ShipMonk Expands Internationally with Acquisition of El Mar Mexico Fulfillment Services and Warehouse

ShipMonk, a leading provider of eCommerce fulfillment and technology solutions, announced its international expansion and acquisition of El Mar Logistics – Mexico.

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The company’s first fulfillment center outside of the United States is based in Tecate, Mexico. Located in the El Bajio Industrial Park, the warehouse is less than 20 miles from the San Diego, California border crossing at Otay Mesa.

With the warehouse, ShipMonk can leverage US Customs and Border Patrol’s (CBP) Section 321 to legally bypass taxing on many US shipments, eliminating tariffs and import duties.

ShipMonk will own, manage, and operate the fulfillment center in Mexico in full compliance with Section 321. This legislation allows international shipments meeting the “De Minimis Threshold,” items valued at less than $800, to enter the United States duty-free.

The law is particularly beneficial to eCommerce merchants in tariff-challenged industries, such as apparel, footwear, and luggage – industries that make up a majority of Shipmonk’s customer base.

A special license allows goods to be legally imported into a free trade zone in Mexico, where they are then shipped directly to the US consumer within ShipMonk’s comprehensive coverage area without paying duties or tariffs.

“Section 321 is powerful legislation, designed to benefit eCommerce vendors that manufacture overseas and sell in the U.S. because it streamlines both costs and time for goods to reach consumers. 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.”

John Grubor, ShipMonk’s COO

ShipMonk’s Recent Funding Fuels Strategic Growth

ShipMonk has raised $355 million in funding over the past 12 months to accelerate its strategic growth and international expansion.

With its new location in Mexico, ShipMonk marks the company’s first venture into expanded carrier geographies. This will be crucial in its efforts to enhance ShipMonk’s technology platform serving existing and new international customers.

Additionally, international expansion increases ShipMonk’s workforce during this critical period when supply chains and warehouses are suffering from labor shortages.

“Every eCommerce 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. 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.”

Jan Bednar, ShipMonk’s founder and CEO

ShipMonk’s platform enables merchants to delegate order fulfillment, inventory tracking across warehouses and responding to fluctuating shipping conditions, such as the current logistics delays.

The company has plans for continued international expansion and to open a European warehouse in 2022. 

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