Going Global: Expanding Your Reach Into International Markets With Ford Deihl From DHL eCommerce - EP. 39
In This Episode
In this episode of Unboxing Logistics, host Lori Boyer speaks with Ford Deihl, a product manager at DHL eCommerce, about the booming world of international shipping and the massive opportunities it offers for small and mid-sized businesses. Ford shares insights into the international market, how businesses can expand globally, and the strategies that can make international shipping easier than expected. The conversation touches on logistics, cultural differences, and how to optimize shipping costs while ensuring a seamless customer experience. The discussion ends with practical steps and solutions for entering new international markets.
International shipping: a major growth opportunity
International shipping represents a vast potential for ecommerce businesses, with global revenue expected to reach $6.3 trillion in 2024. Ford emphasized the importance of tapping into this market to reach new customers and grow revenue. "This is a way to grow your top line for your business and reach new customers," Ford notes. Businesses should identify markets where their products resonate and take advantage of the ease provided by modern shipping solutions.
With the right partners, it’s easier than you think
Expanding internationally may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Ford assures listeners that with the right carrier and shipping solutions, businesses can simplify the process. He recommends starting with familiar markets like Canada, the UK, and Australia, especially for small and mid-sized businesses. Using partners like DHL eCommerce, businesses can integrate shipping services seamlessly, without a heavy operational lift. "If it’s a big lift, it’s probably not the right solution for you," Ford explains, urging companies to leverage existing shipping and logistics partnerships.
Prepare for success
Ford stresses the importance of preparation before diving into international shipping. Having strong logistics, customer service, and a well-defined brand are crucial to success. Businesses must also ensure their storefront is optimized for international customers, including local payment options and realistic shipping time estimates. Ford emphasizes, "Ideally, what you're shooting for is a domestic-like experience for an international customer." Additionally, offering Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) can enhance the customer experience by eliminating surprises at checkout, further increasing customer satisfaction and conversion rates.
Links
- Connect with Ford on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forddeihl/
- Visit the DHL eCommerce website: https://www.dhl.com/global-en/home/our-divisions/ecommerce.html
Transcript
Lori Boyer 00:00
Welcome to Unboxing Logistics. I'm Lori Boyer. I'm your host here at EasyPost. And I have with us today, as our esteemed guest, Ford Deihl from DHL eCommerce. He is going to be giving you all the ins and outs of international shipping. International shipping is massive right now. In 2024, it's expected that 6.3 trillion dollars of revenue is going to take place internationally. And I know that a lot of our audience has been interested in kind of how to get going with that how to expand. And so that is exactly why I've invited Ford here today. To give us some of those answers. Ford, can you tell us, introduce yourself, tell us your role at DHL eCommerce and just give us a little background.
Ford Deihl 00:50
Thank you, Lori. Really appreciate it. And thanks for having me. Yeah, so I'm a product manager at DHL eCommerce. I'm focused on cross border solutions specifically for our small and mid sized businesses. It's kind of a new market for DHL. Really excited to talk about that. And get into it further.
Ford Deihl 01:11
Before DHL, I spent a little bit of time in consulting and also on the brand side of ecommerce. So kind of have both the carrier and brand experience. Yeah, really excited to be here.
Lori Boyer 01:24
Awesome. I love it. I'm going to ask you a couple of get to know you questions just so our audience can know the real Ford a little bit.
And then I'm going to ask for some takeaways. So my first question is to get to know you a little bit. Do you have a go-to comfort food? What is your go-to comfort food?
Ford Deihl 01:46
Oh, that's a great question. Yeah I probably have to go with like chicken parmesan. Really? Yeah, I'll have a chicken parmesan sandwich like any day of the week.
Lori Boyer 01:59
Wow! Yum! My daughter loves chicken parm too. Gets that like every time she can. I have to say, do you make it yourself? At home.
Ford Deihl 02:08
I do, yeah.. Yeah.
Lori Boyer 02:10
Yum. See, I'm, I'm not a very good cook, so I don't, but at restaurants, that's where I get my chicken parm. Okay. One more question. Any hobbies or interests that you have? What, what, how do you spend your time these days?
Ford Deihl 02:26
Yeah. So hobby interests, all consuming kind of project. I Recently. Bought an old house and been working on fixing it up and repairing it and renovating it definitely in over my head on that but it's you know Definitely fun to work with your hands and see where you create So that's that's where a lot of my time outside of work is going right now.
Lori Boyer 02:53
I love that. I have a co worker shout out to Alan who in almost every other meeting you see a ladder behind him because he's always working on something too. So, you got no ladder behind you, but I trust you're working on the house.
Ford Deihl 03:09
Yep. Moved it just before we started recording.
Lori Boyer 03:12
Okay, perfect, perfect.
Awesome. Okay. So. International shipping. If people have to hop off, I'm sure they're going to want to stay for the whole episode, but if somebody had to hop off right after hearing this, I want to make sure that they come away knowing a couple of key things that they can use in their business. So what are a few takeaways that you want people to remember after this discussion today?
Ford Deihl 03:36
Yeah, absolutely. So I think the first one kind of previewed right at the start here, it's, it's a growth area and you really want to get into it. So This is, you know, a way to grow your top line for your business a way to reach new customers. And yeah, you want to be part of that. So that's my first takeaway.
Lori Boyer 03:58
Okay, so big opportunity. This is an area of a big opportunity. Okay. Totally agree.
Ford Deihl 04:03
2nd takeaway is it's easier than you think with the right partners, the right carriers. Take a look at what you're already using for your shipping solutions. There's probably something that's already available that you can leverage pretty easily.
So, get into it, because it's growing, and two, it's easier than you think.
Lori Boyer 04:26
Okay, I love that. I think that fear is probably a big factor in people not wanting to expand. Fear of the unknown, you've never done it before, there's all kinds of challenges you might run into. So, I, I love that you said, it's easier than you think.
Because sometimes that fear holds us back. So Ford, what are, what are some signs that maybe people should start shipping internationally? We have a lot of companies who have kind of stuck domestically. Well, you know, we talked about that fear a little bit. So sometimes people are scared to branch into the unknown.
How, how can people know maybe that it is time to start shipping internationally?
Ford Deihl 05:09
Yeah. So in terms of kind of the, when, when are you ready? I would say you should have a strong foundation domestically in a couple of key areas. Principally kind of your logistics and operations model. So some of the things I think you should be getting right domestically, or at least, you know, have a strong process in place for where you're kind of fulfillment model your inventory management.
But also, you know, have a strong customer service customer support area in place as well with international customers. That's an area that you probably get some more inquiries in more. Where's my package? Questions and things like that. So. I would say those 2 areas should, you know, should be prepared to scale.
I would also kind of advise to have a a defined brand identity or something that you're really comfortable with and you're ready to take to other markets. Not every brand is going to work in every market, but having a focused identity and, and being able to market that identity, I think will do a lot better in terms of, of getting in, getting in the door.
Lori Boyer 06:24
Okay, awesome. So let's say that you've got a company, they are doing, killing it domestically. Everything's solid. They're looking good. They're maybe starting to hear some inquiries. Let's say they're, we'll pretend U. S. and they're gonna, you're starting to get people in Canada say, saying, Hey, do you ship to Canada?
And so somebody is like, well, maybe this is time. Maybe, you know, I've, I've got this brand. I, I, I feel like I I'm solid. I've done the things Ford has said. So, Walk me through step by step. What, what would you say you do next?
Ford Deihl 07:02
So I think Canada is a great example. 50 percent of our, our international volumes are going to Canada from U.S. Merchants. So that's probably the market that you want to start in. And the other markets that you might want to look at as part of an international expansion Australia and UK.
It's kind of easier markets to get into for English.
Lori Boyer 07:27
I know I say I'm noticing a trend. We got all the English speakers. Okay.
Ford Deihl 07:33
Yeah. Between Canada, UK, Australia. If you get into those markets, it's probably going to be 70 percent of your volume. Unless, you know, you're going to do super well in Thailand or something where your product is going to fit really well.
But yeah, so in terms of market selection, Canada, UK, Australia start with those markets. And look for a carrier that's going to support those markets, and it's going to support your, your product profile as well. So, kind of 3 things there, looking at carriers, identifying your shipping solutions and shipping solution, shipping strategy.
Ford Deihl 08:10
And also understanding what is going to fit with those, those two things. So if you're shipping really large items, you know, that kind of self selects some carriers and some shipping options for you some delivery options, but you know, I think start with an understanding of, of who's in the market and what they specialize in.
Lori Boyer 08:33
Okay. So I'm hearing, first step, pick the country. Do you recommend starting with a single country? I know that. I recently read I think it was Spotify, which, you know, they don't have goods, but they wanted to expand really fast and went into like 40 countries and had a complete nightmare disaster and had to retreat and, you know, they hadn't done their due diligence.
So do you recommend starting with a single country that you expand into? Can, do you recommend against expanding? So let's say you're like, okay, I'm going to do UK, and Australia and Canada. What is your opinion on it?
Ford Deihl 09:09
Yeah, my thought is go with all three, to be honest. If those are the three that, that you know, you think you'll do well in go ahead and start with those three.
It shouldn't be, and we can get into this a little bit later as well, but finding the right international solution, it shouldn't be a big lift operationally for you. And it shouldn't be a big lift. And it's from an IT or technology perspective, either. If it is, it's probably not the right solution for you.
Lori Boyer 09:38
Okay. So do you have to get your goods?
So I guess let's talk logistics because I'm thinking, you know, and we're going to talk to specifically, shipping here for a bit, and we can talk about some of the other issues you may face as well that you should look into. But when we're talking the logistics issue, is somebody going to need to get a distribution center in those countries?
Can they ship just having their stuff in the U. S.? How do they That's one of the fears, I think, is, you know, looking at the complexities around that. Well, how does that work?
Ford Deihl 10:12
So, you know, you can do what works best for your business, but I think the easiest place to start is if you're a fulfillment operations, if your warehousing is in the U.S., Start from U. S. direct to consumer and local market. So find a carrier that will you know, pick up from your warehouse and deliver to your, your customer in Canada or U. K. or Australia. I think that's the, the easiest place to get into this. Certainly, yeah, you can step up and start operating at a distribution center in local market.
There's a number of different complexities of that or partnering with the 3PL local market. But yeah, I mean, managing operations and in different countries. It's kind of a whole new area of the business.
Lori Boyer 10:58
That's one challenge people face is kind of the complexities of the shipping and the logistics. What are some of the other risks, other concerns people have that are maybe holding them back?
Ford Deihl 11:09
Yeah. So I think another big area is getting your storefront ready for an international customer. And there's a couple of things to look at here and a couple of things that Partnerships with EasyPost and other, you know, shipping softwares can really help you with.
Ideally, what you're shooting for is a domestic like experience for an international customer. So I think
Lori Boyer 11:33
Okay, wait, I had to stop you there. So your goal is a domestic experience for an international customer. Everyone, that's a Fordism. That's a great one. So You're trying to create that same experience.
So they don't even kind of feel like it was an international product that they bought.
Ford Deihl 11:51
Exactly. Yeah. I think a couple of, you know, key things there is, is website translation. So local Local language and local payments as well. So if you can get those two things off the bat, it's fairly easy to do.
There's a lot of services that will help you with that if needed. Those two things definitely make it feel a lot more local right off the bat.
Lori Boyer 12:18
Yeah. And I want to say, I love that you said get translation on your website. Ford has only asked us to go to the UK. Okay. Australia and Canada. And yet you're still gonna need some translation here.
It may be English, but there are nuances in all of those countries, right? And so, you know, obviously we know the spellings and some of the slight word differences, but those are all really critical. So I love that you pointed that out. You're gonna need that kind of translation. Currency, that kind of stuff can be a little bit of a challenge sometime.
I guess, do you have any tips around kind of the financial or currency? I know that like currency exchange, some big companies have had challenges with that in pricing correctly. I know when Target first went into Canada, of course Target moving into Canada is this whole case study of their own that is like kind of a never ending challenge.
But they ended up pricing things too high. They didn't convert well, their currency. And so then anyway, ended up being very unsuccessful because the prices were a lot higher than what it would be in the U.S. So I guess, do you have any suggestions or tips around kind of currency conversions or, you know, what, what people should be on the lookout for?
Ford Deihl 13:38
Yeah. I mean, like if you're doing business internationally, it's going to be something that you have to deal with. I think the scale of it, hopefully, you know, for a lot of our ecommerce merchants. You know, they're not going to have to take out like currency hedges or anything like that to, to, to you know, assist with this, but having your, your customers pay in local currency is just a great 1st step to help with that.
And to do that, I would say to kind of find a solution that will you know, can plug into the checkout process and handle that. It's probably not a poor competency of the ecommerce business, so. It's something I'd say to outsource, but yeah, that's, that's, that's my advice there.
Lori Boyer 14:23
Yeah, it's a great point. In this industry, I think networking and building out all the tools you have, I think a lot of people have more access to those kinds of knowledge and information than they think. I think as you said earlier, you said, Oh, it's easier than you think. Think, and I know that we have customers who call EasyPost and say, Hey, I'm thinking about going international.
Do you have suggestions? Right. And so I think everybody has different, you know, partners you're working with already that you could kind of get some of that info.
Ford Deihl 14:54
Yeah, absolutely. I just want to double down on that point. I mean, there's, there's so many different players in this industry and there's so many different connections between the different partners that You're absolutely right.
I mean, reach out to kind of your first point of contact and see who they know and see who they can, they can tap into as well. Because chances are it exists, it's built and, and it's relatively easy to plug in.
Lori Boyer 15:21
And that kind of makes me think a little bit about culture as well. So we kind of talked about we gotta deal with logistics, you gotta deal with currency and, and exchange and, and all of those challenges.
But sometimes there's slight cultural differences as well. How, how can you maybe get an insight into what you should be aware of culturally? Do you recommend finding contacts in the local area that you chat with? Do you recommend trying to survey people online, social media to talk to understand them.
But I guess, how do you suggest kind of that market research and understanding into understanding those cultural differences?
Ford Deihl 16:06
Yeah, so I think there's there's two ways of looking at this, 1 is if you're an ecommerce business and you're getting organic international customers. Chances are your product is, is going to do well.
If you add a few more marketing dollars and you tweak your shipping to make that experience a little bit better, you're going to start brand new into a new country where you don't have any existing international business that can be a lot more of a challenge. And I would suggest if you're going to go that route to and you're willing to make a little bit of investment marketing wise, to work with an agency that focuses on that area.
And that can tweak some of the marketing content to fit the local market and to fit the. Local consumer preferences. But again, yeah, that's a little bit more investment on your part. I think, you know, again, start with the, the, the, the countries where you might already have some organic international interest probably Canada, likely UK, Australia.
Lori Boyer 17:17
That makes a lot of sense. And I think that. One thing that, you know, our, our community here, I just want to say just because there are those cultural barriers doesn't mean that you shouldn't make an effort. One of my favorite stories is Walmart. When Walmart went to Germany, They didn't realize that, you know, Walmart has their greeters.
They were like, hi, welcome. Germans were very put off by that. And that was so weird to them. And so out of their culture. You're going to make mistakes. Walmart makes mistakes. Amazon made currency problems with the bank transactions when they went international. They struggled mightily. To be able to get their sellers payments fast enough instead of mistakes. I like to say opportunities for learning and growth and so Expect that there will be a few hiccups here and there. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. All those big companies didn't just say, okay, I'm not going to go internationally because we messed up. There will be some of those challenges, whether it's culturally whether it's with your logistics and how you're shipping, but There are a lot of ways around those things.
Another challenge that I can think of is maybe just dealing with regulations and customs and duties and people get really freaked out by that. Any suggestions or tips in that area?
Ford Deihl 18:44
Yeah, sure. So, I mean, that's, that's probably, yeah, top if not, you know, top three questions or concerns that people have when going international.
And there's, you know, A lot of different ways to handle this at this point. A lot of different solutions. So maybe just kind of very brief. What does this look like? So when you go into an international market and start selling. Items, countries may assess duties or taxes on those items depending on the item that you have that you're shipping might get hit with different duties.
And those vary by item type, by country. I mean, you probably won't be an expert on duties and you definitely don't need to be an expert on duties to, to be able to sell internationally. What I would suggest is to, avoid the kind of complexity of that with your customers as much as possible.
And I would really push at this point, a lot of our now DDP, which is delivered duties paid. And that's kind of the way to package up the transaction ecommerce transaction. Neatly, so that your end consumer doesn't have to to deal with any of the payment at the door of these duties and taxes that might be incurred.
So yeah, as we kind of see the industry moving more towards a DDP experience and like a neatly packaged transaction at checkout there's a lot of solutions that um we at DHL offer a lot of other carriers offer a lot of third party solutions offer to make that DDP experience. Very neat. And so I would say to look for a solution that is a duty and tax calculator or a plugin to your checkout, make, make that, make that process a little bit cleaner.
Lori Boyer 20:41
Yeah, I love that. I think that there are, first of all, I just want to say, I totally agree. DDP is definitely kind of where we're seeing people move Internationally, I think that that's just going to continue to grow as kind of a standardized process that that's what consumers expect. Are there other complexities around regulations?
So let's say, for instance. We'll just use you as an example, and obviously, as you've said so kindly, obviously, you're, you're team DHL eCommerce, but there are other shippers, there are other carriers as well. Let's say I came to you at DHL eCommerce, and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna use you to ship to Canada, and I'm located here.
I'm in Dallas, right? Can you explain a little bit, like, what would I need to do for regulations? Do you guys handle that? What, how does that look? Can you just kind of walk me through what that would look like on the carrier side and what I would need to know?
Ford Deihl 21:42
Yeah, absolutely. So if you came to us and you said, I want to ship items DVP what we would do is we take a look at your product catalog and see what items you're shipping and make sure that they can be cleared kind of seamlessly through our, our customs process.
Lori Boyer 22:03
Okay. So you would tell me, maybe this item is not going to get through very well. Let's hold off on doing that one, but this, these items are great. They should go through customs. No problem.
Ford Deihl 22:13
Exactly. Yeah. So we would advise on that. And then, you know, we would also an enhancement for the checkout process. We offer a duty and tax calculator as well that you could use to offer your customers the opportunity to see the duties and taxes in advance of. Of receiving the item.
Lori Boyer 22:36
So let's say for that. You decide you want to do DDU.
Ford Deihl 22:39
Yes. So that experience would be a little bit different for your end customer. And what that would look like is the kind of starting with checkout your customer would see item total. And taxes and they would check out as normal. And then when the packages shift and arrives to their door or to the post office, whatever is the last delivery point, they'll get a notification that they have to pay.
Any duties and taxes assessed for the item in order to collect it. So instead of the duties and taxes being paid by the seller of the business as it would be with DDP, they're paid by the consumer or the customer at the end of the line. When they receive the shipment you know, I think there's a couple of like externalities with this.
Some customers don't know that this is something that they have to do and they might refuse to pay it. You might refuse the shipment. That's a, you know, not a great customer experience. Even if you do, tell the customer in advance that there might be duties and taxes. You know, need to be collected when the items delivered, if you don't kind of communicate the amount, it could be a surprising amount and definitely not the best customer experience, in my opinion, for, with DDU.
Lori Boyer 24:02
Yeah, absolutely. Would you say then that on average, do you feel like more of your customers, people using you, you know, are more ecommerce kind of selecting the DDP model versus the DDU?
Ford Deihl 24:14
Definitely. It's almost all moving in that direction. I would say for particularly for the kind of small and midsize customers that are Using DHL through platforms and through shipping solution providers.
It's almost all DDP just based on that better car conversion, better consumer experience.
Lori Boyer 24:39
Okay. That's perfect. That's a little bit of our market research. We need to do right there. What did it, what are the competition doing? It's. Probably going to be DDP. Anything else you mentioned that, you know, that doesn't create a very good customer experience.
Anything else on the customer experience front that you recommend when it comes to international shipping?
Ford Deihl 24:57
Yeah. So a couple of, a couple of areas one would be to communicate transit times realistically. So, you know, if you are offering a couple of options at checkout or during, you know, kind of shipping selection.
I would say to add, you know, transit time windows to those realistic transit time windows so that number one, you kind of reduce your WISMO tickets. If it's in a realistic time window, you'll probably get less pings about those. But also, you know, just a lot of international customers expect that it will take longer.
You know, that's, that's Kind of table stakes for ordering stuff from another country, so I don't think that it will be too surprising or it will impact customer experiences negatively. I think it will actually impact it positively. If you communicate a realistic expectation.
Lori Boyer 25:56
Yeah, I love that. I think that transparency is just always key with consumers. They feel like they know what they're getting and what they've signed up for. Then, you know, it's kind of like you were saying at the DDU, sometimes people don't know, and then that's going to create this, this upsetting feeling. It brings about a little bit to me, a question of costs, you know, how do we control costs when expanding internationally?
Ford Deihl 26:24
Yeah, absolutely. That's a great question. And I think, you know, at the center of this conversation is striking a balance between speed and cost. Those 2 things will always be in a trade off whatever you're using as an international solution. But there are a couple of key ways I think you can manage costs.
So, number one I know this might not win a ton of favor with my colleagues, but shop around for different carriers, you know, see, what is going to work best for you. Some carriers are more suited to, you know, different types of products, different types of countries and their focus. On certain areas will lead to lower rates for you.
So that's, that's the 1st thing that I would say about that. The 2nd is maybe not always kind of top of mind, but tailor your packaging. A lot of carriers and a lot of. You know, even fulfillment houses will use DIM weight dimensional weight to to charge you.
So if you're shipping, you know, a box of pens and a pillow sized box, that's you're, you're going to get. dinged for that. So, you know, use the right packaging for your product and use as kind of tailored packaging as you can. I would say that that could be a great way to reduce your costs.
Lori Boyer 27:54
Oh, that's fantastic advice. I love that. Do you recommend offsetting any of the costs? To the customer, you know, adding it to the price.
Ford Deihl 28:06
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's, that's probably where we should start is, is figuring out your shipping strategy. So, you know if there's a couple of great toggles here and most platforms, most shipping solutions will offer you the option to put flat rates in to put free on a certain level to use carrier calculated rates.
So, I would say, yeah, definitely take advantage of the levers you have there. Sharing shipping, international shipping, you know, in some cases could be 10, 15 percent of the order total, if not more, it's a big factor. So if, if illuminating that is going to lead to further conversion, if you're in kind of a growth mode and you want to get into the market, establish a name then, yeah, I would strongly suggest. To keep those costs out of out of the checkout process.
But yeah, if you are wanting to pass that on, if you're pretty established, if you're shipping high value items. And it's less of a percentage of the total and yeah, that's another lever that you can, you can toggle.
Lori Boyer 29:15
That's, that's awesome. And I just want to say as well to make sure you just keep testing, because that's what I'm hearing from you, Ford, is based on your circumstances, you know, if you're in wanting high growth and, or whatever it is, it might be slightly different.
So test out different options and, and don't just give up just because, you know. You sent your Walmart greeters to Germany and they didn't like it. You know, whatever your mistakes are, just learn from them and, and move on.
So one of my questions is also, let's say returns. That's another area that I sometimes hear, at least EasyPost customers are like, Hey, I'm a little bit nervous about dealing with returns and whatnot. Internationally, do you have any tips, suggestions around delays, returns, any of that kind of stuff?
Ford Deihl 30:01
Yeah, it's a tough topic for sure. What I'll say about returns is to take a hard look at the kind of cost benefit of them internationally. So. You know, if and what I mean by that is, is, is it worthwhile for your business to either, you know, double the shipping costs for the customer to get the return back if needed, or eat those return costs depending on what you're shipping.
It's. You know, and what we see in many cases is customers are kind of unwilling to pay for that return turn shipping charge just based on on, you know, the price at some other complexities with that is, you know, it's kind of hard to get things back into the U. S. Ironically we have. A lot of customs controls ourselves that, you know, we don't necessarily have to worry about going outbound to other countries, but it might not be able to get back in.
So that's a uniquely international return issue but something to definitely think about. And yeah, so caution ecommerce businesses to one, take a hard look at the return cost benefit profile there and then try to catch as many things. Upfront as possible.
So, you know, if if you are concerned that something might get rejected at customs or something might not make it to the end customer, talk to your carrier about that and see what they can advise.
They're a great source for identifying what can and can't ship you know, validate addresses as much as possible to make sure that items are going to get to. Where they need to go, and they won't get returned for being undeliverable. So just try to take as many of those off the table ahead of time.
Lori Boyer 31:57
Yeah, I absolutely agree. I always say your first return strategy, your first line of attack should be trying to not get something needing to be returned. So whether that's your, you know, You know, getting really good descriptions on your website of what the item is. If you've got, you know, customers sharing, whether, you know, if it was clothing, if it's too big, too small.
I would also think if you have items that have kind of a high return rate domestically, maybe don't start by shipping those into internationally. And I also think maybe you could do some resale or some programs. In the country rather than trying to get it back.
But again, as we've talked about earlier, you're building that network. There are always people who are going to know if you work with the returns company, if you, you know, know people who are in the industry, talk to them about what other people are doing and how to deal with it. So just don't make it so such a hiccups that. You're too scared to try, if that makes sense. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about, I'm just wanting to kind of picture the whole situation.
So I've decided, you know, I've got these signals, market signals, that it's time to go international. I've got some interest. I've been having, you know, like you were saying, some people are wanting to buy products. I've done my market research, I've updated my website, I've got, you know, translated the language.
I think I've got my systems down. I've, you know worked out, let's say that I've, I've gone to DHL eCommerce and I'm saying, okay, I want you to help me, walk me through what that process would kind of look like from that point, just so I understand.
Ford Deihl 33:36
Yeah, absolutely. So I think this is a great way to kind of lead into a new program that we have just for SMBs. And that's. A lot easier to integrate with now. So, you know, I think our goal as a company was to tap this segment. That was kind of previously you know, not really part of our, our core customer base.
We have been working with a lot of larger customers, maybe with. Kind of developed warehousing and fulfillment operations and had enough volume to sustain a daily pickup where we would come with a truck, fill it up with hundreds of packages and we're on our way.
I don't think that model really fits you know, kind of where the direction ecommerce is heading, which is the smaller scale shippers. So, that said, the kind of integration is a lot easier now, and it's available through shipping solutions like EasyPost. We are we just launched with easy post for this.
New way to do business with us. So the process is you request a label from easy post just as you do for your domestic orders. This time for international and you'll get a shipping label as you normally would slap it on the package. And then with this program, you just take it right to your post office.
Drop it right with the USPS and it goes on its way from there. That's the start of the journey. The end of the journey is, you know, UK, Australia, wherever it's going to your, to your customer there.
Lori Boyer 35:12
Okay. And so from there, once I hand it off, then you guys help deal with, again, as you said earlier, like the customs and, and we would have walked through that already.
How, how does that work?
Ford Deihl 35:25
Yeah, absolutely. So I think the unique thing about our partnerships is. When you have an integration with EasyPost and you select one of these labels, you'll see the duties and taxes and everything calculated up front. You'll know exactly what that will be.
So when you when your customer is checking out, they are pre-paying all those duties and taxes. And all of the kind of logistics of clearing customs and getting it to another market is, is handled by DHL.
Lori Boyer 35:58
That does make it super easy. Super easy. Yeah, I love that. Okay. So obviously there's some easy ways. I love that new program. That is something that's really exciting. Obviously if you're a big shipper, there's still all the great opportunities out there.
That have always been out there. Trucks are still going to be willing to come to your site, but yeah, for SMBs, I think that's super cool. Anything you wanted to say on that board?
Ford Deihl 36:22
For enterprise customers, the integration was still with DHL. And so kind of all of the label requests, all of the data is going to go through DHL.
And yeah, if you're a big customer, we'd still love to have you. And You know, I think what I was kind of speaking to is that this new program, you can ship any volume you want with our large customers. We have all your minimums to make sure that it's still worthwhile for us to make the trip out to your warehouse, but new program. Ship anything you want. One to one thousand. We'll take it and process it.
Lori Boyer 37:00
Okay. What a fun way to kind of test out your international market. You got one package. You can, you can send one package, right? So I think that is really cool. In the past, we've been stuck a lot with kind of some of those minimums and, and getting access to people like DHL. So that's, that's cool.
Okay, I'm going to kind of summarize. We're out of time, but I want to summarize a few of the points that I heard, some of the key takeaways that I'm going to remember, and then I'm going to ask for you if there's any final advice you have or any final tips before we go.
So number one, Don't be too afraid to make the change. This is there's a lot of opportunity. It's not as hard as we fear you know, there are all those little things we talked about dealing with customs and culture and All of that though can be addressed by building out a network of people and support whether that's your carrier whether it's a shipping solution like EasyPost whether that's You know working with your WMS or your IMS or that you've got a lot of knowledge In your base out there, Work on building that up and creating kind of a good community of people to support you in this.
Do your market research into what, you know, your customers are going to want. I loved the point where you talked about how if you've got something that's doing really, really well here, that's probably a great thing that you're going to want to try out. I also really liked your eye, your point about the fact that there are some things that may might not clear customs, but when you work with carriers or whatnot, they can help, you know, and understand.
And another final point I wanted to say was the DDP. That that's really the model that we're moving into. So just from kind of an awareness standpoint you can, however, get those costs done and taken care of by the customer. It doesn't have to be super expensive and crazy to do.
And my advice is just to give it a try, you know, get out there and give it a try. Don't let fear hold you back. So do you feel like I missed anything Ford? Any, any other big takeaways I, I should have said?
Ford Deihl 39:07
I think that's a great summary. I think it's a really exciting area and people should, you know, be really excited about going international. I mean, that's a, that's a, an awesome thing to, to get your ecommerce business out into other markets.
So take advantage of it. And absolutely. It's, it's easier than you think. Leverage the right partners and the right solutions.
Lori Boyer 39:30
I love it. That is perfect. Awesome. Ford, if people want to connect with you, are you on LinkedIn? How, how could they learn from your brilliance?
Ford Deihl 39:41
Yeah, absolutely. Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. Or Deihl on LinkedIn and you can also send me an email for that Deihl at DHL and happy to answer any questions.
Lori Boyer 39:53
Thanks for being here. We'll see you next time, everybody!