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Shipwire Newsletter Q4 2019
January 24, 2020
Q4 Peak Holiday Season is behind us and we’re ready to take on 2020! Our Teams have been busy with fulfillment during the busiest time of the year and are looking forward to changes and updates here at Shipwire.
- Document Integration in Shipwire for Battery-Related Products We have integrated the capture of Safety Data Sheets and Test Safety Reports into the Shipwire Platform for the shipment of goods that include items such as lithium batteries (or products that contain them), lead acid batteries, aerosols & flammable liquids, perfumes & fragrances and other items that require special consideration or regulation around handling and transportation. Any inbound or outbound shipments of products that fall into this category that do not have the necessary documents will be put on a temporary hold which will generate a notification in your Shipwire account. Please visit our support page for detailed information on uploading the required forms. See the “Uploading TSR and SDS Documents for Existing SKUs in the Shipwire Product Catalog” section for details.
- Shopify Inventory Sync On November 21, 2019, after successful testing with pilot customers, we turned on the new and improved Shopify inventory sync for all customers using this connection. This new sync uses Shopify’s upgraded API and replaces Shopify’s former method, which was putting inventory at risk of under and over selling. Customers using Shopify should review their Shopify catalog settings and ensure that all SKUs that are set to Shipwire for fulfillment also have inventory management (“Track quantity”) set to Shipwire. See here for more information. In the next few months, we will be making some improvements to reduce the time that it takes to sync inventory for Shopify products that are changed midday. For more details on the specifics of the new inventory sync, please see the FAQ section of our Shopify support page.
- North American Transportation Rate Increases
As previously communicated, many of our North American carriers have announced their annual rate increases. See below for details.
- FedEx
FedEx’s official changes went into effect January 6, 2020. Your rate changes were implemented in the Shipwire Platform on January 13, 2020. Parcel and freight changes can be found on the FedEx website.
- FedEx Express package and freight standard list rates increased an average of 4.9% for U.S., U.S. export and U.S. import services.
- FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery standard list rates increased an average of 4.9%.
- FedEx International Premium® rates will increase.
- Minimum rates for FedEx Express services will increase.
- FedEx Ground Multiweight® rates will increase.
- FedEx SmartPost rates will increase.
- USPS
Rate changes affecting USPS shipments will be implemented in the Shipwire Platform on January 26, 2020, in alignment with the carrier’s scheduled implementation date. These changes are detailed on the USPS website.
- Mail service rates will increase by an average of 1.9%.
- Priority Mail Express will increase by 3.5%, on average.
- Priority Mail will increase by 4.1%, on average.
- UPS
Rate changes affecting UPS shipments were implemented in the Shipwire Platform on January 13, 2020. These changes are detailed on the UPS website.
- The rates for UPS® Ground, UPS Air and International services increased by a net average of 4.9%.
- Canada Post
Rate changes affecting Canada Post were implemented on the Shipwire Platform on January 13, 2020. These changes are detailed on the Canada Post website.
- Prices for domestic parcel services increased by an average of 4%.
- Prices for USA/International parcel services increased by an average of 2%.
- DHL Global Mail DHL Global Mail has indicated a 2.2% increase for domestic. The international rate increase is 1.4%. Rate changes affecting DHL will be implemented on the Shipwire Platform on January 26, 2020.
- Purolator Purolator increased rates in September, however, the rate increase was implemented in the Shipwire Platform on January 13, 2020.
- FedEx
FedEx’s official changes went into effect January 6, 2020. Your rate changes were implemented in the Shipwire Platform on January 13, 2020. Parcel and freight changes can be found on the FedEx website.
- Warehouse Move – Tilburg to Waalwijk, Netherlands As previously communicated, we completed our warehouse move from Tilburg to Waalwijk, Netherlands from January 8-13. Learn more about the Waalwijk warehouse!
- Long-Term Storage Update In 2018, we introduced long-term storage fees to continue to enable space for our customers and encourage active management of aging inventory. Long-term storage fees were charged biannually (in March and September) for the months prior. Based on customer feedback, starting in March 2020, we will be implementing long-term storage fees as a monthly line item in your billing. The price and calculations remain the same, however, to relieve customers of accumulated biannual fees, they will be charged each month instead. Our pricing guide and support page contain information on long-term storage and how it is calculated. We also have a Long-Term Storage Business Report that is accessible via your Shipwire Account. This report monitors inventory stored for 6 months or more, identifying which inventory is projected to incur a long-term storage fee. Estimated charges are visible in your monthly billing statement and can be seen in more detail (SKU info by warehouse) on this business report.
- Non-Compliant Inbound Shipments All non-compliant inbound shipments are subject to delays and fees per our Receiving Guide. Non-compliant inbound shipments include, but are not limited to, pallets with mixed SKUs/product, incorrect labeling/barcodes, small parcel shipments, non-compliant pallet sizes, etc. Please review the Receiving Guide for exact requirements. Starting January 2020, all facilities will be thoroughly reviewing inbound shipments to ensure they meet compliance. Fees will be applied for all non-compliant inbound shipments as per our Terms of Service.
- Other news and events!
- Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services’ Order Management Platform, Shipwire, Reports Record Holiday Growth
- We will be attending Shoptalk in Las Vegas, NV, March 22-25, 2020. You can check out our full Q1 events list on the Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services blog.
- Check out the 2020 Fulfillment Center Schedule for a comprehensive list of warehouse closure dates.