"If we didn't open it up then, we just didn't have many customers. Now that we've opened it up, not to mention customers, we've even lost our colleagues."
This month, with the full relaxation of epidemic control, the number of new coronavirus infections has skyrocketed. Many cross-border e-commerce people have also been infected, and they have found that fewer and fewer colleagues come to work.
Especially for foreign trade factories and logistics, workers' successive leave due to fever has caused a rapid decline in the attendance rate, and the pressure on both the production and transportation ends is doubling.
Faced with this situation, many logistics companies and foreign trade factories have issued notices of time delays and delivery postponements.
Foreign trade factory: "Low rate of workers arriving at work, delayed delivery of goods"
Originally, this was the time when many foreign trade factories were working overtime to rush production. However, after the epidemic control was relaxed, the infection rate in factories, as areas with intensive personnel flow, continued to rise. In particular, some workers in the factories were older, had low immunity, and had more severe symptoms, and they needed longer time to rest, which seriously affected the overall production progress of the factory.
"It's too difficult. All the factory workers are out of work. No one is producing, let alone delivering."
"During this period, the most common news I received was about which factory had a number of workers who had contracted the virus."
A salesperson from a foreign trade factory in Guangzhou said that a large proportion of fabric suppliers, factories, and couriers have tested positive these days, and most of the workers have asked for leave to go home and rest. Every link is very difficult now... Our shipping efficiency has also become much lower than usual... Many previous orders have not been shipped yet, and some sellers are urging us to ship the goods, but there is really nothing we can do.
According to feedback from many foreign trade factories, their current situation is not optimistic, with the attendance rate of workers even less than 50%. Some factories say they have "fallen", with too many employees taking leave due to fever, one after another every day.
As a result, production lines were affected, and some factories had to issue notices of postponement, indicating that the delivery of goods might be delayed by 1-2 months. Some factories that originally had insufficient orders have announced that they would let their workers go home early.
Many sellers are also very anxious as factories are unable to deliver goods on time.
One seller said: "There are too many uncertainties during the period around the Spring Festival, and the express logistics capacity is tight. If the delivery date is delayed until next year, no one knows what the situation will be. Our store may be out of stock at any time."
In this regard, we would like to remind all cross-border sellers and foreign trade people that the domestic production and transportation processes are complicated, with many links. In addition, this year's Spring Festival is early. In order to ensure daily production and operations, everyone must make stocking plans in advance.
Domestic transportation: "Insufficient logistics capacity, goods cannot be shipped"
In addition to the failure to deliver goods on time, the domestic logistics situation also worries sellers.
As the year draws to a close, stocking up has reached its peak, and sellers are either busy delivering their final orders or preparing for next year.
However, due to the high mobility and wide contact surfaces of warehouses and express delivery positions, the chance of infection is often high. Now express delivery companies across the country are facing a situation of tight transportation capacity, which has led to poor logistics and transportation, resulting in goods not being shipped out, and sent goods not being received in time.
Due to the changing epidemic situation, logistics companies such as ZTO, Yunda, and Best have issued notices on the impact on cargo delivery time. Many places across the country may experience delays in cargo collection and delivery, and outlets may be unable to operate. Even many logistics companies have prepared for early holidays.
A seller said that the courier warehouse downstairs was full and no one was delivering the goods.
One seller said: "To prevent the impact of logistics paralysis, we asked the factory to ship out the goods as soon as the situation was relaxed. Even so, half of the goods were still affected. Previously, the goods from Taiyuan to Shenzhen could be shipped on the same day, but now they have to stay in Taiyuan for two or three days before they can be shipped. Most factories will have holidays early this year. After the New Year, it is likely that the factories will not have sufficient operating rates and will not be able to start work on time. Stocking is a science. If the inventory cannot be arranged in advance, the probability of out-of-stock will definitely be very high. By then, the world will be dominated by those who have inventory!"
Now that the Spring Festival is approaching, due to factors such as the epidemic, preparing for the spring of 2022-2023 is indeed a test for all cross-border e-commerce sellers. Logistics may be suspended ahead of schedule, and all uncertainties are increasing. I hope that all seller friends will prepare goods in advance according to the situation to avoid delaying normal sales.
Original text from:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/r0wpi38gxkcfngrGQoZ4hA
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