Because of the limitations placed on the global supply chains by the pandemic, Just In Time inventory is no longer viable for many businesses. In light of this, businesses must get more people from more countries involved in sourcing their inventory. Scott Welker-Reyes is the VP of Operations & Administration at Fermob USA and has tons of experience in eCommerce and sourcing inventory from around the world. You’ll hear about how to find international sourcing partners, what to consider when placing your next order, and why your business should choose FBA or FBM.
Takeaways:
- There are ambassadors from other countries that work in the US whose job is to help businesses find sourcing partners in their home countries. These can be a great resource for discovering alternative suppliers.
- If your product requires multiple pieces of different materials, once you find a manufacturer for one of the parts, they likely already know other manufacturers who can make the rest of the parts.
- As a result of the supply chain issues over the past few years, businesses need to hedge their bets and order over and above what they would normally use. Most forecasting models have been made useless from the recent shortages.
- The biggest cause of increases in domestic prices for both companies and consumers is the pierce of ocean freight. Trans-pacific freight costs have risen up to 500% and that is if the cargo can even get loaded on a ship.
- Amazon has created an expectation for consumers that if they order something today, they should have it tomorrow. This is not the case with large items like furniture and wholesale distributors have struggled because of it.
- For furniture brands, the choice to use FBA needs to be carefully considered because of the shipping costs incurred by the seller and the higher risk of items being damaged during shipping due to undertrained and overburdened staff.
- If you have a large offering of products that also come in many different colors, consider paring those options down when selling on Amazon and only offering 6 colors instead of 24.
Quote of the Show:
- “At this point in time, Just In Time, inventory just doesn't work any longer” - Scott Welker-Reyes
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