Peak Season Importing

Importing products to sell for the holiday season can be stressful especially for first time shippers. Although it is still months before we will see Christmas trees lit up and red bows in store windows, it is not too soon to talk about shipping for the holidays. As we get closer to the holidays, we will start to see more and more specific shipments gearing up for the mad rush. Meantime, we are heading right into the peak season for international shipping. Unfortunately the face of shipping has changed quite a bit from 10 years ago, but the peak season surcharges and rush to the stores is just as high intensity as ever. So what is important for the peak season? Since it is usually a very busy time for suppliers as well as freight forwarders, NVOCC’s and steamship lines, it is important that everything flows through smoothly since every shipping container space on a vessel usually has a backup container waiting to ship as well. If one container is not ready, the next ready container will ship instead. For retailers, this is also the time to ship what is available since not only in back to school going to fly by, but the holidays will be here before we know it. Considering shipments can take up to a month to get to the United States from certain countries and more for the actual transportation to warehouses and on to stores, planning ahead is the only answer. Getting through peak season can only be stress free if you are prepared.