Article
What is Consolidated Shipping and How Can It Help Your Campaign?
With people buying online now more than ever and companies expanding their markets across borders, the global marketplace has very much become a thing. This includes crowdfunding campaigns that have found success with backers around the world. But, now that your product has found success, it’s important to find a fast, affordable way to ship them to your backers. That’s where direct injection comes into play.
Shipping consolidation allows you to group your shipments with others that are going to the same country to cut costs and fast-track the customs clearance process. Consolidation is especially useful for companies that will have a large number of orders ready to ship at the same time – like a brand that’s just run a crowdfunding campaign and needs to get its products to backers.
Consolidation is commonly used for the United States, with strategic import points throughout the country that can easily reach key markets. But, it’s also a popular shipping method in the EU and other markets, too.
What is Direct Injection?
Direct injection is a type of consolidated shipping, and provides an alternative to the traditional supply chain model of storing and preparing goods for delivery in the destination market. Using this, goods departing from one country are flown together to their destination. They clear customs electronically before being passed directly to a domestic carrier that will deliver the shipment to the customer.
There are three main features of direct injection shipping:
- The first-mile of shipment is done by air as bulk cargo
- Last-mile labels are applied to each order at their origin facility
- Customers are the “importer of record” rather than the business
By skipping ocean shipping, direct injection can get goods to customers very fast – usually within days – and at a cost that’s far less than regular courier services. It’s become particularly useful for crowdfunding projects dealing with manufactured goods. That’s because products are often manufactured in Asian hubs but need to reach backers in the US, EU, and other parts of the world in a way that’s fast and cheap.
Is Direct Injection Right for My Campaign?
Consolidated shipping is a pretty accessible shipping solution, but it works best for shippers with volume. If you’re not sure about whether your orders are eligible for direct injection, talk to an Easyship expert for guidance. You should carefully consider your campaign products, where your backers might be located, and your budget to make the right decision. If you want a little advice, the Easyship experts can help you work out if direct injection is right for your crowdfunding campaigns, get your quote.
What are the Benefits of Direct Injection?
To put it simply, direct injection allows faster, cheaper, and easier shipping. It allows shippers to access lower rates, quicker customs clearance, and in some cases, duty exemptions. Let’s take a closer look at these.
It’s Fast
Direct injection shipping is faster than traditional bulk freight and distribution, which often happens by sea. That’s because these parcels are usually flown directly to their destination on direct flights and passed to the local courier service for last-mile delivery. Since shipments are packed in the country of production and sent directly to the customer, orders will bypass warehouses in the destination market and reduce delivery times by several days. For urgent deliveries, though, couriers will still be the fastest option.
It’s Cheaper
Direct injection allows you to take advantage of economies of scale. By grouping shipments going to the same place together, you can access bulk shipping rates. The more volume you have, the lower your shipping rate. So, it’ll be much cheaper than any express shipping service. You’ll also save by picking and packing your shipments in the country of production, especially if your manufacturers are in Asia. As a result, direct injection can offer significant savings over direct courier services, benefiting campaigners looking to optimize their shipping budget.
Duty Benefits
If you’re shipping into the US and EU, direct injection can also help you get your shipment cleared duty free. The United States allows individual orders under $800 to enter the US without being charged duty with what’s known as the Section 321 Information Entry exception.
The EU has a similar benefit, with orders under EUR150 qualifying for a duty-free entry.
Importers just have to consolidate their orders and file for customs clearance electronically.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
Because order consolidation can be faster and cheaper than certain other types of shipping solutions, it can result in higher customer satisfaction for your campaign. They might not necessarily see what’s happening behind the scenes when it comes to consolidation, but they will appreciate the fact that they’ll likely pay less and still get their goods fast.
How Can Easyship Help?
Easyship uses direct injection to help clients access fast, affordable shipping rates with the least amount of hassle. Easyship handles a lot of requests for direct injection to the US, Europe and the UK, Australia and Canada.
The team can work with you to figure out a direct injection scheme that helps you:
- Save on duties for shipments below valued at less than $800 (USA) or EUR150 (EU)
- Access lower shipping rates
- Arrange seamless door-to-door services
- Connect with reliable last-mile courier tracking provided by major couriers like USPS, DHL, and FedEx
If you need guidance on how to handle customs when using direct injection, Easyship can do this, too. They’ll do the paperwork for you, and even provide expert insight and suggestions that’ll help smooth the way. Connect with Easyship and get your shipping questions answered today.
