What’s on our minds

Many ecommerce brands start with a single sales channel and add others as they grow — a DTC storefront, then wholesale accounts, then Amazon or Walmart Marketplace. Each channel comes with its own order format, packaging rules, and delivery expectations, and running them through one warehouse only works if the operation is actually built for ...

Anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) rulings shift more often than most importers expect, and a new determination can add substantial cost to a product line overnight. If you import from countries or industries with a history of AD/CVD exposure, staying current on active orders matters as much as getting your HTS classification right. Here’s ...

Switching 3PLs is risky if your Shopify integration breaks in the process. Order data, inventory sync, and tracking updates all depend on that connection working cleanly from day one — a broken handoff means delayed orders, oversold inventory, and a wave of customer service tickets. Before you sign with a new fulfillment partner, here are ...

The Northwest Seaport Alliance (Seattle plus Tacoma) moves well over two million TEUs a year, making it the closest major U.S. gateway to Asia by sailing time. For brands importing from China, Korea, Japan, or Southeast Asia, landing inventory in the Puget Sound and fulfilling from there means shorter ocean transits and same-week availability for ...

Every importer needs a customs bond — it’s a CBP requirement, not optional. But which type makes sense depends heavily on how often you import. Get it wrong and you’re either paying for coverage you don’t need or scrambling to post a new bond every time a shipment arrives. Here’s how continuous and single-entry bonds ...

The Port of Charleston is one of the fastest-growing container gateways on the East Coast, and it has pulled a wave of importers to the Lowcountry with it. The math is simple: clear your goods at Charleston, put them in a warehouse 20 minutes from the terminal, and ship to 75% of the U.S. East ...

Peak season mistakes are expensive. A stockout during a paid ad push, a warehouse that can’t keep up with order volume, or a carrier that runs out of capacity in December all turn a strong Q4 into a scramble. The brands that come through peak season cleanly aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets — ...

Chicago’s O’Hare corridor is one of the best places in America to run fulfillment. You get the second-largest air cargo gateway in the country, direct rail from the West Coast ports, and I-90/I-294 trucking access that reaches roughly 30% of U.S. consumers within a one-day drive. But “near O’Hare” covers a lot of ground, and ...