As international logistics involves more areas with more complex processes, more problems arise. For cross border e-commerce and foreign traders, any international logistics problem may cause fatal loss.
1. Poor customs clearance capabilities in cross-border logistics and customs detention
In the field of cross-border logistics, incidents of "uncleared goods and customs detention" occur from time to time. Maybe for the freight forwarding company, the situation of detained goods that cannot be cleared in time means the business cannot be done this time at most. Some shippers have even paid before the goods are sent, and eventually ended up losing both money and goods.
The results of customs detention inspection are nothing more than three kinds: direct confiscation, shipment returned to the place of origin, or request for supplementary documents and information before release. The losses caused by "confiscation" and "returns" are unbearable for sellers. The "re-release of supplementary documents" undoubtedly prolongs the delivery time, which may cause buyers to complain or even refuse to pay, and it is the seller that suffers the ultimate loss.
The reasons for customs clearance problems in cross border logistics mainly come from two aspects: cross-border e-commerce sellers do not pay attention to the supervision system of the importing country; and the trade barriers of the customs of the destination country. In addition, there are still some destination countries that have no IT system support and rely solely on manpower for customs clearance, which is very inefficient and also extends the entire logistics delivery time. If this situation happens, the seller can explain it to help the buyer understand.
2. The timeliness of cross-border logistics is unstable
The unstable timeliness of cross-border logistics will affect the purchase experience of consumers, which further affects customer loyalty and return rate. For cross-border e-commerce, the "fastness of time" will also affect the comprehensive evaluation of the seller's store on the platform. What is fresh in my memory is the Christmas peak season in 2010 when a large number of seller accounts were closed on the Ebay platform. Why?
The peak season has brought a large number of orders to cross-border e-commerce sellers. When they are still immersed in the joy of winning the biggest sales, the sudden "cross border logistics problem" has given them a blow. During the peak season, the number of parcels has increased sharply, logistics explosions occur every day, and the warehouses are no longer scheduled. Many parcels are even returned before they reach the Chinese customs. When the buyers can't receive their Christmas goods for a long time, the sellers will receive bad reviews as expected.
However, the problem of cross border logistics and transportation in the peak season is not unsolvable. It is recommended that sellers find some high-quality logistics companies in the off-season and establish a solid cooperative relationship with them. In this way, the seller's business is also the logistics company's business. The loss of sellers also means the loss of logistics companies, which is a closely-related relationship. In that case, freight forwarding companies have to find ways to improve the timeliness of transportation.
