Oct 25, 2022 | newsroom
Startups that once rode the rocket ship of the pandemic e-commerce boom are adjusting to solid ground again. E-commerce is still growing, but the days of seemingly unlimited demand for storage, packing, and shipping services are in the past.
Those circumstances demand a recalibration, not just from the household names of logistics like UPS, FedEx, and DHL but from a slew of venture-backed e-commerce fulfillment startups — many of which contain the word “ship” in their name, and most of which raised the vast majority of their funding in the last two years.
Read more at Business Insider
Oct 14, 2022 | newsroom
The contradictions are creating a muddy picture for retailers, and at stake is more than just profits. It’s also the overall economic narrative going into next year — and facing seemingly bleaker economic predictions by the day.
“The last normal year was like 2019, right? Everyone’s business has changed so much since then, it’s really hard to build a model,” said e-commerce fulfillment firm ShipHero CEO Aaron Rubin.
Despite the uncertainty, there’s one group retailers have to get real, and real specific, with about what’s to come — that’s their logistics partners.
Read more at Business Insider
Oct 5, 2022 | newsroom
ShipHero was created by an eCommerce merchant who needed a better, more efficient and more cost effective way to manage his inventory in his warehouse and for shipping orders to customers.Â
Now, ShipHero is a Warehouse Management Software and Fulfillment Solutions leader, serving more than 5,000 eCommerce brands and shipping thousands of packages per week.Â
Aaron Rubin Named One of the Top 100 CEOs in Innovation
Aaron Rubin, ShipHero’s CEO was recently recognized by World Business Magazine as a Top 100 CEO in Innovation for 2022. Aaron’s commitment to always keeping the client’s needs top-of-mind and building a product that people need has led ShipHero to great success.Â
As an innovator, Aaron has always believed that having more client support team members than sales team members leads to growth, and he was right. By offering top notch support, ShipHero has grown quickly, expanding its total employees from just under 200 to over 450 in about 18 months.Â
He also is committed to constantly improving ShipHero’s WMS. Working closely with ShipHero’s engineers and product team have led to providing one of the most comprehensive WMS options available.
Maggie M. Barnett, Esq. Named Among 2022 Women in Supply Chain
Maggie M. Barnett is a powerhouse at ShipHero. Supply and Demand Chain Executive, named her one of Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s 2022 Women in Supply Chain. On top of her duties as Chief Operating Officer, she is also responsible for overseeing ShipHero’s Fulfillment Solutions operations. Along with Aaron, Maggie provides direction for the company, looking for ways to grow ShipHero’s business and enhance its reputation.Â
Maggie’s past experience as a lawyer has led her to be a wonderful spokesperson for ShipHero. She has moderated panel discussions and webinars, and often represents ShipHero to the media, especially as supply chain issues have plagued the industry since 2020.
Integral to her role is the knowledge and insight into ShipHero’s business and goals and a roadmap for reaching them. She also leads by example and is an excellent mentor for employees across the company.Â
ShipHero’s Executives Emphasize Success
At ShipHero, we’re proud to work with Aaron and Maggie who continue to push boundaries and lead with an innovative mindset. We acknowledge these achievements and can’t wait to see what comes next. Congratulations, Aaron and Maggie!Â
About ShipHero
ShipHero is a US based, leading provider of cloud-based eCommerce fulfillment solutions that gives online retailers and third-party logistics providers the tools to ship more efficiently anywhere in the world. With more than 5,000 customers located around the globe, ShipHero offers online retailers a suite of services ranging from warehouse management software to outsourced fulfillment as a service.Â
Some notable customers include Mars, Universal Music Group and Canadian Tire. Additionally, ShipHero is the official fulfillment network partner for Shopify, and is rapidly scaling a network of warehouses throughout the US to meet the growing demands of today’s online retailers.
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Sep 30, 2022 | Blog
By Maggie M. Barnett, Esq. COO of ShipHero
High shipping and duty fees are a constant reality of our globally interdependent world. Finding ways to lower these costs, and therefore, increase revenue, is one of the biggest tasks for all eCommerce brands. Now, as inflation has become higher and there is little end in sight, finding ways to save is more important than ever.
We’re going to discuss Section 321, a provision from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that allows U.S. citizens to order goods duty-free from Canada (up to $800 USD per day).Â
How can that help your business? Because, the duty savings isn’t just for the customer, it applies to the business too. Here’s the breakdown of Section 321 and the top ways to know if your brand is a fit for this cost-saving measure.
What is Section 321?
ShipHero began talking about the Section 321 program here, when we opened our first Canadian warehouses. It’s one of the best under-the-radar options for eCommerce businesses to save money.Â
In layman’s terms, Section 321 is a provision from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol that allows U.S. citizens to order goods duty-free from Canada (up to $800 USD per day).
Here’s how that can help a business like yours:
- When you import goods to Canada, you will be qualified for a duty deferral or a duty drawback. In both instances, this means that once you send your products to a customer in the U.S., you will not need to pay duty fees on it (duty deferral). OR the Canadian government will reimburse any duty fees you’ve already paid (duty drawback).
- This savings can easily add up to 20% of your total landed costs and can really make a difference in your company’s success.
So, what’s the catch? There is no catch, which is the best part. And the even better part is that once you are a ShipHero Fulfillment client, we handle all the logistics for you.
5 Ways to Know if Your Company is a Fit for Section 321 Fulfillment
It can seem a little complicated, so here’s a breakdown of 5 key ways to know if Section 321 Fulfillment is right for your brand.
You already import to Canada and sell to U.S customers.
If you are already sending some or all of your inventory to Canada, and selling to U.S. customers, then you might be paying duty fees that you’re technically exempt from. Make sure that you are getting the benefits of Section 321 if you already ship products from Canada to U.S. customers.
You can decide to send some of your inventory to a Canadian warehouse and see just how much you could be saving. You can still fulfill from a U.S. location as well.
You need to save some money on shipping fees and taxes.
Taking advantage of Section 321 is easy – you just need to adjust your supply chain so that your inventory goes to Canada. You may qualify for a duty deferral, so that the duty fee is waived when the inventory is imported to Canada. Or once a U.S. customer places an order (for $800 USD or less), and that order is shipped, you’ll be eligible for a duty drawback.Â
Here’s a possible savings example:
- Import $12 pair of shoes to Canada
- 18% Duty rate = $2.16 tax on shoes
- Duty Elimination or Drawbacks save you $2.16 for just 1 pair of shoes!
Once you multiply that by 10 or 100 or 1,000, you’ll start to see the savings really add up.
You don’t sell or ship any of the items on the Section 321 exempt list.
There are some products that don’t qualify for Section 321. Here’s a rundown:
- Goods needing inspection as a condition of release, regardless of value
- Merchandise subject to Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD) and/or Countervailing Duty (CVD)
- Products that are regulated by the following Participating Government Agencies (PGAs):
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with some exemptions
- Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)
- National Highway Transport and Safety Administration (NHTSA)
- Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSA)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
You’re ready to diversify your supply chain.
If the opportunity of saving up to 20% on duty fees isn’t quite enough to entice you, there’s the very real fact that supply chains are still slow. By sending your inventory to Canada, you can help to diversify your distribution network and possibly alleviate some of those delays.Â
You’re ready for partners you can rely on.
Besides the support of ShipHero’s Fulfillment team, we also partner with GHY, a Canadian-based broker that understands the nuances of Section 321 and most importantly, the paperwork.
And, we have partners like Flxpoint, who can make managing Section 321 easier. With their intelligent tracking capabilities, Flxpoint can automatically identify and re-route orders that qualify for Section 321. You can set parameters and preferences to determine how your orders are fulfilled. For example, if a U.S. customer orders less than $800 and that product can all be fulfilled from Canada, then Flxpoint will send the order to ShipHero’s Canadian warehouse, maximizing your savings and order profitability. (This assumes you are fulfilling from Canada and the U.S. or another location.)
Section 321 Can Make the Difference
With more competition and rising costs, eCommerce brands need to find the options that will bring them greater success. By taking advantage of Section 321, your brand can save real money, increasing your revenue and making it possible to reach an even higher level of success.Â
To find out more about Section 321, click HERE. To find out more about ShipHero’s fully outsourced fulfillment solution, talk to one of our Fulfillment Experts today.
Maggie M. Barnett, Esq. COO of ShipHero
ShipHero
About the author: Maggie M. Barnett, Esq., is the COO of ShipHero. She is responsible for planning and executing the overall operational, legal, managerial and administrative procedures, reporting structures and operational controls of the organization. Barnett’s greatest strengths are leadership, risk mitigation, change management and a passion for business transformation. She is known for her expertise in delivering operational excellence and an ability to provide guidance and mitigating risk. Her leadership of ShipHero is grounded in a servant mentality, always doing the right thing for our stakeholders. Her passion for ShipHero comes from the ability to drive operational excellence throughout the organization impacting the lives of our employees, customers, and partners.
Follow Maggie on Twitter & LinkedIn.
