1. Background
Opening a store in Amazon is a trend that has ignited a boom in the US and around the world. Many of Amazon’s explosions have filled the shopkeepers with full income, bringing them both financial and spiritual satisfaction. More and more people are selling products on Amazon.
Although opening a store in Amazon is an e-commerce act, as with a physical store, the store owner must consider the supply, transportation and inventory of the product. That is, to sell the goods that are suitable for Amazon buyers at the right price at the right time. As we all know, China is a manufacturing powerhouse, and many products on Amazon are MADE IN CHINA. If you want to sell Chinese-made products on Amazon.com, the indispensable part is logistics, which means you have to transport the products you want to sell from the factory location in China to the designated Amazon warehouse.
2. The main mode of transportation shipped from China to the US Amazon warehouses
China and the United States are separated by a vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. There are two main options for transporting products from China to the United States. One is ocean shipping and the other is air. Shipping is carried from China’s coastal ports to the US coastal ports, and air transportation is carried from China’s airports to US airports. But the Amazon warehouse is located in various cities in the United States, and it is impossible to just be at the port or the airport (even if it is nearby, the goods need to be transported to the warehouse). Therefore, after our goods arrive at the US port or airport, we need to send them to the corresponding Amazon warehouse from the airport or port. The current mainstream delivery method is to use express delivery, such as UPS. Therefore, the transportation methods of China’s shipment to the Amazon warehouse in the United States can be summarized as the following two types:
1) International shipping + US delivery to Amazon FBA warehouse
2) International air transport + US express delivery to Amazon FBA warehouse
3. Characteristics of two modes of transport
International shipping + US delivery to Amazon FBA warehouse
This multimodal transport can be broken down into:
1) Transportation within the territory of China from the place of delivery of the product to the export warehouse of the Chinese port;
2) The goods are collected in the warehouse, loaded into the container, and then transported internationally from the Chinese port to the US port;
3) After the goods arrive at the US port for customs clearance, unpacked in the import warehouses in the US, and then delivered to the designated Amazon warehouse by express delivery.
The main features of this method are as follows
1) The main route is to transport by sea, so that you can control the cost.
2) The shipping time from Chinese ports to US ports will be very long. The fastest ships such as MASON will take at least 13 days from Shanghai, China to LA. Other ships take about 15 days.
International air transport + US express delivery to Amazon FBA warehouse
This multimodal transport can be broken down into:
1) Transportation of Chinese products to the domestic export warehouse of China’s airport
2) The goods are consolidated in the warehouse and transported by air to the US airport.
3) After the goods arrive at the US airport for customs clearance, they are unpacked in the US import warehouse and then delivered to the designated Amazon warehouse by express delivery.
The main feature of this method is
1) You can quickly reach the Amazon warehouse in the United States, because air can usually fly from China to the US airport in one day.
2) The price is relatively expensive, because the cost of air transportation is relatively expensive.
There is also a need to mention the distribution of logistics service providers in China involving Amazon e-commerce products. The most developed area for China’s Amazon FBA’s first-trip transportation service is Shenzhen, followed by Shanghai and Ningbo. Other places have not yet developed such services.
4. How to choose the right transportation mode?
How do customers choose the right mode of transportation? First of all, we must confirm where to send from. As mentioned above, the most suitable places for FBA in China are Shenzhen, Ningbo and Shanghai. Therefore, customers only need to pay attention to the geographical location of the product, and select the nearest shipping from the above three cities. This will save time and provide guarantee for the timely arrival of products.
After determining the shipping city, we must consider the following two factors.
1) Is the product urgently needed to arrive?
If you are in a hurry, for example, the inventory of hot-selling products is not enough, or the promotional products need to seize the market in time. Then the second should be used, namely the air + express way. On the contrary, if it is not urgent, you can choose the first type of shipping + express delivery to control costs.
2) Transportation characteristics of the product
The transport characteristics of some products may only be transported by sea or air to ensure their quality or freshness. Typical examples are fresh vegetables and fruits. If transported by sea, it is likely that the taste and quality will change after arrival, thus affecting the sales of the product.
5. Conclusion
From China to the US Amazon warehouse, logistics options are determined by cost and efficiency. Customers need to consider the conditions of their Amazon store so as to choose the right transportation mode. Generally speaking, the above two modes of transportation will both be used. How to choose and distribute them reasonably varies from person to person and from product to product. I hope this article will give you some inspiration for the logistics and transportation cost control of your Amazon store.
