When you are running a business that requires you to ship products overseas, you have to keep a lot of things in mind. Not only do you have to make sure that the product reaches the customer safely, but it is also your duty to ensure that it reaches on time. As there are a lot of tasks that you have to manage at one time, you need to think ahead and optimize this process. In this article, I am going to highlight five things that you need to know before shipping products overseas so that the process goes smoothly.
Packaging
The first thing you need to consider before parceling or shipping the product is paying attention to the shipping boxes. As you are sending your products overseas, you need to make sure that they are packed carefully. If the products are fragile, you have to select packaging that will protect it while being transferred. If you are unclear about how to handle the packaging of your products, you should hire a packaging company to secure your products from any kind of damage.
Custom Clearance
The next thing that comes in the way of shipping is customs clearance. Regardless of what you are shipping or where you are shipping, you need to get all your products cleared from customs, which can be a very time-consuming and frustrating task. To make sure that everything goes smoothly, you should file for all the paperwork beforehand. Moreover, depending on the value of the product, you will also be charged with a customs fee. Therefore, before you ship your products, you should check how much fee you will be charged against it.
Time of Transit
If you are running an online business that operates globally, you will have to deal with overseas shipments a lot. The only way to stay ahead of your competitors is to provide unmatched services to your customers. Depending on what you are sending and where you are sending it, it may take some time for you to deliver the product. So, you should tell your customers about the expected delivery time beforehand and deliver your products within the said time so that they don’t have anything bad to say about you. It would be great to ship your products via air freights for faster delivery. You can connect with Go Companies to learn how air freight can help boost your business.
Medium of Transportation
A very important aspect of running a business that depends on overseas shipments is determining the medium of transportation for your products. These include sea or air freight, and you must choose between the two if you want to work efficiently. Before you decide to ship your product through the sea or air, you should consider two things; cost and time. If your customer expects you to deliver your products on time, you should always go for air. But it will cost you more money. On the other hand, if you have some time on your hand, you can go for sea freight as it is quite affordable but takes more time.
Insurance Policy
Last but not least, as you are never sure whether the shipped product will reach its destination, you need to have a backup plan. The risk of damages is very high when it comes to international shipments, so you should have your products and shipments insured for damages and accidents. It is a financial safety that will prepare you for the worst to come as a business can’t thrive on continuous losses. However, your first step should always be to ensure that nothing goes wrong and your shipments should reach the destination on time, without any damage or getting lost during the process.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.