Retailers worldwide are grappling to take advantage of the boom in eCommerce activity, as consumers ramp up their online orders. According to Shopify, global online purchases have grown from 17.8% to 21% over the last two years and are expected to reach 24.5% by 2025.

This means as sales grow and new consumers come to market, competitors will need to find a point of difference that raises them above the pack in consumers’ eyes.

With so many parcels flying around the world, speed of delivery will no doubt become an increasingly important consideration for buyers, as discovered by Australia Post. A survey by the national postal service found that three-quarters of shoppers see speed as an important part of the delivery experience.

One way to improve this metric is centralised warehousing and this becomes even more important the larger your business becomes. For those merely delivering within a single state of Australia, for example, their warehouse could effectively be located anywhere in the state and a reasonable delivery time could still be achieved.

For larger companies, a centralised warehouse would ideally be located at the crossroads of the world, where all major consuming regions are just a flight away.

For Blu Print and its customers, this is the case with its premises in southeast Asia. This blog will explain why warehouse placement can make the difference between a booming business or going bust.

Our eco-friendly packaging is just the start of the value we bring to commercial printing. To take advantage of our centralised warehousing, get in touch with Blu Print today.

Better Control and Visibility

The first benefit of a centralised warehouse is in its minimalism. You might hear about a global brand and think there are countless parts involved to keep this machine churning. But by keeping all inventory in one location for distribution to the world, you’re actually minimising the steps required to dispatch each product. 

This creates less room for error in each delivery and better control over your product flows. 

The minimalist approach of centralised warehousing is also enjoyed in the reduction of paper trails and inventory management. When all of your products pass through the one checkpoint somewhere like southeast Asia, there is less chance of misplacing stock and it becomes easier to find stock in those rare instances. 

Reduced Lead Times

Some global brands might think they can get by selling to the world while warehousing back home in Australia, but they would be mistaken. Australia, for all its quirks and benefits, is relatively isolated from the greater Western world and therefore makes for a poor manufacturing hub. To reduce shipping and manufacturing costs while maintaining the same standards Australian brands have come to establish, a centralised warehouse combines the best of both worlds. 

Once this central facility is set up, lead times for customers in multiple regions will be reduced and, at worst, evened out – removing the possibility of any one region suffering persistent delays. 

By centralising your warehouse and standardising your delivery time around the world, you can make shipping promises with your customers with more certainty.

Cater to Large Orders

Alongside reduced global lead times, you’ll gain the capacity to fulfil larger orders to more locations. This is because when you combine all of your inventory into one facility, you’ll naturally need a larger space to accommodate. 

Once a larger warehouse is achieved, larger orders are able to be fulfilled within a reasonable time, and your business will soon be catering to other global brands of significance. 

This has been the case for Blu Print, as the past few years have seen us add several heavy hitters in the fashion industry to our list of loyal customers. They have since begun delivering their products using our Enviro 80 eCom satchels and their customers have appreciated the effort to become more environmentally sustainable. 

Better Customer Service

With all of your ducks in a row at your new centralised warehouse, you’ll be far better equipped to please your global customer base. 

Deliveries will become quicker, there’ll be less room for error in your products, and any returns will be far easier to manage due to this single returns address.

Australia Post also found that customers appreciate certainty over speed of delivery. Fortunately, a centralised warehouse will give you the ability to better calculate your delivery times, allowing you to manage customer expectations and stick to your promises. 

The Proof is in the Blu Print

We speak from experience because our centralised warehouse in southeast Asia has taken our business to the next level. We can better serve numerous Australian brands who have a global reach and their packaging has never looked better! 

If your products need more sustainable packaging, get in contact with Blu Print to understand how we can help.

Did you know that reusing recycled materials to create a circular economy can save around half of the virgin materials we source from the Earth. 

As the eCommerce world ramps up and an exponential number of products come to market, calls for a more circular economy have also arisen. 

Blu Print is passionate about reducing the volume of raw materials we use to create these products and has multiple measures in place to minimise its environmental impact. 

This includes our Enviro 80 eCom satchels and our centralised warehousing to reduce both materials and shipping emissions, respectively. 

If eco-friendly packaging and commercial printing are important to your business, a partnership with Blu Print could be your next step to achieving your environmental goals. 

So how exactly does recycling help to reduce our environmental impact? 

Save on Virgin Resources

In early 2020, the Victorian Government’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning outlined its new plan for waste and recycling. The plan has 4 goals and 11 commitments on the road to a state-wide circular economy.

The plan recognises that the transition could potentially add $6.7 billion to the State’s economy, create almost 4000 jobs, and abate greenhouse gases from the waste sector. 

This plan complements the National Waste Policy Action Plan which seeks to halve the organic waste sent to landfill for disposal; reduce total waste generation in Australia by 10 per cent per person; and achieve an 80 percent average resource recovery rate from all waste streams. This is all hoped to occur by 2030.

In both plans, it’s clear that recycling is one vital key to reducing waste and emissions. 

The Victorian plan cites one study which found that Australia wastes more than $324 million of resources per year that could otherwise be repurposed by the manufacturing, construction and agricultural sectors.

This is where Blu Print does its best work.

Our Enviro 80 eCom satchels are made from 80% recycled post-consumer waste, smashing Victoria’s goals and creating a point of difference for our customers. 

What Point of Difference? 

In case you weren’t aware, environmentally-friendly products are now more than a passing trend – they’re here to stay (and be recycled, and recycled again). 

By using recycled and recyclable packaging like our Enviro 80 satchels, you’re sure to attract a more loyal customer base, according to a Forbes survey. 

The survey found that brand loyalty can be generated by supporting community causes, offering environmentally friendly products, and proving strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials. 

By developing these traits, brand loyalty can be improved by 65% in millennials, and by 49% in Baby Boomers.

So if you’re not making an effort to make a difference, there could be a whole market opting for your competitors based mostly on their ESG standing.

The Proof is in the Blu Print

Our Enviro 80 satchels and centralised warehouse allows us to best serve a range of Australian brands who in turn serve their global customer base. 

If your products need more sustainable packaging, get in contact with Blu Print to understand how we can help.

Among Australia’s 2.5 million businesses, there are those who get things right and afford themselves the chance to expand overseas.

For these businesses, their position in Australia has developed to the point where domestic growth becomes difficult to increase any further. If the market turns unfavourably, they may suddenly find themselves in decline. 

The answer to this bittersweet dilemma is often to look at alternative markets where their product or service will find similar success. 

For Blu Print, it’s been our commercial printing capability and the offer of more sustainable packaging which has allowed us to successfully deliver to countries worldwide.

For household names such as Cotton On, Bundaberg, and Blackmores, their ability to replicate their success overseas has been thanks to market research, effective logistics, and good customer service – among many other things.

It’s these kinds of aspirational companies that Blu Print loves to support with our products. With our satchel bags, thankyou cards, and labels printing on eco-friendly packaging, these like-minded companies can access the global market more easily. 

So, let’s first look into how these businesses found success beyond Australia’s golden soil.

Case Studies: From Australia to the World

Fashion brand Cotton On was born in 1988 out of a car boot in Geelong, Victoria, from which its founders sold a stack of denim jackets that “anyone could wear.”

Now, 34 years later in 2022, Cotton On Group has expanded to employ 18,000 people across 8 brands, 22 countries, in 1500 stores.

Their website details the customer-obsessed mindset that founder Nigel Austin brought to this global fashion force which allowed them to cater to whichever country they set their minds to. 

Bundaberg Brewed Drinks is your quintessential Aussie business, showing everyone how “family-owned” doesn’t have to mean small by any means. 

Established in 1960s Queensland, Bundaberg spent its first 20 years cementing its name in the local market. As the ‘80s rolled around, Bundaberg secured distribution partners in Australian and New Zealand supermarkets.

Then, by 1987, it was exporting its non-alcoholic drinks around the world. Today, Bundarberg drinks are enjoyed in over 30 countries and their branding remains largely the same as when they began in 1960.

Finally, we turn to vitamins and supplements powerhouse, Blackmores. 90 years ago, in 1932, Blackmores was founded in Australia as one of Australia’s first health food stores in Brisbane.

More than 40 years after it was founded by Maurice Blackmore, his son Marcus took the reins on the Board of Blackmores Naturopathic Organisation Pty Limited with a vision to take this thing global. 

So, in 1976, not long after the company reached $1 million in sales, the first Blackmores products were launched in Singapore and Malaysia.

Fast-forward to April, 2017 and Blackmores was partnering with Vietnam’s leading distribution company, Mesa Group, adding 150,000 retail stores to Blackmores’ network. 

Blackmores now has over 1000 employees and sells into 13 markets across the Asia-Pacific region. A feel good story if ever there was one.

So, with a bit of inspiration under our belts, let’s discuss the keys to finding global success just like these once small businesses. 

Know Your Chosen Market 

You could scarcely find a globalised business which hasn’t conducted some thorough market research. Only by sheer luck could one succeed overseas without trying to understand new audiences, new economies, and potentially new employees.

A significant factor in Blu Print’s expansion overseas was our recognition that sustainable packaging remains widely in demand. 

To turn this assumption into a successful business model, however, we couldn’t just begin straight away. We had to dive deeper into the needs of certain markets to understand where our Enviro 80 eCom satchels could be put to best use. 

If you sell a range of products, it’s important to understand which of these will sell best overseas. It may not be everything you offer and testing which products will succeed will be key to success. 

Conduct surveys, assess competitors, and discuss with locals about the state of your target market, with an eye for whether or not there is significant demand for your product. 

Consider Logistics

As an Australian business, Blu Print recognised the isolated nature of our business in relation to the global marketplace.

After conquering your own domestic market, it can feel like your business is at the centre of the world, but it doesn’t take long to realise the world is a big place.

A centralised warehouse will do wonders for your global logistics management, providing a midway point for your products and quicker delivery times for your new customers.

Blu Print’s own warehouse in southeast Asia allows our Australian suppliers to stock their range with us in readiness for new orders. This way, the first step between Australia and the end-user (typically Asia) is removed.

We also have our product labels and stickers printing at our centralised warehouse, meaning suppliers can skip this step at home and allow us to complete it abroad.

Partner Up

Just as Blackmores partnered with Mesa Group to add thousands of stores to their network, don’t be afraid to form key partnerships amongst the global business landscape. 

While you might have to share some riches with them on your route to success, the result (a fully globalised business) will be well worth it. 

Plus, the innovation and constructive challenges presented by partnering with another business can open your own company up to new and exciting avenues. 

Nail Your Price Point 

This comes back to conducting effective market research. Simply converting your Australian prices into the currency of your new market won’t necessarily do the trick. 

Different markets place various values on products and you’ll also need to consider the cost of shipping and trade tariffs. 

In any case, customers appreciate quality. If your product is made to last or stands above its competitors for quality, you’ll be able to push the price higher to offset the cost of global expansion.

Contact Blu Print

This blog is by no means an exhaustive list of steps to globalise your business. A deeper dive should be taken into your customer service systems, localised product range, and the growing world of payment options. 

For more information on these factors, as well as any needs in personalised labels, packaging printing or eco-friendly courier bags, get in touch with Blu Print.