Is your brand ready to thrive, not just survive, in the face of evolving global consumer expectations and market shifts?
Agility requires more than just quick reactions; it demands proactive foresight, strategic adaptability, and a willingness to embrace continuous evolution. This is particularly critical in today’s ever-changing global ecommerce landscape.
Today, we are here at eTail Boston and we’re going to talk about navigating the complexities of global ecommerce, from peak season delivery strategies and regional fulfillment, to the latest on de minimis thresholds and tariffs. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome, Helaine Rich, Vice President Strategic Sales and Administration at ePost.
About Helaine Rich
As the VP of Strategic Sales and Administration at ePost Global, Helaine’s team is responsible for onboarding and managing multi-carrier platforms, involved with the development of new services and tools for customers while growing revenue through strategic account acquisition.
Helaine Rich on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helaine-rich-b61a207/
Resources
ePost: https://www.epostglobalshipping.com
The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow
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Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom
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Transcript
Greg Kihlstrom (00:00)
Agility requires more than just quick reactions. It demands proactive foresight, strategic adaptability, and a willingness to embrace continuous evolution. This is particularly critical in today’s ever-changing global e-commerce landscape. Today we’re here at eTail Boston, and we’re going to talk about navigating the complexities of global e-commerce from peak season delivery strategies and regional fulfillment to the latest on de minimis thresholds and tariffs. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Helene Rich, Vice President, Strategic Sales and Administration at ePost Helene, welcome to the show.
Helaine Rich (00:35)
Hello, thank you so much for having me here.
Greg Kihlstrom (00:37)
Yeah, looking forward to talking about this with you. And yeah, good to be in Boston, right? Or back in Boston, right? Yeah. So before we dive in, why don’t you give a little background on yourself and your role at Epos?
Helaine Rich (00:48)
So I’ve been in the industry for many, many years. We don’t say how long anymore because some of my clients are younger than many years I’ve been in the industry. at Epos, because we’re privately owned, we have a lot of flexibility. So I wear a few different hats within the organization. I work directly with customers. I oversee a team and I also work with our partnerships, which really gives me an opportunity to experience everything going on in the industry, in the market, and help share that information internally.
Greg Kihlstrom (01:18)
Great. So yeah, we’re going to talk about a few things here. But first, want to start with US Postal Service changes, as well as peak season delivery. So there’s some potential USPS changes on the horizon. How are leading brands preparing their… Maybe you can talk a little bit about what they are, as well as how are leading brands preparing their shipping strategies for the upcoming peak season? What are some of the unique challenges and opportunities that these changes present.
Helaine Rich (01:48)
Well, one of the main things that people are focusing right now on within the USPS changes in the international area is the need for more data, which is something that at Epos, we’ve always requested this data because it’s not been unique to the USPS, but it’s been something required on the global area. One thing is it gives us more credibility because all of a now everybody’s hearing about it. So that’s one thing that’s really happening. And we’re working with our customers to understand what the importance of proper descriptions, HS codes, et cetera. And again, I think you mentioned in regards to the changing times with tariffs, well, that’s going to assess what the duties and taxes are going to be on particular items around the world. And they need to have quality data. We work with them. We have a HS code API so that we can help assign that correct HS code. Again,
but it’s only based on the quality of the data that the customers are providing in regards to the product description.
Greg Kihlstrom (02:47)
Right, right. So yeah, data is critical then. Yeah. So ⁓ beyond carriers, what role does technology play in optimizing peak season delivery? And what are some of the best practices that are used to manage increased volume as well as the customer expectations?
Helaine Rich (02:50)
Data is key.
Well, one thing that we’ve really seen in this, I think started around the pandemic time, because obviously there were so many challenges with supply chain orders and inventory was not coming in in time. People didn’t understand what the change in buying habit was going to be either, because obviously people weren’t going to brick and mortar anymore and more and more was going to the e-commerce side. So there were a lot of takeaways from that period. I think that right now,
people in the groove that they know they have to get their inventory in earlier. With what’s going on again with the tariffs is I think people are also taking advantage in buying more inventory now as opposed to potentially paying a higher cost for that inventory. And as a result, they’re also starting their sales earlier. , historically it’s always been Black Friday. That starts in October now. People aren’t waiting till November to actually offer the best deals because they want to ensure also that they have the flexibility with the transit times because if they look at a service that is going to be an overnight delivery, it’s going to be a high delivery cost, then if they look at a service that gives them some more leeway on what time it needs to be in-house. And by doing everything sooner in the calendar, it helps reduce costs, it helps ensure that they have the inventory, and it helps predict what additional type of inventory they may need earlier in the cycle.
Greg Kihlstrom (04:36)
Yeah, yeah. And I would imagine also, I mean, just the cost of if they’re buying more inventory sooner because of the tariffs, the cost of holding that inventory is also, I mean, consumers are also buying things at different times in the year and some of that’s shifting too. But the cost of holding the inventory, I would assume, motivates them to try to unload it early here as well.
Helaine Rich (04:58)
Right, and a lot of companies are also looking at bonded warehouses, which although doesn’t give them a huge window of extra time before they have to pay for the duties and taxes of importing those items, it does give them more time. And that gives them some flexibility to hold on to their income and their revenue. And then what they can do is start that promotion and then move the inventory out for actual shipping. So that’s been something that has become very popular as a question more than maybe everybody who’s gravitated to it, but it’s something that companies are looking at today. Got it. Okay.
Greg Kihlstrom (05:33)
So I want to talk about regional fulfillment strategies as well. And so we are seeing a growing emphasis on that. What’s driving this trend? Maybe some of the things we talked about already, but what’s driving this trend? And what are the key benefits for retailers in terms of cost reduction and delivery times?
Helaine Rich (05:52)
So delivery times are going to be something that’s very specific. Obviously, if it’s in country or if it’s in the EU, the delivery time is going to be much faster than coming from the US, unless they’re looking at, again, a courier type of next day delivery, which is going to increase their costs dramatically. But companies really have to do their due diligence and look at what the cost of having that inventory in that other country, in that location, compared to what their costs are here.
if they keep it in the States. Through the years, I’ve seen companies that have shifted inventory without really knowing whether it’s going to be a successful product in that region. And as a result, they’re paying for material to sit, where if it was in the US, for example, they had request, sit in the EU, but if they had requests for that product in Australia, they would have been able to easily fulfill those items. So they really have to look at
Is this a proven commodity? What are my costs, my overhead, my labor costs, everything else to have it there? And does that outweigh the potential additional duties and taxes that I might pay? So once they do their whole ⁓ analysis and they’d be able to make the best decision, what works for them?
Greg Kihlstrom (07:05)
Yeah, and of course, tariffs are a dynamic in that as well. And as of today, at least, things still a bit fluid there in many degrees. as global trade tariff dynamics impact some of these decisions, what advice would you give to brands that are trying to do kind of what you were just talking about, optimizing their distribution networks in this kind of environment?
Helaine Rich (07:30)
Again, just really look at all the details when, for example, right now the euro is so strong compared to the US dollar. So it’s still very advantageous for the EU community to purchase in the US. So you can’t just look at the tariffs. You have to look at every single part of the scenario that’s going to make sense for that particular consumer. Also look at new markets and see what areas are there positive changes.
For example, at the very end of 2024, Argentina made some significant changes, which has really made it a market that has a much more active buying population. So more companies are looking at how they can tap into that area. Those are the things that we try to do is really make sure our customers understand what are the advantages for particular regions. Two years ago, Saudi Arabia became very much involved in the e-commerce market and there was really high peaks in that and having the right solutions and making it easy so that again they could offer the DDP and kind of going back to what we suggest is we always look at the DDP solution. That’s going to be our first recommendation so that there’s no refused items once they get delivered to the recipient. They know what all the costs are and then obviously it improves the purchasing experience.
Greg Kihlstrom (08:57)
Yeah, and of course, mean, with this, let’s just call it fluid environment, that’s a lot for, , even a large organization that doesn’t just do e-commerce and things like that, , particularly small, mid-size, and even large companies to keep a handle on. you know, what’s the recommendation to understand? I mean, how does a company like Epost help in a situation like that?
Helaine Rich (09:20)
Right, so we really pride ourselves on our consulting approach. We work very closely with our customers and with our prospects. It was funny, even this morning, I was speaking to someone who came by our little space at the conference, and he was talking to me about looking for better solutions for international, and I said to him, you utilize DDU or DDP? And he said, we do DDU. We want them to pay the duties and taxes.
So I explained to him the benefits of utilizing DDP and his response to me was, you’re right. I’ve gotten complaints from Canada customers who aren’t happy that are getting these additional charges when they get their package. And obviously, most companies want repeat customers. So you have that one chance to make that first impression. And you want it to be a positive experience so that they will come back and buy more products from you, buy again, potentially refer your company to others. So whatever you can do, it’s not absorbing the expense, but it’s managing the expectations and us sharing those examples and customers will have that aha moment. We also have newsletters that we’re always updating our customers on everything that changes because it’s a lot, there’s a lot of noise going on right now and
It’s funny, of the, something I follow on Instagram, , a handbag site that I follow on Instagram, the other day, right across of it said, de minimis. And it’s like, how many people in the retail community actually, , that consumers pay attention to de minimis, but now it’s part of mainstream. So people want to know, they’re receptive to it. And we just really make sure, again, going back to understanding the importance of having the correct country of origin. That was a big thing when Canada rolled out the surtax, where people were so used to not really paying attention to that field because they’re like, it’s from the US going to Canada. It’s part of USMCA. It’s fine. But that’s not the reality. So right now, if you have US, but it’s China, you could be actually incurring more costs because
Only U.S. origin goods have that surtax going into Canada right now. Yeah. So educating them on the importance of accuracy and their information.
Greg Kihlstrom (11:41)
Yeah, and I think back to what the customer sees and what the customer understands in that, it feels like, even if it’s not intentional, it feels like a lack of transparency if they have to pay something upon receipt or something versus being transparent about that. Again, it’s not that the costs are necessarily different, but it’s just very transparent upfront, like this is what you’re going to get. And I think that makes a good or a better customer experience.
Helaine Rich (12:04)
Exactly, and what’s even more interesting is that particularly, say for example in Canada, if you send something DDU, it actually is a higher expense because they generally have to pay a collection fee. So they’re paying the duties and taxes and a collection fee. Where if you’re utilizing a company like Epos and you’re sending a DDP, you’re just, the shipper is only paying duties and taxes because we’re processing it the type of clearance that we do there’s no additional fee. So it actually ends up being a whole lower cost to the transaction to do a DDP at the end of the day.
Greg Kihlstrom (12:39)
God, and sorry for for newbies like myself with this. Could you define what is DDU and DDP stand for? Thank you.
Helaine Rich (12:45)
So DDP’s delivery duties paid. So basically what happens is the shipper is paying in the delivery duties and delivery duties, DDU is unpaid. So the recipient receives it without duties and taxes paid. So it’ll be their responsibility to pay those upon receipt.
Greg Kihlstrom (13:01)
Got it, great, nice. I like learning. So I learned something new today. That’s awesome. , along these lines, cross border e-commerce, there’s lots of challenges. We’ve talked about some of these already. What are things that retailers can do now to ensure, again, knowing there’s uncertainty, knowing that things are going to change, what can they do to get the most out of the global supply chain?
Helaine Rich (13:25)
So again, I’m being repetitive, but having the accuracy and the information, they want to ensure that things also move smoothly through customs. And one thing that’s really critical is to have the accuracy in the product descriptions, because customs is looking at that. They’re looking at the HS codes. You want to have the accurate HS codes because you want to ensure that you’re not paying a higher tax duty rate than you would have if you had a different description.
And then also in that regard is having accurate values. Because what happens sometimes is people don’t actually understand. A lot of retailers this time of year are running into bogos, buy one, get one. And they don’t understand how they should properly place the value in that. And if you’re going to put a penny for the value of an item because they’re basically paying for one, getting one free.
Customs is not going to accept that or understand that. So you have to have an understanding of how to communicate that properly in anything that you’re submitting so that you don’t have those delays, you don’t get things stopped. And the newest thing also is saying the word stop is stop words. So again, I’ve been in the industry, as I said, a very, very long time. And I remember when I first started in the industry, everybody would put, it’s a gift. And that would be the product description would be gift.
Right now there’s a very specific list of stop words that if that’s what you have in the description, it’s not going to go any further. So again, you want to ensure that your buyer is getting their product, understand what is going to help get that delivered.
Greg Kihlstrom (15:04)
Well, as we wrap up here, we’re here at eTail Boston and lots of great content. We’re day two here. What’s been a highlight of the event for you so far? Or what’s something you’re looking forward to?
Helaine Rich (15:15)
Well, one of the highlights for me really is understanding how AI is affecting the merchants in so many different disciplines and speaking to companies and regarding to how they’re utilizing AI to search the product so that it’s a more positive experience, a visitor experience when they go to a merchant’s website. Or speaking to one company that actually we have mutual customers that utilize AI to gather all the performance and the SLAs on the carriers and to understand is the performance meeting in line with the SLAs. so, , AI is the buzzword, but I think the goal of this conference or the takeaway is to really understanding how it can help companies’ business really move forward and in what area and direction they should utilize AI, just not talk about it, but actually implement it.
Greg Kihlstrom (16:06)
Yeah, I think it’s starting to get real for a lot of, or mean, those that just kind of jumped into the shiny buzzword or whatever may be struggling, but I think there’s a lot of practical use cases and I think everyone is, as some use cases have proved themselves out, I think now they’re, you what you’re talking about, things like that, there’s some real benefits to be had if you’re looking for it as a solution, not as a, , end all be all or something like that.
Helaine Rich (16:34)
Yeah, it’s really, it’s a more efficient way of doing things that maybe have always been done, but just doing it smarter, better, faster right now seems to be the end result of the technology.
Greg Kihlstrom (16:47)
Makes sense. Well, Helene, thanks so much for joining today. One last question before we wrap up. I’d to ask everybody, what do you do to stay agile in your role and how do you find a way to do it consistently?
Helaine Rich (16:58)
In our industry, you have to be. Every single day is a new day. There’s a new change and you have to be prepared. One of the wonderful things about our organization is again being privately owned is we have the flexibility to be very quick on our response. Again, know, stay on top of what we hear, stay close to the market, stay close to the customers and understand and anticipate what the changes will be and then start working on them before they’re needed so they’re ready to roll out within the best most productive time.
