Scenario · Ecommerce
More orders, more sales and the same margin as always
Many ecommerce businesses start importing when they still have a small volume of orders. The logistics decisions, operators and purchasing conditions that work in that early phase are often kept for years, even when the business has changed completely.
What was a reasonable solution for importing a few containers a year may stop being the most profitable option as volume grows.
More orders, same margin
An ecommerce business specialising in home accessories has been importing products from Asia for several years. Sales have grown steadily and the purchasing volume is now much higher than in the early years.
Throughout this time it has worked with the same logistics operators, the same Incoterms and practically the same import processes. The operation works and the goods arrive without major incidents.
However, when reviewing the cost of each operation, the company discovers that many of the decisions made when the business was much smaller have never been questioned again. What once had barely any impact is now reducing the margin on hundreds of orders every month.
Not a sales problem
The company doesn’t have a sales problem. It has a profitability problem.
Each operation still works, but small extra costs in transport, customs and logistics management keep repeating over and over.
The consequence is not a one-off incident. It’s a constant loss of margin that grows at the same pace as the business.
First we understand the case and define the scope
How we approach it
- 01 We analyse the current import structure, the operators used and the costs associated with each operation.
- 02 We review the Incoterms, logistics processes and documentation to identify inefficiencies and opportunities to improve.
- 03 We verify the tariff classification of the products and detect possible extra costs or accumulated errors.
- 04 We design a more efficient operating strategy, aligned with the current volume of the business, to improve the profitability of future imports.
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