Unless you’ve been living off-grid for several months (more power to you), you are painfully aware of the novel coronavirus and its related disease, COVID-19, as well as the chaos that has followed in their wake. It has saturated every news outlet and social media for the last several weeks. No part of society has remained unaffected.
There are unprecedented challenges that have emerged as countries and their citizens around the world have taken extreme action in an attempt to slow the spread and blunt the curve of this new global pandemic. From travel bans to quarantines, many methods to reduce transmission rates are being implemented, hopefully with success.
COVID-19 is impacting people’s lives on a very personal level. Daily activities are being interrupted, uncertainty is permeating communities, and ordinary life has all but ground to a halt. Because of the precautions being followed and the subsequent disruption of normal activity, businesses of all sizes and types are also facing questions to which they have no answers.
The unfortunate reality is that this time of pandemic will be very difficult for many businesses to endure. Some will shutter their doors to do their part in the quest to defeat this new virus, and those doors may never open again.
Despite the bleakness of the moment, there is hope for struggling businesses, not only to weather the current storm but to set themselves up for success far into the future. That hope is eCommerce, and while many have embraced this modern revelation of business, there is still more that can be done.
Read on to see how eCommerce can not only help your business through this present problem but can also set it up for long-term success.
Beyond Brick and Mortar
If someone asked you about your business, you probably would not describe your building. Instead, you would tell them about how your business started, what inspires, and how your business is different than others. In other words, your business is not a building; it is a concept that exists and takes shape because of your passion and the concerted efforts of all those involved.
Time and time again, businesses have had to adapt and evolve to changing markets, new consumer demands, and a myriad of other such factors. The next step in evolution is and has been, an increased emphasis and reliance on eCommerce to expand your potential customer base and improve the efficiency with which your products can reach the consumer. This is not a bad thing!
In fact, the move to eCommerce is a very good thing. It allows you to take your dream, your vision, and share it with people who live thousands of miles away. It also works the other way—consumers can now access goods that they never would have known about a decade or two ago. It has brought us all together and presented opportunities of which businesses of the past couldn’t even dream.
So, do not view the shift brought on by these difficult times as negative, but rather as opportunistic. You now have a catalyst for a very positive change. Even when the stay-at-home guidelines issued around the globe are lifted, shopping will be forever changed. Don’t fall behind when you could get ahead of the curve now.
Challenges of Change
If there is one thing this pandemic has shown us, it is that change is hard, but we are resilient. Almost overnight, people have adapted to a totally new lifestyle to help beat COVID-19. While perhaps not as dire, making a radical transition in business is never easy, but it can be done—usually for the better.
One of the primary concerns that businesses have when focusing more of their time, effort, and money on the eCommerce portion of their operation is shipping. If you are importing goods to be sold in the United States, shipping means more than just sending a package to a customer’s house; it means navigating customs, tariffs, and delivery.
The process can be daunting, certainly. When you partner with the right people who can help you guide you through the process, though, it can be simplified, and you can save tremendous amounts of time and money on importation.
How Baja Fulfillment Can Help
Baja Fulfillment prides itself on providing an entire suite of services for its customers, from system integration and packaging to account management and money-saving import techniques. In fact, you can avoid the new tariffs on Chinese imports entirely by partnering with Baja Fulfillment.
We know what you’re thinking—that sounds too good to be true, especially with everything that is going on right now. Well, we have good news—it’s not too good to be true because it is completely true, viable, and legal, and can save you a significant amount of money while maintaining speedy shipping and delivery times.
The way we’re able to help you import your goods without the tariffs applying and without slowing down your delivery chain is through a U.S. shipment category known as Section 321. As of 2016, products that qualify for this type of entry—which is almost all products—can be released at the border if the shipment is valued at or under $800.
That sounds great, sure, but with such small quantities, it’s simply unrealistic for you to import all of your goods from China in $800 increments, right? That’s where Baja Fulfillment comes in again. Using our facilities in Baja, Mexico, we can store, process, label, pack, and otherwise handle your orders, then bring them across the border to our facility in San Diego. From there, we simply finish the shipping process.
It’s quick, easy, and can save you a bundle of money, and with Baja Fulfillment bringing the experience and resources you need to take advantage of Section 321 in a compliant manner, you have nothing to worry about!
If you still feel uncertain or even a bit confused about Section 321, how Baja Fulfillment can help you succeed in this new era of business, or eCommerce and shipping in general, we would be happy to help guide you through the process, explain the benefits in more details, and provide you with any information you need. In fact, we’d love to speak with you and even offer a free consultation. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you not only survive this difficult time but also come out on the other side of it stronger than ever!