Go global from China: boost overseas growth with world-class fulfillment

Geopolitical pressures, growing sustainability requirements and a marked increase in digitalization are driving Chinese sellers to seek resilience, in order to diversify and future-proof their businesses. “In China, companies are very aware of the growth potential in overseas consumer bases,” says Rhylin Liu, Multi-Country Business Development Manager, DHL Fulfillment Network.

There are lucrative cross-border opportunities for Chinese companies, particularly to APAC, LATAM, Europe and the US. However, establishing overseas sales can be daunting. “Sometimes companies are put off by the perceived costs and hassle of getting goods to end-consumers in other countries and regions,” notes Rhylin. It’s true: to ship multiple individual parcels from China to, say, the US would be extremely costly and time consuming – this is even more so since changes were made to the De Minimis  threshold in the US, which previously allowed low-value imports to enter the country duty free.

Rhylin explains that the need to find a solution to this issue means a new fulfillment model has evolved: “Goods are bulk shipped to warehouses close to the end consumer, stored there, and then from these local warehouses only local transportation is needed to get the goods to end consumers.” This near-shoring approach means quicker last-mile deliveries and reduced last-mile emissions and costs. It also means any duties apply to bulk shipments, and not to multiple individual shipments.

One of most powerful reasons for our success is our network. “Our footprint is global,” says Rhylin. “We have warehouses all over the world, which greatly appeals to customers because it means they can reach new territories easily: for example, they may have been selling goods to Italy, shipped from a local warehouse of ours in Italy. Then an opportunity arises to sell to Germany. They can very easily start to warehouse stock in Germany, and ship orders from there, without additional onboarding.”

This flexibility also applies at the level of each warehouse. You’re running a promotion in Italy? You simply increase your stock in Italy for that period. Our warehouses are typically on dedicated out-of-town industrial parks; because they are specialized and modern spaces, we have adaptable capacity to suit our customers’ needs. We also offer customers the flexibility to choose a warehousing-only option with us, with the freedom to arrange their own transportation options.

We provide advanced inventory insights as standard: our intuitive dashboards show customers their stock by location, supporting them in making data-driven decisions. It also allows them to posit ‘what if?’ scenarios: if sales rose by 15% in this territory, what would the implications and timelines look like, from the manufacturing stage through to warehousing, pick and pack?

We also know from talking to customers how important security is for them, particularly with premium products – perhaps fashion or consumer electronics. Rhylin tells us more: “If your product is high value - e-bikes, say – then you want to be sure your goods are secure. At DHL Fulfillment Network we have extensive and uniform standard operating procedures, so you can rest assured that the way your goods are handled in one warehouse is the way they are handled in all of our warehouses. This is an important consideration in LATAM, for example, where there is significant demand for security concerns to be addressed.”

“Thanks to DHL Fulfillment Network, with minimal effort and minimal risk, our customers can capitalize on whole new markets – and fast!” concludes Rhylin.