FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ShipMonk, a leading provider of e-commerce fulfillment and technology solutions, today announced its international expansion and acquisition of El Mar Mexico (321 Fulfillment of Mexico). The fulfillment center based in Tecate, Mexico, is ShipMonk’s first warehouse facility located outside of the U.S. Situated in the El Bajio Industrial Park, less than 20 miles east from the San Diego, CA Otay Mesa border crossing, the warehouse will enable the company’s growing base of e-commerce customers to leverage U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s (CBP) Section 321 to legally bypass taxing on the majority of U.S. shipments, eliminating tariffs and import duties.
The Mexico fulfillment center will be completely owned, managed and operated by ShipMonk, in full compliance with Section 321. The legislation allows international shipments meeting the "De Minimis Threshold," items valued at less than $800, to enter into the United States duty-free. The law is particularly beneficial to e-commerce merchants in tariff-challenged industries, including apparel, home fashion products, or luggage, industries largely represented in ShipMonk’s customer base. Goods are legally imported into a free trade zone in Mexico under special license, and then shipped directly to the U.S. consumer within ShipMonk's comprehensive shipping zone coverage area, without paying duties and tariff fees.
“Section 321 is powerful legislation, designed to benefit e-commerce vendors that manufacture overseas and sell in the U.S. because it streamlines both costs and time for goods to reach consumers,” said John Grubor, ShipMonk’s COO. “We are providing a gateway for retailers to capitalize on this: reducing international shipping costs and eliminating tariffs and duties while maintaining the ability to ship directly to consumers. This impacts our customers’ bottom line in a significant, positive way.”
Over the past 12 months ShipMonk has raised $355 million in funding to accelerate its strategic growth and international expansion. ShipMonk Mexico is the first new location in the company’s plan for expanded carrier geographies and will be critical in efforts to enhance its technology platform to serve existing and new customers internationally. International expansion also increases ShipMonk’s workforce during this time in which supply chains and warehouses, in particular, are plagued by shortages of available labor.
“Every e-commerce retailer has been negatively impacted by supply chain hold-ups in some manner and seeks to operate more efficiently. We base our business decisions on how we can enhance our platform so it provides the foundation of clients’ continued success and growth,” said Jan Bednar, ShipMonk’s founder and CEO. “Expanding our footprint globally not only widens the scale of our operations, but diversifies the customer base we can attract with ShipMonk’s services - the more resources and locations we can offer enables our customers to scale to new geographies seamlessly.”
ShipMonk’s platform allows merchants to delegate the hassle of managing order fulfillment, tracking inventory throughout warehouses, and dealing with fluctuating shipping circumstances such as the current logistics lag. Heading into the peak holiday season, ShipMonk’s technology can give businesses the peace of mind that orders will arrive on time, accurately and reliably.
Founded in 2014, ShipMonk is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL and employs more than 1,200 employees across its U.S. operations, which include more than 1 million square feet of warehouse space in Florida, California, Pennsylvania and internationally in Mexico. The company serves a growing base of B2C businesses including: BrüMate, Liquid IV, FEAT, CatLadyBox and Glamnetic. ShipMonk has been recognized as a fastest-growing startup on the Inc. 5000 list, as a Deloitte Technology Fast 500 company, and profiled in Entrepreneur and Forbes.
ShipMonk has plans for continued international expansion and to open a European warehouse in 2022.
ABOUT SHIPMONK
From its inception in 2014, ShipMonk has operated with a singular guiding principle: to help small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses scale by offering technology-driven fulfillment solutions that enable business founders to devote more time to the things that matter most in their businesses. Put simply, ShipMonk helps e-commerce companies stress less and grow more. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL, ShipMonk has more than 1,200 employees across facilities in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Pittston, PA, Los Angeles, CA, Tecate, Mexico and Prague, Czech Republic. More information is available at www.shipmonk.com.
