The unknown secrets of Russian cross-border logistics!

Russia, with a land area of 17 million square kilometers, ranks first in the world.

This vast land has always had a full sense of existence in the network. Many people have drunk their vodka, heard of the deep and secluded Lake Baikal, and know their aggressive style, but they don't know much about the e-commerce market in this magical land. Special line, small package Overseas warehouse ……

Today, let's talk about the "secrets" in the Russian e-commerce market. 
In 2016, the number of overseas orders for cross-border online shopping in Russia reached 245 million, 90% of which came from China. In 2017, the volume of e-commerce transactions in Russia reached 20 billion dollars.

This great business opportunity has led many Chinese sellers to rush all the way north, but this "road" is not unimpeded. It is planned that by 2024, all goods sold in Russia will be included in the unified national goods labeling and traceability system, and all legal compliance, customs clearance and tax package will be controlled by electronic labels Grey customs clearance "Will not be able to go on in the long run, reasonable, legal and compliant will be the future Cross border logistics The inevitable trend of development.

So, as a seller to Russia, how do you choose a suitable logistics channel?

Types and characteristics of cross-border e-commerce logistics channels in Russia

At present, there are about five cross-border e-commerce logistics channels on the market:

01. International small bags and international express

According to statistics, 70% of the parcels of China's cross-border e-commerce export business are delivered through the postal system, of which China Post accounts for about 50%. Its price is cheap and its delivery range is wide, which can basically cover most countries and regions in the world

Disadvantages:

The package weight and transportation are limited. Only packages below 2KG can be delivered immediately. The speed is slow and the package loss rate is high. It is impossible to judge whether the seller has signed for it.

02. International Express

It is mainly composed of UPS, Fedex, DHL TNT The four giants are in charge. International express is fast, with good customer experience and low packet loss rate.

Disadvantages:

The price is expensive, and the price and tariff change greatly. Class B customers also need to provide the customs clearance subject and according to the destination port tariff The import tariff shall be paid at the threshold.
 
03. Overseas warehouse

The seller stores the goods in the overseas warehouse, and then sorts, packs and delivers the goods in a large scale according to the order. It can reduce logistics costs, provide flexible and reliable return and replacement solutions, and solve the problems of high cost and long distribution cycle in the era of small package.

Disadvantages:

Not all products are suitable for use in overseas warehouses. It is better to use hot selling single products with fast inventory turnover, or they are easy to be overstocked. Operation and maintenance costs are relatively high, which puts forward higher requirements for sellers in supply chain management, inventory control, dynamic sales management, etc.

04. Cross border special line logistics

Generally, the goods are transported abroad by air charter warehouse, and then sent to the destination country through the cooperative company. Concentrate the delivery of large quantities of goods to the destination. This way reduces costs through scale effect. The price is lower than that of commercial express delivery, and the speed is faster than that of commercial express delivery postal packet The packet loss rate is also low.

Disadvantages:

The scope of collection in China is relatively limited, and the use of foreign mail or local customs brokers with express e-commerce clearance qualification for customs clearance needs to be expanded.

05. International service of domestic express

Both Shentong and Shunfeng have made early arrangements in cross-border logistics. The speed is fast, the cost is lower than that of the four international express giants, and EMS has strong customs clearance capability in China.

Disadvantages:

However, due to the lack of experience in focusing on cross-border business, the ability to control the market needs to be improved, and the coverage area is also relatively limited.

With the strict control of national policies and the attention of major platforms, click farming , gray customs clearance and other opportunistic means, the risk is growing, which is very easy to cause serious losses. If the seller wants to operate for a long time, it needs to have a long-term plan, according to the characteristics of different channels, choose their own logistics methods. 
Analysis on the pain points of cross-border e-commerce logistics in Russia

The logistics system in Russia does not match the Chinese e-commerce transactions with Russia. The credit of Russia's entire transaction system is not perfect, and the main bottleneck behind the imperfection is logistics. So, what is the reason for this problem?

1) Russia has a wide territory and a large span

The time of package arrival in Russia is longer than that in other countries. First of all, Russia has a vast territory and spans 9000 kilometers from east to west. On average, the time of package arrival must be longer.

2) Political factors interfere greatly

The political factors in Russia have a lot of interference. The channel is opened today, and may be closed tomorrow. The stability of logistics channels is very important. The mismatch of policies between the two countries will also have a great impact on logistics operations.

3) Low efficiency of logistics system

Because Russia only cooperates with China Post within the UPU system, other private logistics enterprises are shielded from the express delivery business in Russia. After all goods purchased through cross-border e-commerce enter Russia, only one Russian post covering the whole territory is responsible for delivery. However, not all packages can be delivered door to door.

4) Different lifestyle

Russia is different from the Chinese. According to the survey, Russian consumers have insufficient confidence in the logistics ability of retailers, and only 48% choose to deliver goods home. Most people don't like to send it to the door. They prefer to put it in the post office, like postal service, when they are free to pick it up.

It can be seen that as a seller and platform in the Russian market, it is necessary to understand and adopt relative solutions in line with the actual situation. The instability of Russian logistics distribution restricts and affects the operation of cross-border e-commerce logistics and the expansion of cross-border e-commerce business.

At present, the overseas warehouse market is relatively blank, and qualified sellers can choose a suitable overseas warehouse model to avoid the pain points brought by logistics: 
How to select the appropriate overseas warehouse

1) Try to choose those recognized by the official platform

Normally, the merchants who need Russian overseas warehouses generally have a large demand for storage, and the convenience of delivery of each platform should be taken into account. Therefore, it is very important to have platform support when selecting overseas warehouses, and it is more secure to select those with official endorsement. Only in this way can we truly ensure that our follow-up work will not be affected.

2) Pay attention to the comprehensive ability of the company

In fact, the Russian overseas warehouse is also a third-party platform, so it is necessary to determine the actual capacity of the operators, and select the ones that can obtain some formal information, such as customs declaration, commodity inspection, and sales contracts; On the one hand, it depends on whether it is a regular company; on the other hand, it depends on determining the compensation capacity of the other company. If you choose a company with strong comprehensive ability, at least you should not worry about compensation and warehousing.

3) Overseas logistics delivery capability

Different from Europe and the United States, Russia and the seller are nannies. The seller is handed over to the logistics provider, and the logistics provider is responsible for it. Since it is a cooperation with the Russian overseas warehouse, it is necessary for the other party to complete the relevant delivery services. It is important to measure the delivery capacity of the other party's company and confirm whether it is its own logistics company. To ensure timeliness and corresponding logistics delivery capacity, At the same time, we should also pay attention to the coverage of the delivery, so as to avoid the dead corner of the delivery.

4) Value added services

The overseas warehouse is complementary to the seller. In addition to the stable first journey transportation, there are also important end journey services. Therefore, what value-added services can the overseas warehouse provide to the seller is more advantageous, including value-added services such as returns, maintenance, after-sales, localization, etc.
 
Now more and more businesses are engaged in overseas business. As sellers, we need to be clear about the company's own development stage and positioning, and choose our own logistics mode according to product characteristics, sales season stock, sales expectations, logistics and transportation cycle optimization combination, so as to seize the advantage in Russia, a promising market!