Client

Lower logistics costs created a virtuous cycle

——Please tell us about your company profile.

Our company operates a mail-order business targeting overseas customers, known as cross-border e-commerce. We were founded in 2015, so this is our seventh fiscal year. We chose Kyoto as the base for our founding, as it is a place where the appeal of Japan is easily understood from an overseas perspective.

Our products are mainly sold and shipped to six countries: Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. In order to expand our business in anticipation of rapid economic growth, we have set our broad market focus to Asia and Southeast Asia. This has not changed since our founding. We also ship some products to the United States and Europe.

Since the products that sell vary from country to country, it is essential to conduct marketing for each country. In addition to conducting research online, we communicate with customers within the platform and obtain local information from our foreign staff to sell products that meet their needs.

-What kind of products do you sell and on what platform?

The store handles a wide range of products, including home appliances, daily necessities, and cosmetics. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have been changes in best-selling items. Demand for disinfectant-related products such as hand soap has increased, and hobby-related items such as puzzles and outdoor goods are currently selling well. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, lipstick was a big seller, but as people are now often wearing masks that hide their mouths, eyeliner is selling better.

We use platforms that are suited to each country, taking into consideration the needs of our customers. In addition, we also operate our own e-commerce site.

--Please tell us how long you have been using the logistics services you are currently using, the scale of your services, and your main destinations.

ECMS Japan (hereinafter referred to as ECMS) uses international courier services for Taiwan. We have been using them since the fall of 2019, so it has been exactly two years. Shipping volume has increased significantly in the last three months or so. Every day, we send packages from our warehouse in Kyoto City to the ECMS warehouse in Chiba Prefecture. Starting in October, we plan to use ECMS's fulfillment service for all packages sent to Taiwan. We hope to double our shipping volume by the end of this year.

——What logistical challenges did you face before using ECMS?

Shipping to Taiwan was a cost issue. Before using ECMS, we had outsourced shipping to other companies, but the high shipping fees led to a vicious cycle where customers refrained from purchasing.

It was during this time that we discovered that ECMS offered low delivery fees, and so we decided to introduce it. As logistics costs decreased, the number of orders from customers increased, and as shipping volume increased, costs decreased even further, creating a virtuous cycle. Even though delivery fees were lower than with the logistics company we previously used, delivery speeds did not slow down. Since using ECMS, it has become easier for us to generate sales, and the number of packages we order has been steadily increasing.

Previously, an incident occurred that forced us to temporarily shut down our warehouse, completely halting shipments. We felt strongly that we needed to decentralize our logistics bases so that we could continue shipping even in the face of such risks. As a first step in this direction, we decided to adopt a fulfillment service.

There aren't many other companies that are so supportive.

——What are the benefits of using ECMS and what effects has it had?

The best thing about it is that it has reduced logistics costs, which has also led to an increase in our sales.

We often hear from customers that their products arrived without any problems from Japan and that they arrived sooner than expected. Taking into consideration the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been telling customers that their products will arrive in about two weeks from the time of order. However, in reality, they arrive in about a week, so using ECMS has left a good impression on customers.

ECMS gives us a lot of information that we don't know. When we have problems, they absorb them, consider various options and make improvements within ECMS, and then provide us with feedback. This is also very helpful for us.

Previously, we had an issue with a large home appliance being damaged during transportation. ECMS gave us advice such as "How about taking out insurance?" and "How about reconsidering the packaging?" After making these improvements, the rate of damage incidents decreased to one-tenth of what it was before.

Compared to other logistics companies, I get the impression that ECMS is very supportive of our company. It depends on the individual company, but some are slow to respond, and some are difficult to communicate with at the person in charge level. I'm glad that we used ECMS, as it gives us the feeling that we're doing business together.

——What are your expectations for ECMS in the future?

It would be great if logistics costs could be reduced a little more. This applies to international courier shipping fees, but I would also like to see cost reductions in the fees for the new fulfillment service we plan to use. Currently, we are only requesting shipments to Taiwan, but if costs can be reduced, we would like to consider using this service for other destinations as well.

In the future, we plan to request fulfillment of products that are at risk of being damaged during delivery. We would like to ask you to use our improved packaging method for packaging such products.

When we introduce the fulfillment service, we plan to have ECMS warehouse staff visit our warehouse to see how we pack and work. Therefore, we hope that they will understand the level of packing we do and then do something at the same level or even higher.

--Please tell us about your company's future prospects.

As I mentioned earlier, we would like to double the amount of shipments we request from ECMS by the end of this year. When that happens, our company's resources alone will not be enough to handle it. From this perspective, we absolutely need ECMS's assistance, including fulfillment services such as inventory storage and packaging.

Our company has a large amount of sales data based on our sales performance to date. In the future, we would like to focus on analyzing that data and create a system that can utilize it for sales. We believe that data on what kind of demand exists in what countries and to what extent can also be used by manufacturers developing products.

We plan to increase the number of destinations. However, there are still areas in Asia and Southeast Asia that we have not yet covered, so we will start by firmly establishing ourselves in those areas. After that, we would like to expand to Europe and the United States.