Fashion shipping has always been a major headache for all those apparel businesses catering to the European and American markets. You need to make sure the shipping items reach their destination without a scratch due to the strict distribution compliances of those markets. Many times businesses have to bear the brunt of product recall just because of botched-up shipping work.

If you are running a Fashion business in Egypt or Jordan, you may want to reach out to the overseas market. However, the logistical nightmare of shipping and the risk of canceled contracts due to messed up consignments could be holding you back. If this is the case, then read on. We are going to discuss different ways to ship Fashions overseas and the factors you need to consider in order to make the procurement process smooth.

Air and Sea Freight: The Two Ways to Ship Fashions

You two have options when it comes to shipping Fashions from the Middle East to the American and European markets: air freight and sea freight. However, choosing between the two is one hell of a task. If you have found out a Fashion shipping service that offers both sea and air freight but you are not sure about choosing which one, then factor in the pros and cons of both.

Let’s talk about the air freight first.

There is no doubt that air freight has changed the shipment landscape. It has exponentially expedited the turnaround and transit times.  However, you also need to factor in its downsides if you really want to keep it a feasible option for your Fashion shipping.

Use Air Freight for Your Fashion Shipping If:

You Need to Deliver the Consignment in the Least Possible Time

Let’s suppose a Jordanian merchandiser promises a wholesaler in Texas to deliver a consignment of men’s button-down shirts within three months via regular sea freight. However, the consignment of those 4,000 shirts has been delayed due to a manufacturing lag. Now, the situation is the merchandise only has 10 days remaining to meet the 3-month deadline. It has now two options to work with:

  1. Hastily package the consignment and ship it via vessel that would take anywhere between 28 to 45 days to reach the destination port.
  2. Thoroughly pack and prepare the consignment and then book it through air freight for Dallas. The shipment will fly from the Queen Alia International Airport to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport within 1-2 days.

Option 1 entails a lot of risk for the Jordanian business. The missed deadline is not going to bode well for the wholesaler. Moreover, the crackpot packaging of the consignment is going to make this a double-whammy.  The Jordanian merchandise will certainly save shipment costs by sticking to sea freight but with a risk of losing a potential long-time client and many contracts. This screwed-up shipment will also go on to blot its reputation in the region.

On the other hand, option 2 definitely involves higher shipment costs, but it will allow the business to ensure quality compliance and meet the promised deadline. The shipping overspent here is going to serve the business well in the long run.

You Need to Ensure Minimal Risk to Your Fashion Consignment

Let’s suppose an Egyptian Fashion supplier has received an order for making bespoke blazers for a high-end European brand.  Although sea freight is perfectly safe to ship any such item, its long transit time inherently increases the risk of damages to the shipment, especially if it is GOH (Garment on Hanger). In such cases, it is better to opt for air freight even if you have a lot of time ahead of a prescribed deadline.

The Egyptian supplier will be liable for the delivered items for the least duration by procuring the shipment to the destination within a day or two. Moreover, the supplier can adjust the relatively high price of the air freight in the outlay of those high-end bespoke blazers. Also, the European brand receiving the shipment will also be happy with the diligence of the seller to use air freight instead of sea freight.

Lastly, a consignment of bespoke apparel is more likely to be not too bulky. This means you can easily find a single booking in your preferred timeslot with your Fashion shipping service

Let’s also have a quick rundown of some of the other benefits of using air freight for Fashions

Lesser Shipping Insurance Premium

Air is considered the safest way to travel and transport. Moreover, airports all around the world have the utmost security measures in place. This inevitably drops the cost of insurance of items shipped through the air.

You Don’t Need to Overfill Your Inventories

You get the transit time of not more than a week with air freight to ship your items anywhere in the world. This means your Fashion products don’t have to sit in the inventories for long stretches to get out of fashion. If you establish regular air freight for your apparel shipping to the overseas market, then you can actually run your manufacturing process more in sync with the demand and orders.

Accurate Shipping Dates

If you have promised to deliver a consignment on the 26th of June, then you will be able to deliver it on time with air freight only. Such accurate and pin-point shipping dates can’t be promised in any other shipping method (not even for land freight)

Use Sea Freight for Your Fashion Shipping If:

You Are Dealing in Thousands of Pieces and Tons of Volume

Let’s suppose an Egyptian Fashion company has signed a contract with an American enterprise to deliver 40,000 pairs of jeans in the next one year. Here, opting for air freight even after factoring in all its benefits is not going to be a feasible option. The company will need to book a lot of volume in air freight that will significantly hike up its shipping cost and will cut into its profits.

Sea freight, on the other hand, is the pitch-perfect shipping option for such a bulk of Fashion. A 20-ft container can easily accommodate 9,000-11,000 pairs of jeans. The Egyptian company can dispatch the entire order in four installments, with every installment reaching the destination port within six weeks.

This Fashion shipping approach can cut down the logistical expenses of the Egyptian jeans manufacturer easily by half. In short, any fashion shipment that comprises of tens and thousands of pieces or weighing several dozen tons should be shipped through the sea.

If Your Shipment Entails a Large Volume of GOH (Garment On Hanger)

If a company is making silk apparel and has promised the buyer to ship them unfolded, then there is only one option to consider, i.e., GOH. You can deliver GOH via both air and sea freight. However, GOH on air freight costs a lot more than the sea. So, if the company has to ship a large volume of GOH, air freight is going to eat into a large chunk of its profits.

Meanwhile, getting a full GOH container in the sea freight is not going to cost you that much for a pretty simple reason: the humungous volume you get in a shipping vessel.  When the largest airfreight carrier can’t carry more than 250 tons, an average container vessel can float more than 100,000 tons of cargo.

You Are Eyeing to Establish a Steady Supply-Chain

A company that has various buyers of a similar product in the same region and wants to create a stable supply-chain, it must always rely on sea freight. In cases where you are supplying a number of buyers in any overseas market, you mostly don’t have to tread the tricky deadlines. Similarly, you are able to supply several buyers from a single port of destination.

While offering big shipping volumes at a lesser cost, sea freight also entails some downsides that you need to be aware of.

It Involves a Lot of Documentation

In comparison to air, sea freight entails a lot of paperwork, particularly if you are taking care of all the imports and customs requirements on your own.  You can, however, get around this red tape by hiring the experts for such services.

You Have to Pay More in Duties

For many countries, shipping through the sea involves more taxes and duties. If you are handling a small Fashion cargo, then consider this factor because chances are that air shipping may come in more cost-effective and handy for you. If you are not sure of the long list of duties and taxes payable at the port of destination.