Foreign Trade Zones Continue to Drive Local Economies

A Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) can provide a wealth of import and export benefits.  The impact on a business leveraging an FTZ can be significant with results across many areas.  Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment has extensive experience and expertise with setting up and managing a FTZ.

In this article the statistics for Foreign Trade Zone 43, located at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Port of Battle Creek, pointed to significant growth in volume in 2015.  It presents clear and objective success pointing to the impact on commerce through the utilization of a Foreign Trade Zone.

The benefits of an FTZ are clear.  The article mentions these specific points:

• Reduce or eliminate tariffs: It is not uncommon for parts or raw materials to have a higher duty rate than the final product. Within an FTZ, companies may select the lower duty rate when the product leaves the zone. Sometimes, duty is altogether eliminated.
• Delay duty: Distribution firms may warehouse imported goods for extended periods. No duty is owed to U.S. Customs until the merchandise leaves the zone. If goods are exported, no duty costs apply. There is no time limit for merchandise remaining in a zone.
• Reduce paperwork and Customs processing fees: FTZs allow a company to notify Customs about shipments on a weekly basis. With Customs approval, frequent importers using Weekly Entry procedures can accrue a substantial savings.
• Improve logistics: FTZs are considered a best practice by the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, permitting direct delivery of containers to zones.

Many other benefits can also be explored on the Vision CPF website here.  Check them out!

Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment is a certified General Purpose Foreign Trade Zone - #276. We are members of the National Association of Foreign Trade Zones, and we’re one of the few certified General Purpose Foreign Trade Zones in the Southern California area.

If you’re looking to take advantage of the benefit of doing business in a Foreign Trade Zone, Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment can help.  Let us share with you how implementing and managing a Foreign Trade Zone warehouse, with Vision as your partner, can significantly impact your bottom line.

Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment has decades of experience and industry expertise in consumer products fulfillment services.  No matter who your customer is, we treat your customer as our own.  We know what makes a raving fan out of an individual customer, as well as what makes a business partner trust you with their business.  Call or email us to learn how.  We’re certain we’ll be the best fulfillment warehouse partner you have ever had!

www.visioncpf.com

CPFSales@VisionMediamgmt.com

What’s New - Meeting Direct to Consumer Order Fulfillment Demands

Consumer Products Fulfillment is the heart and soul of Business to Consumer (B2C) fulfillment.  While the industry is already fairly mature, there are new innovations and best practices emerging daily.  Recently an article was published by Multichannel Merchant.  The article, which can be found here presents a number of concepts and ideas for meeting consumer demand.  It provides a great starting place in reviewing your operations.  Points covered included:

•  Digital and consumer behavior driving change.
• Capitalizing on wave’s strength.
• Enter order streaming.
• How order streaming works.
• Let consumer expectations be your guide.

 

Consumer products fulfillment and B2C order fulfillment efficiency is all about finding the similarities within dissimilar items or processes.  Process efficiency and streamlining is critical – every second counts.  That said, all of the efficiency is for naught if the quality and customer experience is not top notch.  Quality and timeliness much coexist together for overall success.

Vision has decades of experience in the field of small parcel order fulfillment, with many years of relevant innovation success.  We would love to show you our methodology and how we’ve blended quality and timeliness in order to provide success for both our customers as well as your customers.

Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment has decades of experience and industry expertise in consumer products fulfillment services.  No matter who your customer is, we treat your customer as our own.  We know what makes a raving fan out of an individual customer, as well as what makes a business partner trust you with their business.  Call or email us to learn how.  We’re certain we’ll be the best fulfillment warehouse partner you have ever had!

www.visioncpf.com

CPFSales@VisionMediamgmt.com

What Thanksgiving Weekend 2015 Means for Your Business

Thanksgiving 2015 falls on November 26th. It’s a time to be with family and friends, treat yourself to delicious treats, and, in recent years, start hunting for deals. From Thanksgiving on through to the 30th of November are four of the year’s biggest shopping days, and although sales numbers as a whole continue to rise, there’s been a dramatic shift to getting shopping done online.

Last year, physical retail sales dipped 11% from 2013’s total.¹ While physical stores may be suffering, IBM’s U.S. Retail Black Friday Report 2014 boasted a 63.47% increase of online sales year-over-year (YoY) on Thanksgiving and a 9.48% increase YoY on Black Friday.² Across 2014’s holiday weekend, shoppers flooded digital channels, spending over $4.5 billion.³

As an online business, what does this mean for you?

1. You need to prepare your website for heavy traffic volumes.
   Building on trends established from last year, sales volumes are set to increase again, but physical retail stores may share an even lesser share of the commerce. Consumers are going to be out in force, but more than ever before, they’ll turn to their computers, smartphones, and tablets to make the sale. Make sure your website is ready for heavy traffic volumes so you don’t have to turn anybody away.
2. Your order fulfillment company must be ready for anything.
   For every digital checkout completed, there needs to be a physical reaction of shipping those goods to your consumers. Late November into early December is the single more important time of the year for 3rd party logistics companies to be highly performant and responsive.
   
   Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment runs their fulfillment warehouses with a mix of proven expertise and advanced technology to ensure that everything you sell gets out the door quickly. If your 3PL isn’t equipped to do the same, then it might be time to consider switching.

With each passing year, Thanksgiving Weekend becomes a bigger shopping spectacle. You want your business to be part of these record-shattering days, and you need a 3PL provider to back you up.

Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment has decades of experience and industry expertise in consumer products fulfillment services.  No matter who your customer is, we treat your customer as our own. We know what makes a raving fan out of an individual customer, as well as what makes a business partner trust you with their business. Call or email us to learn how. We’re certain we’ll be the best fulfillment warehouse partner you have ever had!

http://visioncpf.com
CPFSales@VisionMediamgmt.com

¹ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/01/business/thanksgiving-weekend-sales-at-stores-and-online-slide-11-percent.html?_r=2
² http://www-01.ibm.com/software/marketing-solutions/benchmark-reports/black-friday-report-2014.pdf
³ http://www.statista.com/statistics/266104/online-retail-spending-on-thanksgiving-black-friday-and-cyber-monday/

Why Your 3PL Should Be Your Strategic Partner

The need to manage and reduce costs is nothing new.  And the centralization of logistics services and automation offered by 3PLs have enabled companies to bundle and outsource complex logistics functions, leading to more efficient operations and in many cases, allowing the companies to capitalize on the 3PLs infrastructure, resources and relationships.   All good so far, right?

The problem arises when those companies begin to view the 3PL as a commodity provider rather than a strategic partner.  “The recent white paper, “Unpacking Risk Shifting: A White Paper Challenging Unreasonable Risk-Shifting in the Transportation Industry,” written by what could be viewed as a collection of logistics “all-stars,” including academics, 3PLs and shippers, and consultants, makes the argument that the relationships have swung too far toward commoditization and away from strategic partnerships.  Companies “…want innovation and investment by 3PLs, with 3PLs reluctant to deliver, citing how ‘razor thin margins and short-term commodity-based contracts create a disincentive for 3PLs to make investments.’”¹   That’s bad for both sides of the transaction:  3PLs may turn away business, or even go out of business.  Companies may not be able to find a 3PL willing to work with them.  Both sides lose.

Contrast that with a more balanced relationship that builds on the success of both the company and the 3PL.  As a strategic partner, your 3PL is in a position to invest in the future, supporting the success of both organizations.  They can be the innovative solution provider that your company relies on, rather than just the folks who get the package from point A to point B.  When the next crisis or amazing opportunity arises, will you have a strategic 3PL partner to help you solve the problem or capitalize on that great new opportunity?  

Talk to Vision today, to learn how we can be your strategic 3PL partner, building a future together.  Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment has decades of experience and industry expertise in consumer products fulfillment services.  No matter who your customer is, we treat your customer as our own.  We know what makes a raving fan out of an individual customer, as well as what makes a business partner trust you with their business.  Call or email us to learn how.  We’re certain we’ll be the best fulfillment warehouse partner you have ever had!

http://visioncpf.com

CPFSales@VisionMediamgmt.com

¹http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/shifting_risk_and_meeting_in_the_middle_could_serve_as_key_to_shipper_3pl_r

The Benefits of Premium Packaging

Remember how excited you were as a child to get mail?  And how as an adult, coming home to a package on the doorstep is like receiving a present?  Even if it’s one you ordered, it’s still fun!  Retailers can take this a step further by utilizing premium packaging.  Memorable packaging encourages consumers to purchase again and provides motivation to share the experience on line.  “In fact, the 2015 Dotcom Packaging Report found that almost 40% of online shoppers say branded packaging makes them more likely to recommend a product to friends.”¹

Just by upgrading from the traditional brown box, you can exceed your customers’ expectations, and encourage brand loyalty.  There are other options to enhance the experience too.  A personalized note, a product wrapped neatly in branded tissue paper rather than plain paper or no paper at all, or just a little something extra included in the box (samples, stickers, a branded notepad, etc.) – any of these can make the consumer experience pop and get them sharing.  And 55% of consumers who watched an unboxing video say it motivated them to purchase that product.  But how can you deliver a premium packaging experience consistently while still managing your shipping costs?  A 3PL partner can help!

By combining predictive packaging algorithms that optimize packaging size to minimize shipping costs with fulfillment technology that maintains efficiency via intelligent order sequencing, Vision can help you focus your dollars where they can deliver the most return on investment – the ultimate customer experience.  Talk to Vision today, to learn how you can leverage our 3PL services to make a great impression on your customers.

Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment has decades of experience and industry expertise in consumer products fulfillment services.  No matter who your customer is, we treat your customer as our own.  We know what makes a raving fan out of an individual customer, as well as what makes a business partner trust you with their business.  Call or email us to learn how.  We’re certain we’ll be the best fulfillment warehouse partner you have ever had!

http://visioncpf.com

CPFSales@VisionMediamgmt.com

¹ http://multichannelmerchant.com/opsandfulfillment/retain-loyal-customers-premium-packaging-08072015/

The Impact of Amazon's Prime Day

Amazon’s Prime Day, scheduled for 15 July 2015 is being touted as “…Christmas in July, bigger than Black Friday or a U.S. version of Singles Day, the blowout online shopping event in China that generates billions of dollars in sales.”¹ Whether it lives up to the hype, or just transpires as a 20^th birthday celebration for Amazon, Prime Day has the potential to have a major impact on e-retailers, and by extension all fulfillment and distribution channels.

For e-retailers, participation in the sale could be huge. “Amazon Prime members convert at a rate of 74%, according to a recent study from website traffic measurement firm Millward Brown Digital on the online shopping behavior of Prime members. When Prime members shop with other online retailers, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Inc. and Home Depot Inc., they convert on average 6% of the time, the study suggests.”¹  The potential increase in sales generated from the event could make or break the e-retailer depending on their pricing and profitability.  But hand in hand with increased sales comes additional shipping demands, and with Amazon Prime, that means free two-day or cheap one-day shipping.  If the volume spikes more than Amazon and its shipping partners have planned, e-retailers and consumers could see delays during the days following the sale.  So what can you do to plan for Amazon’s Prime Day?

If you’re an e-retailer, a 3PL partner can provide options to minimize any potential delays for your customers.  A great 3PL will be already be evaluating and implementing strategies to reduce any negative shipping impact resulting from the event.  Talk to Vision today, to learn how you can leverage our strategic planning and fulfillment optimization.

Vision Consumer Products Fulfillment has decades of experience and industry expertise in consumer products fulfillment services.  No matter who your customer is, we treat your customer as our own.  We know what makes a raving fan out of an individual customer, as well as what makes a business partner trust you with their business.  Call or email us to learn how.  We’re certain we’ll be the best fulfillment warehouse partner you have ever had!

http://visioncpf.com

CPFSales@VisionMediamgmt.com

¹ https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/07/08/amazons-prime-day-could-push-e-retailers-margins-lower