place without the company having to pay for extra research into the customer base. Company reps can give valuable information to companies about how their business can access new markets. This presents a win for everyone involved. The business still doesn’t have to raise prices, and customers can benefit from the savings.

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