In this digital age, American entrepreneurs are looking to save money on shipping costs and goods transportation through Canada.
The same applies to you: if you were given a formula for running a successful business while trimming shipping costs, you’d most probably go for it, right? By importing into the U.S market through Canadian ports, importers are finding excellent savings. And more gains!
This piece is meant to enlighten you on key benefits that you’ll get by taking advantage of Canadian fulfillment and the best way to go about it.
1. Lower Taxes and Duty with Section 321
Shipping through Canada allows American importers to avoid harbor maintenance and ISF filings costs.
The harbor maintenance fee is usually 0.125% of the cargo value. ISF is often incorporated as a part of customs clearance costs and takes care of lodging in compliance with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for ocean freight.
Duties are usually based on the goods’ country of origin.
In addition, there’s a customs clearance known as Section 321 Clearance for goods entering the U.S. through the Canadian border.
Importers can take advantage of this to avoid duties and enable them to eliminate steep increases in their products’ costs. Smart SMEs are increasingly using Canadian fulfillment to facilitate product shipping to their American customers under Section 321 customs clearance.
Leading Canadian fulfillment companies offering such duty programs have well set up systems to meet their partnering companies’ distribution needs.
Owing to the enormous shipping volumes and great carrier relations, a Fulfillment service company will guarantee you the lowest possible shipping rates and fast delivery times, powered by same-day order processing and similar transit times from their Canadian warehouses to the U.S.
The Section 321 customs Clearance program allows for order fulfillment of U.S. direct to consumer orders from Canada and the abolishment of duties on orders below the $800 customs de minimis.
Further, a fulfillment service will ensure that the products you intend to ship are eligible under Section 321 and take care of all import data and submission requirements. Your service provider will also handle import and inventory transportation to their facility, store, pick, pack your orders, and manage all returns.
2. Cut Down Operating Costs
Market research by IBISWorld’s Public Storage & Warehousing shows that America’s warehousing and storage industry is valued at $22 billion and has over 600,000 employees.
Many people are going this route, with more businesses recognizing the potential cost savings potential from the warehousing and fulfillment industry.
Aside from the tax savings from utilizing Section 321, a Canadian fulfillment service only charges you for what you use. This translates into a flat storage fee for warehoused products. For emphasis, you only pay for the orders that have been packed, picked, and shipped.
This means that although you may come across a seasonal decrease or increase in sales, your base costs won’t be affected.
Your storage costs will only change once your warehoused units change.
3. A Broader Reach
Want to take your business to the next level by going global?
With the right order fulfillment service provider, you can receive and deliver orders from different states in the United States or abroad.
Many companies using Canadian fulfillment have put in place the framework to ship and deliver orders (no matter how small or big) to as many states in the U.S. and around the world. You can take advantage of such a global platform to grow your business into new markets.
4. Better Customer Service
Excellent customer service support is crucial to running a successful business. Order fulfillment providers have structured 24/7 support through phone or email to cater to their eCommerce clients’ customer order returns, refunds and exchanges.
If you are a retailer looking to meet your changing customer expectations, a fulfillment service will help you. Recent data shows that 49% of all shoppers prefer same-day delivery, which is enticing enough for them to buy from a specific retailer online.
About 63% of these consumers are happy with guaranteed or estimated delivery dates, making such businesses gain an 85% advantage over their competition.
You have it. Same-day delivery is the tip of the fulfillment iceberg, but running all delivery services by yourself can result in a logistics nightmare for most retailers. Why not leave it all to an order fulfillment specialist?
5. Top-Notch Order Fulfillment Technology
The best order fulfillment service to work with is one that uses the latest technology to process and ship orders. Such a company’s systems will integrate with those of your eCommerce store and result in a streamlined order fulfillment process with the following services:
- Stock management
- Security
- Inventory tracking
- Shipping and handling
- Carrier selection
- Order delivery and payment processing
Canadian fulfillment will help you keep your duties, warehousing costs, and the average costs of running your eCommerce store minimal by taking advantage of Section 321.
As you leverage well set up systems, you will focus on doing what you do best – growing your business. A fulfillment service will give you space to focus on design, marketing and selling your products.
Reconsider your options today and go the Canadian fulfillment way!