Online Worldwide repacking/Distribution Solution Ideas

dalyboy

I have an online business that is operational in UK and Ireland. I would like to expand to US , Canada and Europe but dont trust AN post or Royal Mail to safely deliver customers products to my intended countries to expand to. Can anyone advise me does a service exist that would handle my consignments when they arrive in large container and post the sold products within the container to my customers directly within these countries thus making it quicker/cheaper/and safer regarding the customers product arrival. I dont know if such a service exists or what it would be called. I would appreciate any imput from anyone experienced in this field and sorry if my question seems vague. Any help would hugely appreciated.
Thanks

glic71rods46t0

dalyboy wrote: »

I have an online business that is operational in UK and Ireland. I would like to expand to US , Canada and Europe but dont trust AN post or Royal Mail to safely deliver customers products to my intended countries to expand to. Can anyone advise me does a service exist that would handle my consignments when they arrive in large container and post the sold products within the container to my customers directly within these countries thus making it quicker/cheaper/and safer regarding the customers product arrival. I dont know if such a service exists or what it would be called. I would appreciate any imput from anyone experienced in this field and sorry if my question seems vague. Any help would hugely appreciated.
Thanks

Hi dalyboy,
I'm guessing that you are running your business part-time while keeping a full time job or fulltime college course?
The reason I'm asking is, you seem to be trying to solve a time and effort issue rather than a "delivery safety" issue.
You really need to be honest with yourself regarding what you are trying to achieve - you stand a much better chance of making the right decision and getting the right advice.

My €0.02 - Why not talk to your supplier (Chinese I presume) about doing the drop shipping for you at an agreed rate?

Fencer

dalyboy

I am a long time out of college fencer haha and the business is 100% established on Google products UK , Nextag uk etc and I am at this full time for 2 years.
I could set up distribution hubs in these locations if need be however the enquiry is to see if such a service exists to bypass the need to.
Any real advise here Fencer other than second guessing the establishment of my business ?

glic71rods46t0

dalyboy wrote: »

I am a long time out of college fencer haha and the business is 100% established on Google products UK , Nextag uk etc and I am at this full time for 2 years.
I could set up distribution hubs in these locations if need be however the enquiry is to see if such a service exists to bypass the need to.
Any real advise here Fencer other than second guessing the establishment of my business ?

Sounds like you have it all figured out OP. Maybe I should be looking for advice off you rather than offering you some - good luck with your plans for world domination - its a long way from putting ads on adverts.ie

antoinolachtnai

There are certainly places that will do this for you. You want them to 'pick and pack' for you. This is a 'logistics solution'.

See for example http://www.dhl.ie/en/logistics/warehousing_and_distribution.html . I have not used this company, just using the page as an example of the sort of thing you are looking for.

It's all about quantities really to determine who will do this for you. If you have an account with the big express carriers I would give them a call and ask if they are interested in doing it.

Even if they don't want to do it, they should be able to point you in the direction of a large customer of theirs who will certainly be able to do it. To be honest, if they agree to do it themselves, they will probably end up just outsourcing it anyway.

My own feeling from investigating this before is that it would want to be pretty substantial to move a logistics centre (virtual or otherwise) within Europe. You might be as handy continuing to run it as you are, and do a good deal with an express carrier. (We did this once, company based in spain, served entire EU market from there via TNT.)

For the US, it would seem to be a good idea to have a centre within the US, just to avoid all the customs issues. A business I worked at once had the bright idea of placing the logistics centre beside the FedEx hub. It was a nice idea, but unless you need to be able to close for orders very late in the day, it could be anywhere in the US.

I would agree with having a 'virtual' centre, unless there is something very specialized about the product or you are planning to be absolutely massive.

Have you spoken to Enterprise Ireland? I have no experience with them for this kind of issue, but this is the sort of stuff they are supposed to help out with.

One other thing - 'reverse logistics' (basically, when someone sends something back). This has to fit in with everything else and has to integrate with your customer care.

Let me know if I can give you any other pointers, and good luck with it.

cerebus

Building on the DHL idea, Amazon will also manage the logistics chain for third-party vendors. Details here:

http://www.amazonservices.com/content/fulfillment-by-amazon.htm?ld=AZMakeM

I believe they cover all the geographies you mentioned.

ssbob

It really depends on quantites but there are plenty of companies offering drop shipping or pick and pack solutions.........

If you are looking to really change the way you do business why don't you look at companies like RRD-Global Turnkey Solutions who provide manufacturing and pick and pack solutions for DELL/HP/BAYER/ABBOTT or evne Foxcon who do the same for Apple, but that is if your on a big scale...............

PM me some details about your business as I have some useful connections in this business.