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Providing a total landed cost estimate is a very different from executing on that estimate. Today, control of the customs clearance process at the local level is poor at best. As the volume of international ecommerce shipping grows, online retailers that can tightly control the customs clearance process in their targeted global markets will emerge as the next engines of retail growth.
E-commerce sites and direct marketers that work with shipping/distribution partners that “own” direct channels into global markets will find that their landed costs drop dramatically, especially compared to what the major domestic carriers charge. Even when third party shipping partners receive volume discounts from these carriers, the landed costs charged by other shippers with proprietary distribution channels are still substantially lower.
On-the-ground relationships that smooth out the variances in the customs clearance process improve delivery times significantly and can dramatically lower costs.
Most importantly, by surpassing the expectations of the global consumer, the international e-commerce experience is vastly improved.
