Online entrepreneur and content creator Sharmane Coquilla creatively curating her paper making kits for her online shop So She Gathers (www.soshegathers.carrd.co and soshegathers on Instagram)
In early 2020, when the pandemic hit the nation, hundreds of thousands of internet retailers had trouble sending their goods. Digital entrepreneurs of all sizes were searching for simple and dependable alternatives to continue delivering their orders and running their businesses due to movement constraints and the associated health hazards that come with it.
“I had two main concerns when dispatching internationally while the pandemic was (still is) looming: price and delivery time. As ports threatened to shut down with little to no warning, courier prices rose and shipping time estimates doubled. My shipping fees when I started my shop were very unreasonable where the shipping rates cost more than the products I sell,” tells Sharmane Coquilla, Founder of So She Gathers, an online creative shop with customers in the US and Europe. “Although my handmade papers sold out and I received orders for my paper making kits regardless of the absurdity of the shipping rates, the business model I was building my shop upon was far from sustainable.”
The growing opportunity for underserved internet businesses was identified by total logistics company In-Line Forwarder. As one of Southeast Asia’s Internet economies that is currently experiencing the fastest growth, the Philippines, Inline began developing services specifically for them, including same-day Metro Manila delivery, international shipping, convenient pick-ups, no minimum weight requirements for small items, and even 24/7 customer service hotlines.
“As a leading brand in the logistics and shipping industry for the past 17 years, we deliver to over 200 locations around the world, whether express, postal, or by sea. We are growing fast and continuously innovating,” said Lindee Yu, the Founder of In-Line. “Our operating strategy is flexible and we are upgrading our e-commerce capabilities. It’s a really a concerted effort among all our employees as we take care of our customers.”
Inline Forwarder expands it operations to address the growing e-commerce market by operating multiple hubs across the Philippines: Caloocan, Malabon, Paranaque, Manila, San Fernando, and Cebu
Founded in 2005, In-Line Forwarder started with only one motorcycle and a humble office in Malabon. With exposure in the airline industry, the company was offering only international shipping service to individuals and small businesses back then.
Today, it has grown its fleet to include multiple trucks, 6 operating hubs across the archipelago, and manages a portfolio of big corporate accounts such as Aggreko and a well-known Philippine publisher. It also proudly caters to the thriving community of Amazon and eBay sellers in the country.
The business emphasizes that they are currently starting a project to fully digitize and automate many In-processes. Line’s It will open the In-Line Wholesale Online Store for social merchants in the fourth quarter of 2022, serving both domestic and international clients.
“In-Line was able to offer my customers better shipping rates with a more than acceptable delivery time. Since moving to them, I received more international orders because the product cost to shipping rate ratio became more reasonable. Thankfully, shipping concerns is one less thing that I worry about and it gave me time and energy to focus on other aspects of my online shop,” adds Coquilla.
In advance of the spike in e-commerce purchases during these gift-giving months, online businesses may now take advantage of In-holiday Line’s discounts at https://www.facebook.com/InlineForwarders.
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