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~ Meest International ~
The global e-commerce market continues to grow. Despite the partial slowdown in the pace
of development after the record “COVID years”, the industry is showing promising results.
According to Euromonitor, in the next five years, the volume of online sales is set to increase by
about 40% in the world’s largest markets.
n this industry, the USA is one of the leading variety of brokerage services. Thanks to this, the business
markets. Within the USA market, online sales doesn’t need to open its own representative offices or
Igrew by over 14% in 2021, according to the US logistics facilities in the US market – all the warehousing
Department of Commerce. The United States is and transportation work will be performed by the Meest
traditionally one of the most developed and, thus, local team.
one of the most coveted places to sell products,
especially when it comes to e-commerce. Logistics-wise, this tool covers the entire logistics chain:
carrying the goods to the fulfilment center, their acceptance,
Delivery and customer interaction are always a labeling, sorting, inventory management, storage, packaging
challenge and subsequent last-mile delivery. A good logistics operator
At the same time, entering markets such as the US requires has all the required expertise in these matters, making
considerable expertise and time. In this case, companies have outsourcing these processes a very rational solution.
two options. The first option is to operate through the parent
company in the main market and deliver to a certain country Consumer interaction
independently. In this case, the business takes over all the Meest works with both direct-to-consumer companies and
work related to order fulfilment: actual delivery, tracking the companies that sell goods via popular marketplaces as part
inventory of products, customer interaction and support, as of its fulfilment services: Amazon, Shopify, eBay and Etsy.
well as legal compliance. Meest works with the largest carriers, UPS, FedEx and
USPS, to deliver orders to customers. This gives customers
This is a big challenge. According to Verifone, more than 20% the opportunity to take advantage of volume discounts,
of businesses are encountering difficulties with global trade, which in most cases are 30-40% lower than flat carrier
and another 15% struggle with legal compliance issues. Many prices.
problems can arise with transportation. Companies—often
small or medium-sized businesses—need to find a carrier In addition, Meest covers the process of handling returns
meeting their conditions, draft and conclude a contract, from buyers end-to-end. For the American consumer,
ensure a stable place to store products in the destination returns service is very important, as it helps to address
market, and also somehow keep track of their inventories. product issues and ensure shopping satisfaction. It also
increases brand trust and creates a sense of security when
Besides, interacting with customers may also lead to a number shopping online. According to Narvar, about 50% of
of challenges. Businesses are forced to communicate with shoppers use the return service, and at least half of shoppers
consumers remotely, often in a different language, and resolve check to see if the return service exists.
issues—such as product returns—according to the rules of
local jurisdictions. Meest Fulfillment is an online service. As per Freightwalla
data, more than 80% of small and medium-sized companies
Local fulfilment believe that digitalisation will change logistics for the
The second option that companies often opt for while better. To sign up for the service, companies need to request
engaging in global trade is local fulfilment, in particular, an account on the Meest website, sign a contract, specify
contracting a logistics operator. This is an outsourcing tool product information in their personal account – and send
that takes over all the work of delivering products to a it directly to the US Meest distribution center. At the same
certain market. time, all data on the status of the product and its further
shipment can be tracked online using the same online
Since 2022, Meest has been providing this service for the dashboard.
US market with Meest Fulfillment. It helps businesses ship
goods from anywhere in the world to the US and then to the Meest offers some of the lowest monthly order volumes in
end consumer. Here is how the platform works. A company the industry and sets no restrictions on the weight of the
sends its products to the Meest fulfilment centre in the US, products. In addition, the company offers a 30-day trial
and from there, at the client’s request, Meest sends them period with free storage of products in the warehouse during
to the customers, independently performing the last-mile the trial period and a variety of perks for new customers.
delivery to the doorstep. Also, Meest can provide customs You can cancel the fulfilment service at any time without
clearance for goods entering the US market, providing a incurring additional costs. ••
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