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~ Monta ~

The number of Dutch customers shopping online across the border is growing rapidly.
Likewise, more and more Dutch webshops gain customers from abroad. Logically, this affects
the logistical manner of working of online entrepreneurs: how will they act upon this shift?

imply put, when e-commerce sellers make smaller when distances become shorter. This
use of fulfilment services from a third party, is closely related to point 1 and is considered
Sthere are roughly two ways of fulfilment that important by both customers and webshops.
they can choose from. The first one is cross-border • Cheaper rates. The delivery costs are lower because
shipping; this means warehoused goods are stored in agreements are made with local carriers. Moreover,
one single country and shipped from that country to orders will not be subject to delivery duties.
another. The second one is cross-border fulfilment. • Return process is reliable and fast. For a German
With cross-border fulfilment, the fulfilment customer, it is more reliable to send a return to an
company is able to provide warehousing (local stock) address in his/her own country. Additionally, with
in each country the seller sells a significant amount cross-border fulfilment, the product can be returned
of items. Edwin van der Ham, founder and CEO to the warehouse sooner and can therefore be put
of Monta (fulfilment and warehouse management back into circulation faster. This means the customer
software company), will zoom in on the benefits will receive the purchase amount of that product
of shipping from multiple countries. Unlike cross- back sooner. Of course, this faster turnover is also
border shipping, the benefits of cross-border beneficial for the webshop. Hence, a local presence
fulfilment can make a substantial difference and of your products is definitely necessary in order to
influence conversion rates positively. act fast and to keep costs manageable, especially in
branches such as fashion - where more than half of
What all customers have in common the total order amount is returned.
Despite different needs and wants between customers from • Sold out? No way! It may happen that a product from
different countries, there is one common similarity: every a webshop becomes sold out during a successful
customer in every country wants their package to be delivered national promotion. We have come up with
to the agreed delivery location in good condition, and the something for that at Monta. An example: we have a
return process must be simple. The majority of customers customer in heating cushions who has local stock in
also value fast delivery. Next to that, it is expected that in both the Netherlands and Germany. Some time ago,
terms of logistics, attention will be paid to limiting the they had a successful promotion in Germany, which
ecological footprint during the transport of the order. The resulted in a product being sold out in the country.
aforementioned factors also play a major role for online We could then choose to replenish the stock (supply
entrepreneurs, partly to keep customers satisfied. Obviously, new stock from the Netherlands to Germany). That
online entrepreneurs focus on the costs that come with it, would take some time. We have arranged it in such
which affects the logistical choices that are made. a way that we can transfer the online order from
Germany to the Netherlands via our software. We
How you can act upon it then ship the item directly from the warehouse
Imagine you receive an order from a customer in Germany. in the Netherlands to the German customer. This
Of course, you can ship your products from a warehouse in way, we can still deliver to the customer quickly.
the Netherlands to Germany, and the foreign customer can Meanwhile, we replenish the warehouse with stock
send his/her returns back to the Netherlands. We’re referring from the Netherlands. Thus, the webshop will not
to cross-border shipping now. However, in many cases, this miss out on any orders, and the customer will not
does not outweigh the advantages of a warehouse (local notice anything. We keep the customer happy; that’s
stock) in the country itself. For example, the latter can assure what it’s about.
an online entrepreneur will never sell out again.
The advantages of cross-border fulfilment, as stated
Let’s take a look at the advantages of cross-border fulfilment above, are of positive impact on the competitive position
in comparison to cross-border shipping: of a webshop and assure an increase in the conversation
• Shorter lead times. Logical but important. Your lead rate. Experiences of Monta’s fulfilment clients highly
times are shorter when you ship to a customer in confirm this. Still, there are clients who choose cross-
the same country where the warehouse is located: border shipping at Monta, which, of course, is also fine.
the stock is closer to the customer. As a result, the This is less favourable for the customer across the border,
package reaches the customer faster, which, in turn, but from a logistics perspective, it is less complicated. In
has a positive effect on customer satisfaction. the end, the entrepreneur should always have a choice. It
• Smaller footprint. The ecological footprint becomes is our task to facilitate! ••

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