Ecommerce businesses often hesitate to take their business global due to the complexities and costs that come with international shipping. You have to deal with customs, import duties, Value Added Tax and other fees, extended transit times, and higher shipping rates, just to name a few challenges. 

But, working with an omnichannel third-party logistics (3PL) partner that offers a network of global fulfillment centers, international shipping is simpler and more straightforward. 

By partnering with a 3PL that offers international fulfillment center locations, you gain access to international markets. Not sure where to start when it comes to storing inventory internationally? ShipBob is a one-stop shop for all your international fulfillment needs.  

With ShipBob, you can store inventory in one or more US-based fulfillment centers as well as in Canada and Europe locations. No matter where your inventory is stored, you can check your data and see where orders are coming in from in real-time, and then store your inventory in the ShipBob fulfillment center closest to your customer base, whether they are in Germany, Netherlands, or any of the other EU countries.

By splitting your inventory and storing it in countries where your customers live, you dramatically reduce the average distance a package must travel. This in turn reduces shipping rates and speeds up delivery times, which leads to higher average order value (AOV) and reduce cart abandonment. 

“We found that sending inventory to Europe involved less paperwork and was faster than expected. The process of getting inventory sent to ShipBob’s fulfillment center location in Ireland was very streamlined. ShipBob has helped us extensively throughout the process and we look forward to accelerating our growth outside of North America.”

Nikolai Paloni, Co-Founder of Ombraz Sunglasses

ShipBob fulfillment solutions for European Union-based ecommerce businesses

If you have customers in the US or the European market, or if you are affected by Brexit, you might want to consider storing ecommerce inventory in a fulfillment center located in one of the EU member states to reduce tariffs, taxes, and the headache of shipping from outside the country. 

With ShipBob, you can ship your inventory in bulk to one of our fulfillment centers, and then distribute your products cross-border from there: no need for each package to pass through customs. From there, orders are sent to the closest fulfillment center where inventory is stored and shipped out from within the country it’s shipping to.

Here’s how you get started with ShipBob:

• Connect your store to ShipBob’s proprietary technology.
• Choose which ShipBob fulfillment centers you’d like to store inventory based on where your customers live
• When an order is placed at your store, it’s automatically sent to a ShipBob fulfillment center to be picked, packed, and shipped.
• You and the customer receive tracking info on the package. 

Bulk international shipping discounts

ShipBob works closely with top mail carriers and distributors to offer shipping discounts on bulk international shipments. You don’t have to pay customs duties on each package, and you get premium shipping rates when you bulk ship your inventory to our fulfillment centers. 

Optimized shipping

International shipping is much more complicated than domestic shipping: timelines are longer and more complex, and calculating shipping rates and distances can be a hassle. Partner with ShipBob and you can ship the amount of inventory based on demand in certain locations. From there, our technology searches the top mail carriers and finds the fastest and most cost-effective routes, so you get the best routes for each package. 

Inventory & order management

ShipBob handles all the details of order fulfillment, and we also provide full transparency into the entire fulfillment process. Your ShipBob Dashboard is a hub for inventory and order management: you can check inventory counts at each fulfillment center, set reorder points, view outstanding orders, track packages, and more. Even if you’re storing inventory in the US and in international locations, you can track everything from one, single dashboard. 

Why ShipBob is the best choice for EU fulfillment

Other 3PLs can ship orders to other countries for you, but with distributed inventory we can actually lower your shipping costs while also extending your global reach. Here are some of the advantages of going with ShipBob. 

“When I first started looking at ShipBob, it sounded too good to be true with their international locations that could cover all my bases (eventually even getting into the United States and Canada). 

When I was shipping orders myself, what I paid per order is the same price now to pick, pack, and ship orders through ShipBob. It’s even much cheaper to ship to certain countries, which used to take ages and often got lost with localized post here. Now, I have very transparent pricing, and I can easily run and plan my business.”

Leonie Lynch, Founder & CEO of Juspy

Go omnichannel

ShipBob’s solution is a one-stop shop for multichannel inventory, order, and fulfillment management. Rather than using a different 3PL for each country or sales channel, ShipBob enables you to view all of your inventory levels and orders in real-time through a single dashboard. With fulfillment handled by the same partner for every international, DTC, and B2B order, you’ll save time and money while delivering a more consistent customer experience.

For example, tattoo supply brand Black Claw LLC consolidated their operations through ShipBob, and achieved the more holistic, efficient global shipping experience they had always wanted.

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Speed up growth

With ShipBob, you can offer shipping costs and timelines that compete with the most well-established ecommerce companies in the EU. Customers are more likely to convert and spend more when they see fast, affordable shipping options. So you’ll not only open yourself up to new markets, but improve your chances of converting sales as well. 

Also, we can fulfill as many orders as your customers can place. By partnering with us, your growth is no longer tied to how much you can fulfill in-house. Many of our partners experience rapid growth as a result. For instance, The Adventure Challenge partnered with ShipBob to grow their business and reduce international shipping costs. 

“While we’re based in the US, a quarter of our sales are international. It looks like international sales will overtake US sales in a few short years — so we are definitely using ShipBob’s international fulfillment centers! We’ve found that there is consistent demand for our products abroad, and ShipBob’s ever-expanding global fulfillment network enables us to tap into that demand much more cost-effectively.”

Aaron Patterson, COO of The Adventure Challenge

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Spend less time on fulfillment

You probably didn’t get into business to spend time packing boxes and calculating shipping rates, but that’s exactly how many ecommerce merchants spend most of their time (especially in the early stages of growth). This is especially true if you’re trying to break into new markets — are you prepared to handle all the hassles of international retail fulfillment yourself? 

Partner with ShipBob and you can break into new market without lifting an extra finger yourself. This allows you to focus on the important stuff, like growing your business! Fast-growing ecommerce brand BAKblade has seen tremendous growth in going global with ShipBob on their side. 

“As we’ve grown internationally and in our general order volume, we’ve seen satisfaction go up. ShipBob was a key player and significant partner in helping manage what became unmanageable when we were shipping orders out ourselves.”

Matt Dryfhout, Founder & CEO of BAKblade

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Am I ready to outsource EU fulfillment to the best fulfillment provider?

If you’re getting steady traffic from customers in other countries, then you’re missing out on an opportunity. At the same time, you’re unlikely to get a ton of business if you can only offer shipping that costs $20+ and takes weeks. Outsourcing fulfillment to an international tech-enabled 3PL will solve this problem for you, and a number of others. If any of these issues sound familiar, then it might be time to outsource:

• Your business is growing and you want to explore new markets. 
• You are getting steady traffic to your website from other countries, but don’t want to deal with the hassle of international shipping.
• You want to offer faster shipping options, but don’t have the distribution infrastructure. 
• You spend too much time dealing with warehousing and fulfillment. 

Ready to take your brand international?

Learn more about ShipBob’s international fulfillment services. Request a quote below.

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