There doesn’t appear to be any aspect of everyday life that has not been touched by COVID-19, shipping included. And nowhere is this growing need more obvious, or offering more potential, than in Latin America. In fact, 52 million people in that region are expected to make their first online purchase during the pandemic, which could create an increase of up to 30% in online consumers in some Latin American countries.
“The shoppers,” says AJ Hernandez, “will be expecting the sort of delivery times they’ve become accustomed to over the past few months.” SkyPostal, which handles Latin American logistics for a number of major global ecommerce merchants both directly and indirectly through freight consolidators, is preparing for the crunch. “We’re already blocking space with airlines,” says Hernandez. “We cannot take the chance, especially to a country like Brazil, that we can’t get lift.”
AJ Hernandez: 'The argument was that it was cheaper to actually send something from China to the United States than it was from the east side of New York to the west side of the New York.'
“There’s a 50% rate increase on average for all international services. Not only was there a rate increase, but there are also some services eliminated.” Freight forwarders, like USPS, stopped delivery services across more than 100 international markets, sending thousands of businesses that depended on them scrambling to find ways to get shipments to their markets.’
"The pandemic has forced people who were wary of shopping online to try it," says A.J. Hernandez, President and CEO of SkyPostal, Inc., "and now sales, including cross-border, are booming."
“These rate increases,” says A.J. Hernandez, president and CEO of international business-to-consumer shipping firm SkyPostal, Inc., “further confuse a global ecommerce marketplace already struggling with the market confusion and logistical difficulties caused by the recent coronavirus-triggered shutdown in international delivery.”
Shipping clothing to Latin America is becoming a growing opportunity for e-commerce retailers thanks to the region’s booming fashion industry. Let’s explore why clothing is a hot commodity in Latin America and consider some tips for shipping clothing to the region.
Latin America export markets offer an excellent opportunity to find new, eager consumers for your goods as you prepare to head into 2019. Limiting your business to one country is… well, limiting. Exporting your goods to foreign countries allows you to scale your company, as approximately 80% of the world’s purchasing power exists outside of the United States.
The cross border shipping challenges associated with doing business in Latin America are well documented. While the high cost of logistics and the complexity of tariffs and customs may be a deterrent to some businesses, these issues can be resolved by working with a logistics provider with experience in the region.
