Chinese cross-border e-commerce logistics provider 4PX, which provides a range of logistics, software and consulting services to over a million retailers selling to 200 million consumers around the globe, has appointed Hurricane Commerce as its global data partner.
The company aims to further grow its market share by maximizing its status as the ‘eCommerce one-stop solution’. With an increasing number of regulations governing cross-border trade, having the highest possible quality of product and shipment data has never been so important.
The Chinese firm is integrating Zephyr, Hurricane’s AI-driven, real-time data enhancement solution, to ensure that product descriptions, HS6 codes and import and export codes are complete and accurate. Retailers, marketplaces and their logistics providers in China and the wider Asia-Pacific are also facing a range of regulatory challenges in 2021.
Following Brexit, the UK removed the VAT exemption on low-value goods and, as of July 1, the EU followed suit in an effort to level the playing field between its own retailers and third-country sellers. The EU has introduced the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) to help third country retailers and marketplaces to streamline sales into the 27 EU nations, but to access the IOSS there is a need to meet the data requirements of the Super Reduced Data Set.
Chinese merchants are also having to meet a higher quality threshold for data provision on shipments into the USA as a result of the enforcement of the US STOP Act.
Derek Wang, director, logistics product and network, 4PX, explained, “We aim to provide our merchants with an end-to-end cross-border e-commerce solution. Having the right data for your products is an essential first step in this process and becoming increasingly important as the EU, UK and other countries around the world take away the VAT exemption on low value items.
“Having accurate product descriptions and HS6 codes means ensures that you are calculating the taxes and duties that are applicable wherever you are shipping in the world. This will mean faster clearance through customs and the best possible consumer experience.”