On December 24th local time, British Prime Minister Johnson announced that the UK has completed its Brexit and will achieve full political and economic independence from January 1, 2021.

However, the current situation in the UK is still not optimistic. On the one hand, due to the new crown mutation, the impact of the "epidemic sequelae" is still continuing. On the other hand, the paralysis of logistics and port congestion have made many cross-border sellers anxious.

Many sellers have raised questions: Can we still operate on the UK site?

What problems will sellers on the UK site face soon? Let’s take a look at the specific situation in the UK.

Amazon halts UK-EU border deliveries

According to Amazon's global store opening news, as of December 28, 2020, all cross-UK and EU customs border deliveries through the European Fulfillment Network (EFN) and Amazon Logistics Integrated European Service (Pan-EU) have been stopped.

After this, sellers will need to have inventory in both the UK and EU countries/regions in order to continue using Amazon Logistics (FBA) to sell in both the UK and EU countries/regions at the same time.

To cope with this logistics change, European FBA sellers should pay attention to:

• The products are warehoused in Amazon's fulfillment centers in the UK and EU respectively to ensure that there is inventory on both sides to ensure the normal sales of the products in the UK and EU countries/regions.

• Manage your inventory in the UK and EU separately.

Similarly, European self-delivery sellers should also pay attention to the following: they must comply with cross-border transportation requirements and provide relevant documents to the carrier in a timely manner; appropriately extend the preparation time and transportation time; ensure that the product price includes value-added tax, and provide the shipping address when confirming shipment, etc.

In addition to the changes in Amazon's logistics and delivery methods, the logistics situation in the UK is as bad as ever, and many cross-border sellers have been affected.

Britain's transport system is close to collapse

According to CNN, since the UK's emergency lockdown, the internal transportation system in the UK has been almost paralyzed.

It is reported that at least 18,000 large trucks are stranded in southern England , blocking the roads leading to various ports and warehouses. This means that the speed of trucks is very slow and it may take several days to completely clear the traffic jam.

Meanwhile, the head of container liner company Hapag-Lloyd AG said a no-deal Brexit would exacerbate chaos at container ports in Britain and elsewhere.

Delivery trucks are stranded, container ports are in chaos, and the near-paralyzed logistics situation means that the last-mile delivery of cross-border e-commerce goods will be greatly threatened, and Amazon has become the platform most affected by this situation.

Due to the collapse of the UK's transportation system, Amazon officials recently stated: Due to the establishment of the new UK customs border on January 1, 2021, coupled with the holiday season and the sudden epidemic blockade in the UK, the delivery of shipments across the UK and cross-border shipments between the UK and the EU are expected to be delayed for several days.

The most fatal impact of delivery delays is that sellers will face the double blow of order and shipment delays, followed by customer complaints and returns.

Christmas has just passed, the peak season is gone, and the return season has arrived, leaving many sellers overwhelmed.

Amazon returns surge 76%

The continued escalation of the epidemic has prolonged the time people spend at home, so online e-commerce has exploded this year. But everything has two sides. After the peak season carnival, sellers have to face the "mess" caused by the extremely high return rate.

Affected by the epidemic, this year's e-commerce sellers will usher in the largest and longest return season to date. According to Returnly, an e-commerce data analysis agency, the return rate after the Christmas season this year will surge by more than 76% compared with the same period last year .

Previously, Amazon had issued a notice about extending the return time range: for goods delivered in November and December, as long as they meet the requirements, buyers can return the goods before the end of January of the following year.

Some sellers posted on the forum that the return rate of their products was much higher than that of the first and second quarters, and said: " My mentality is broken! The platform's unlimited return rules are too hurtful. I would like to ask what your return rate is, is it so terrible...

▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

The words reveal the seller's anger and helplessness. Due to the high return rate, the seller has to face some losses. In the comment area, there are sellers who have the same experience: the return rate is also extremely high, and one product still loses six dollars...

▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan

I believe that there are many sellers who have this problem, and the various subsequent effects caused by returns are also what sellers worry about the most. In the seller communication group, some sellers said that their links were frozen due to too high return rates .

▲ The picture comes from the seller communication group

It is understood that at present, the return rate has increased in many sites. According to CBRE's forecast, the amount of online product returns this year will reach 70.5 billion US dollars . At the same time, due to the pressure of offline logistics this year, it is expected that this wave of returns will continue until early January.

I don’t know whether the subsequent return situation will change as logistics and transportation improve, but sellers can reduce the return rate by following the following methods:

1. Product descriptions must be accurate and truthful.

2. Make a good product selection strategy.

3. Provide after-sales service.

4. Pay attention to the return policy.

I hope that sellers can spend the last few days of this year with peace of mind. If there are sellers who encounter the same problem, please share your comments in the comment area~