SCI Group, a leading Canadian 3PL specializing in e-commerce fulfillment and Transportation Management, has partnered with Bench, an athleisure clothing brand, to create a cross-border ecommerce fulfilment solution for the U.S. market leveraging duty savings made available through Section 321. This direct-to-consumer strategy enables Bench to deliver to e-commerce customers in the U.S. directly from Canada, creating cost efficiencies without any impact to delivery times.
Beginning in early 2021, SCI and Bench have built their relationship based on trust, strategic planning and proven results through the expansion of Bench’s Canadian, coast-to-coast wholesale business. This led to a new opportunity to expand Bench’s business into the USA with the SCI team building out a cross-border solution through their expertise in southbound ecommerce fulfillment and Section 321.
“We’ve had a great experience partnering with SCI to develop a new coast-to-coast distribution strategy for our Bench brand that services both the Canadian and U.S. direct-to-consumer market,” says Victor Levis, CFO/COO at Freemark Apparel Brands International. “SCI’s team worked closely with us to help us understand the benefits of Section 321 and guided us through the process from start to finish. Thanks to their expertise we’ve been able to expand our business and conveniently reach U.S. consumers.”
Section 321 is an exemption in the Canada-US-Mexico free trade agreement that allows shipments of products valued at $800US or less to enter the U.S., from Canada, duty free. For direct-to-consumer (DTC) ecommerce retailers, this offers an opportunity to reduce their cost per unit through waived or refunded import duties on items that enter Canada bound for U.S. recipients, without effecting the customer experience.
“We’re thrilled to be able to drive this North American e-commerce strategy for Bench from Canada,” says Dave Mack, Vice President, Omni-channel Retail at SCI. “By consolidating distribution in strategic centers in Canada, Bench is able to reduce their inventory carrying costs and turn products faster, while driving out duty and tariff costs”
To learn more about Section 321 and how SCI can help reduce your cross-border costs, please visit:Â https://www.sci.ca/section-321
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