The Future Of Ecommerce Shipping — Erez Sages | Why Sellers Must Adapt To Trade Laws, How AI Avoids Delivery Issues, How Automation Speeds Up Shipping Tasks, What Complicates Returns And How To Fix It, How Automation Saves Shipping Time (#391)

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In this episode, we dive into the changing world of global e-commerce shipping as trade policies shift. 

Our guest, Erez Sages—founder and CEO of iBundle—shares insights on adapting to new international shipping rules, including the effects of recent U.S. trade changes. He explains how AI-driven logistics are cutting delivery failures, streamlining cross-border routes, and lowering costs for online sellers. 

Erez also breaks down smart strategies for managing multi-platform sales, simplifying returns, and being upfront with customers about shipping costs. 

Topics discussed in this episode: 

• Why eCommerce sellers must adapt to new trade laws. 
• How AI prevents failed deliveries and shipping issues. 
• What makes returns hard and how to simplify them. 
• Why duties at checkout hurt sales and how to fix it. 
• How to manage shipping across multiple platforms. 
• Why postal shipping no longer works for eCommerce. 
• How automation saves time on shipping decisions. 

Links & Resources 

Website: https://www.ibundle.net/
Shopify App Store: https://apps.shopify.com/ibundle?st_source=autocomplete
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erez-sages-358642b7/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077930402227 

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Transcript

[00:00:00] This episode is sponsored by Brevo. Time to take your marketing to the next level. Brevo is the all-in-one marketing platform that helps you connect with customers through email, SMS, WhatsApp and automation, all from one easy to use platform. Keep your customer data organized, personalize every message and drive real engagement effortlessly.

Try Brevo for free, or use [00:00:20] ECB to save 50% on start and business plans for the first three months of an annual subscription. Head to Brevo.com/ecb. Today, you will find a link also in the show notes.

Hey there, this is Claus Lauter and you're listening to the e-Commerce Coffee Break podcast, the show that helps you become a smarter [00:00:40] online seller. In today's episode, we discuss how to navigate global trade shifts, the future of e-commerce shipping, and what this has to do with ai. Joining me on the show is Erez Sages.

He's the founder and CEO of iBundle, a pioneering tech e-commerce logistics platform, optimizing international supply chains for global brands. So let's welcome onto the show. Hi Aris, how are you [00:01:00] today? Hello? Hello. I'm great. Thank you.  Erez shipping can be very complex. What are the biggest issues affecting global e-commerce shipping right now?

I think that at the moment we can see a lot of diversity and changes in in regulations. Just yesterday we, we had the announcement of Trump's new [00:01:20] administration signing the executive orders of changing the way, the US one of the biggest consumers in the world are approaching e-commerce and tax and duties and how they look at cross border shipping trade.

So I think that's one, one of the main concerns at the moment in, in our. Of [00:01:40] B2C, B2B, cross border shipping. That's that's a huge threat and a huge opportunity at the same time. So I think that's one of the most interesting issues at the moment. And what are the solutions out there and how I ask a Logi, a logistic company or a e-commerce business how they're gonna handle it from their perspective.

[00:02:00] Now, it really depends where you are. You're in China, you have different duties. You're and regulations. You're in in the uk, in Europe, in each country got its own kind of method. So it complex things and we know that supply chain is complex anyways. To add to it another complexity, which can be very very downside and also a great [00:02:20] opportunity for lots of brands that.

Haven't got entered into a cross-border to sell cross-border worldwide. Shipping logistic has been a very traditional business for a very long time, but there's a lot of innovation specifically with AI that came in and as everyone has to ship out their products obviously you need to look into it and optimize [00:02:40] what are the latest innovations in tech when it comes to logistics.

I think that the latest we looking at ourselves and IB bundle as as entrepreneurs in the supply chain. And we involved a lot of AI in our in our system and optimize the routes. So understanding what is the best way to ship from [00:03:00] A to Z and to find the best route in order to do it.

And there's lots of ways, there's lots of providers that are, that's their job. That's what they're doing on a day-to-day basis. And we are here in order to find the best solution for every single package and to determine which option is gonna be the most beneficial for the business and for the client.

The e-commerce [00:03:20] world is developing enormously and it's changing a lot in the past five, six years. The logistics aren't and there's a gap. And this gap is can be can be leveraged due to technology. And first of all, understanding what are the problems. Second of all, understanding how to solve them within the existing options [00:03:40] and with, to add on them lots of other different shipping methods using technology capabilities.

Ai, I know it's a buzz and everyone likes to say ai, and that's how ' cause because it's it's, it is a new thing out there, but I can talk on our behalf and our innovation. Part of it is. [00:04:00] I would say kind of a brain behind the scenes that controls that shipping tower. It controls each and every route, each and every way from A to Z.

Which one is the best option, not just on price wise, on time of arrival, on regulations on is it was the journey was successful at the past. [00:04:20] Was it not successful? So we learned all those and we learned not just from us, we learned from a lot of different careers, logistics providers, e-commerce businesses.

We learn from their data and we learn from their past experience. On ages, codes on regulations, on ets, on less mile providers, on returns a percentage of return, [00:04:40] percentage of loss, percentage of damages. And then we we show our customers. That's, we think that's the best option, not just one, but multiple options that we think you should you should approach from your destination from A to z.

And in that way we, we find kind of cost effective way for our clients and for their clients, [00:05:00] B two, B2C, and we're always trying to create a successful path. So the logistics world. It's not that they don't care if the package will make it or not. They do, they care. But to, to some instance, like, the big threes, UPS, FedEx, DHO you can ship with them and it's great.

They won't guarantee anything. We won't [00:05:20] guarantee any, anything as well. But you can ship whatever you want to, wherever you want. And it might stuck in customs, it might go back, we're trying not to do that. We're trying to understand, first of all if, what's the success ratio for that package and that material to arrive from A to Z and what we think you should avoid of doing.[00:05:40] 

And. It helped us a lot. Obviously it's a lot of taking upon of us and a lot of things that we need to understand before we decide. Not nothing is 100%, but the chances that the journey from A to Z will be accomplished by this method are high likely, so we. The system will choose that option.

[00:06:00] 'cause we don't wanna be have thousands of WiMo, where's my package from end clients to the business and get hit by them. That's not cost effective for us, even though if it's gonna cost for all of us another $2 at the end of the day. We prefer to have low limos. Great success. And I think that's where the e-commerce world is is going at the moment.

As [00:06:20] everyone wants quiet. They wanna sell their goods, they wanna make sure it arrives to the client. They wanna make sure it's in a it's in a comfortable price. So they're not, they're still making money or subsidizing the shipment but not hearing back from their customer that experience at the end of the day, which reflects on their store.

So that's, I think that's the key the key element at the moment with [00:06:40] e-commerce global shipping. Yeah, I think a lot of listeners can feel you. And I have been the seller for eight years on Shopify, and the last thing you wanna do is dealing with customer requests when UPS or one of the bigger ones messed it up.

And then you have an unhappy customer, probably not a returning customer, and it's just a lot of waste of time [00:07:00] involved in there. And obviously it comes. For a cost. Now let's talk about cost. At IB bundle, you do things a little bit differently when it comes to cross-border shipping. Tell me how that works.

I. So we're trying to find for each for each customer, we're trying to find the best option for him. So we know there, there's not usually, there's not one [00:07:20] shipping option for customers. He has some some expensive expensive items that he would like to ship, express, and have some insurance on top of them.

And that usually is around 15, 20% of a regular medium sized business. The rest. Used to be four or five years ago, used to be shipped by postal [00:07:40] services. Now, these days, the postal service, most of postal services are not really compliant with e-commerce services. You can't really ship something with a post option from A to Z in a marketplace and not to have an answer in three weeks time.

Whereas my package, it's your grade is gonna go down and therefore what you [00:08:00] just said at the moment. Not happy customers, not happy business, not happy marketplace. Everyone is unhappy. It's a combination of those things and because the postal offices are failing in it's a fact.

And they lost the past two years. 70% of their of their volumes into [00:08:20] consolidators, into to other providers because they can't afford that type of service. Everyone needs to be Amazon oriented service. It needs to be there, it needs to be on the spot. It needs to be fast, it needs to be cheap.

It needs to have the old package, and it's very hard to do so we always find those, those 15, [00:08:40] 20% of, we'll call it express and fast service, and the other 80% with mixed options that we can find and help the customers usually they're a bit higher than the postal service. But they're much more a sufficient for e-commerce businesses.

So it's always in between. Really depends on the business itself. [00:09:00] Sometimes depends on the checkout strategy that the business has. Free shipping. So obviously you need to choose something that will lie in between the express and the postal. Just in between. And that's the aggregators, the consolidators the freight forwarders, the Type 86 into the US and the iOS s into the, into Europe.

So [00:09:20] we're finding the best solution, tailor made, payer, customer and we're integrated to all of these brokers, less my providers freight forwarders. So we actually were building the shipping method. For for the business itself. So that's, I think that's also very unique and doing [00:09:40] everything by by the system, by, by that brain that I said before.

That's our secret sauce, how to build it all and, and make it all work. Nothing is always a hundred percent automatically, but most of the stuff that we do are automatically. And we involve AI in it like, like we mentioned in the beginning and makes thing much, much faster. And it's [00:10:00] just a very exciting time to be in that in that industry.

I think. Yeah, I just highlights that shipping logistics is a very complex topic, and I didn't know that 70% of the volume went away from the traditional post office, which shows you that you need to be on top of the game to not lose money by shipping. As an online seller, how does it [00:10:20] work if you are a omni seller?

So you're selling on multiple platforms like say, Amazon, Shopify, eBay, whatsoever. Now one of a sudden you have different platforms you're selling on, and with that comes more complexity. How can you handle that? How can you make that easier? So we have a multi-channel for those e-commerce brands.

We have more than 40 [00:10:40] different integrations into marketplaces and website builds such as Shopify workplace et cetera. And in few clicks we integrate the stores into IAnd, and then we get all the orders into the system and we, for every client, we choose rules. So there's kind of a rule.

After we understood the method we want to operate [00:11:00] with you, we operate automation rules that will choose every time the option for Spain use X, Y, Z. For X you need documentation, say country of origin X in order to avoid taxes. So all of those things will be behind the scenes automatically and choose the best option.

For your shipping. Doesn't matter where it came [00:11:20] from which marketplace, obviously, each marketplace has its own rules, its own regulations, its own tracking method. They, so we're trying to be very sensitive to it and to provide them whatever they need and each marketplace and the customer at the end of the day has a visibility to that, that shipping tower.

It can look at it in one [00:11:40] place in I bundle. And understand this order came from Etsy and it went with X. This one came from Amazon, went with Y. This one is also, I have another, I have a warehouse in the US where I do some Amazon. I do some of my own, so I have that as well. So I can manage everything, eh, from one [00:12:00] stop shop, if you call it if you will.

That's how we support those multiple integration marketplaces. And now a quick break to thank the sponsors of today's episode. Are you looking to take your business marketing to the next level? Meet Brevo, the All-in-One marketing and CRM platform designed to help you connect with customers, drive engagement, and grow your [00:12:20] business.

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Head over to Brevo.com/ecb and take your marketing further with Brevo. You will find the link in the show notes. Okay. [00:13:00] Oh, it makes perfect sense to have everything in one place, specifically with. Platforms like Amazon where you need to prove that you have delivered on whatsoever and to get punished if you can't.

You wanna have everything in one place. Now, if you have delivered successfully to the client, obviously there's a huge percentage of clients who send are sending it back, have a return. How do you track returns? [00:13:20] So we, there's two kind of return, like in, in very high levels. There's two kind of returns.

There's a return to sender, which was there. There was a kind of a failure to arrive to the client. So everything arrives to our facility. It gets scanned there. We chose on the system and we decide with the customer. Some customers would like to destroy it, some customers would like to ship it back. Some guys would like to wait with that few [00:13:40] months until they have some kind of a.

Bundle to go back. So it depends. That's option A, option B. It's an option to provide. 'cause we're dealing with Crossbo, so to provide those customers with an option to return their goods and it arrived. It's not my size, I want to return it. So we have a unique link for every customer.[00:14:00] 

That customers there can can print the label, go and drop off their package in the next post office. It will all arrive to our to our warehouse. We will consolidate it again and ship it back to to destination. So we provide both options for returns. I think for a and you talk me through [00:14:20] to your Shopify app, please.

How does it work to calculate all the shipping rates, tax duties, whatever, so that the customer during the checkout already knows what he pays for the whole logistics process? How does it work? Yeah, so we have, there's a I Bundle app on Shopify, so it's very easy to use. It's a simple download. [00:14:40] And then I bundle will provide you after we have a conversation, you can provide it, you can download it and have everything in place, but it's recommended to have a conversation with us afterwards so we can build the structure for you, eh.

While you're doing it we can we can advise for the client what's gonna be the duties and tax in in origin [00:15:00] in destination. What's gonna be the shipping costs. Shipping options that we can provide him. Two shipping options. One is free. It's free for the client, but it's not obviously free for the business.

So he needs to know how much it's gonna cost if it's flying from the UK to to the US to Texas. That's option A. But [00:15:20] if it flies to, to Alaska, then obviously that's not apples to apples. It's need to reflect also to the client on the checkup. So it really up depends on the customer himself, the business, how he wants to the strategy he wants to have on his Shopify store.

Do I wanna show the user in tax, or I don't wanna afraid the client, I want to pay it [00:15:40] myself and deduct it from the price. So there's lots of ways and we can choose whatever option you want and eliminate whatever you don't want. A lot of customers don't want back in the days two years ago, no one would want to show the duties in tax on the checkout, so you won't, it, it led to 60% of car belman.

Just to show the duties and text on the [00:16:00] checkout. So a lot of people would avoid it. And by the way, post offices arrive at Destination calling you, you have $60 to pay for that package. And now. Either you pay it or not and and that's too late. That's already too late, right? You wanna be at the checkout itself and make sure that the strategy you took is the right strategy per that destination.

[00:16:20] And you wanna be as upfront as you can with your customers and make sure it's free shipping. Make sure they know that it is in text. Make sure they know it's, that's the ETA. So where you have as. Not as much noise as as it can be and keep your clients happy. That's the most important [00:16:40] thing.

And automate your process as a business not to deal with it all day long and understand from multiple charts and multiple services. Which option should I choose? So we save on that a lot of time for businesses going over charts and deciding which option should I use today for this destination, for this weight, [00:17:00] for this zip code with this commodity.

There's a lot into it. And the system does lots of organ organization in our businesses' mind in order to to reflect to him every time what's the best, what's the really best option for you? That's our aim. To make it simple and to make it cost effective for the businesses.

Yeah. [00:17:20] Who's your perfect customer? How long does the onboarding take? It really depends. We have micro businesses, small and medium-sized businesses that they can onboard by themselves. And if they're tech oriented, usually they will get it pretty fast and they can start shipping by themselves.

I think are [00:17:40] the best client or our most the best clients are medium-sized clients, medium-sized. Each country classify differently, but medium-sized customers that. They pretty much know. They have some experience, they have some experience, they understand they're not just pushing for the lowest price out there, but they understand the [00:18:00] value of automation.

They understand the value of finding different methods. They understand the value of support and automated support and. Businesses that understand that automation is the new tool. You don't have to hire 20 people just to find the tracking on each package and you can understand it. And the usually those are those are the best the best [00:18:20] clients.

We also work with the, a lot of logistic providers that provide, provide solution for e-commerce businesses. And so logistic providers who provide e-commerce to pro to e-commerce businesses solutions. So we work there as a partnership and we provide them both the full solution.

It works amazingly together. We found that, and you [00:18:40] can scale and you can work in a lot of places worldwide with this kind of publishing method. Those are the two favorite clients. I would say. Okay, cool. Obviously you charge for this. What's your pricing structure? How does that work?

We don't charge any, any monthly fee or anything like that, we charge per a per transaction. So every transaction that the [00:19:00] client made on the system, that's why you can ship thousand or two shipments a month, we will charge you just on what you ship. We don't take any additional charges outside of it in order for it to be cost effective for.

Also, we started from. Very micro businesses and we grew with them to medium and we have some enterprises as well. [00:19:20] Eh, but our heart is always with the small and medium sized that are struggling. And for them, it's just it's the difference between the game if I'm gonna survive or not.

Usually we with those businesses that achieve a hundred shipments a month it's a small business. And every cent counts. And we know that, we know that we started at that point. So it's very important for us [00:19:40] not to be cheap, but to be, but to have access to all kind of customers who want to have access to our system.

Eh, that's one of, that's one of our flags that we started with, and we support them. Okay, that makes sense. And I think the very important thing that you highlighted earlier is that you need to be transparent with your [00:20:00] clients and not having them upset when they get the notice that they have to pay another $60 or something on that cost of acquisition of a new client is already very high profit margins for a lot of online sellers.

There are not that. Huge. So you really want to optimize, you want to be transparent, and obviously you want to use automation as much as possible to make your own life easier. [00:20:20] Now, before our coffee break come soon and today, is there anything that you wanna share with our listeners that we haven't covered yet?

I think that we will we will share we just heard yesterday on the Trump Trump administration part which is gonna shuffle the cards a bit. And I think that a lot of businesses that used to do B2B will shift to B2C. Or try to [00:20:40] do B2B on under the B2C on the minis up to $800. So I think it's gonna be a lot of shifting towards those kind of methods that, that we support.

So I think it's it's also it's very challenging from one end, but on the other hand, it's great opportunity and businesses shouldn't be afraid from those, from these from these taxes. But try to [00:21:00] find creative ways and we can help there how to how to handle those kind of scenarios.

And and there's many options that can be done from many places worldwide into the us that's the biggest market out there. So I think we will, we would love obviously to support to support those businesses. Anywhere in the world that needs [00:21:20] solutions into the us, into the uk, into Europe.

We're scaling very fast in, in those in those regions. And we always looking to optimize and find new partners in regions that we don't work at the moment to have the, to have high bundle exposure out there. Yeah that's I think the only part, okay. Yeah I'm with you. I think there's a lot of opportunities [00:21:40] out there.

Obviously there's a lot of uncertainty right now, but if you have an expert on your site like yours to coach you through this process and to make the post most out of it, then there is huge opportunities, and you might even better than most of your competitors and crush the market with a better solution than the others have.

Mm-hmm. Where can people find out more about you [00:22:00] guys? So we have a website, IB bundle net. We're on LinkedIn. We are on Facebook. And, emails, of course, and I can share my email afterwards and happy to answer any questions. Any business that had need consulting on his cross border shipping?

We're very happy to help. Sometimes we're, they get the best solution, sometimes we're not. That's okay. And we're [00:22:20] friends with everyone. And we just like to improve improve ourselves, improve the way. Shipping is done on the cross border way. We find it fascinating. I find the logistic world fascinating and how to involve the tech into it.

It's just mind blowing when you understand it fully. So happy to share it with the listeners customers [00:22:40] knowledge base domain experts. Have you touched base with them? Cool. I hope a lot of listeners will reach out to you if you're selling online. Logistics is the most important thing and to have that you need to talk to an expert.

So I will put things in the show notes. Then you're just one click away and I hope to talk to you soon. Thanks so much for your time today. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. [00:23:00] Before you leave, don't forget to visit the sponsor of today's episode. Time to take your marketing to the next level. Brevo is the all-in-one marketing platform that helps you connect with customers through email, SMS, WhatsApp and automation, all from one easy to use platform.

Keep your customer data organized, personalize every message and drive real engagement effortlessly. Try Brevo [00:23:20] for free or use ECB to save 50% on starter and business plans for the first three months of an annual subscription. Head to bvo.com/ecb Today you will find a link also in the show notes.

Hey, Klaus here. Thank you for joining me on another episode of the e-Commerce Coffee Break podcast. Before you go, I'd like to ask two things from you. First, please [00:23:40] help me with the algorithm so I can bring more impactful guests on the show. It'll also make it easier for others to discover the podcast.

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