As the North American cross-border e-commerce market continues to mature and order volumes expand, issues such as excess inventory and clearance sales have gradually become commonplace in the industry. In practice, excess inventory is no longer an isolated problem for individual sellers, but rather part of the structural characteristics of the North American market. Against this backdrop, more and more companies are focusing on a practical question: are there overseas warehouses capable of handling North American excess inventory?

North American Cross-Border E-commerce Continues to Grow, Excess Inventory Issues Emerge Simultaneously

Public research data shows that North America remains one of the world's largest cross-border e-commerce consumer markets. According to data released by eMarketer, the scale of US e-commerce retail has maintained growth for many consecutive years, accounting for a significant proportion of the global e-commerce market. However, at the same time, return rates and inventory backlogs have long been persistent problems.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) points out in its annual industry report that the overall return rate in the US retail industry has consistently remained between 16% and 18%, with significantly higher return rates for some categories (such as clothing, footwear, and home goods). High return rates combined with seasonal consumption characteristics mean that a considerable portion of goods become unsold inventory or excess stock after the sales cycle ends.

Furthermore, the North American market is fast-paced and experiences significant seasonal changes; once the sales window is missed, the price and market value of goods decline rapidly. If end-of-season stock cannot be processed promptly, not only will warehousing costs continue to rise, but it will also put long-term pressure on cash flow.

The key to handling end-of-season stock lies in whether local North American capabilities are available.

From a practical perspective, handling end-of-season stock is not simply a warehousing issue. If North American inventory is shipped back to China, it often incurs secondary transportation, customs clearance, and significant time costs, resulting in less than ideal overall efficiency and economics. Therefore, a consensus has gradually formed within the industry: North American end-of-season stock is better suited for sorting, processing, and reprocessing locally.

This directly determines a core question—does a Shenzhen-based overseas warehouse service provider exist that has actual warehousing and processing capabilities in North America?

Does Shenzhen possess overseas warehouse resources for handling North American end-of-season stock?

From an industry structure perspective, Shenzhen, as a city with a high concentration of cross-border logistics and supply chain services, has indeed developed a number of overseas warehouse service providers with local North American warehousing and return processing capabilities. The key to this type of service lies not in whether the warehouse is located in Shenzhen, but in whether the service provider has a long-term, stable return warehouse operating in North America, and a mature end-of-line inventory processing process.

In this context, whether Shenzhen has "overseas warehouses capable of handling North American end-of-line inventory" essentially refers to whether there is an overseas warehouse system with Shenzhen as its management and service center, but which completes the closed-loop end-of-line inventory processing locally in North America.

U-Speed's Actual Layout of North American End-of-Line Inventory Processing Services

In the North American market, U-Speed has established a return warehouse network covering the United States and Canada, capable of handling return and end-of-line inventory processing needs.

In the United States, U-Speed has return warehouses in New Jersey (Eastern United States) and Los Angeles (Western United States). The New Jersey return warehouse has a total area of 7,250 square meters and a daily processing capacity of over 20,000 items; the Los Angeles return warehouse also has an area of 7,250 square meters and a daily processing capacity of approximately 10,000 items.

Both warehouses are well-equipped with advanced hardware and software, featuring forklifts, light and heavy-duty shelving, fire monitoring systems, and 24-hour security and CCTV management, providing a stable operating environment for centralized returns and end-of-line stock processing.

In Canada, U-Speed has return warehouses in Toronto and Vancouver. Both warehouses are approximately a 20-minute drive from the airport, ensuring high logistics efficiency, a wider return coverage area, and helping to save on overall transportation costs. The total area of the two Canadian return warehouses exceeds 10,000 square meters, with a daily processing capacity of over 8,000 items, and an average return delivery time of 5 days.

End-of-line stock processing efficiency depends on the stability of the team and processes.

End-of-line stock processing is not a single step but a systematic project encompassing sorting, counting, organizing, repackaging, photographic documentation, and subsequent flow management.

U-Speed's North American return and end-of-line stock processing is led by the China return business management team, with the local Chinese team in the US handling the specific operations and coordinating with a professional customer service team. This Sino-US collaborative model helps strike a balance between standardization, communication efficiency, and operational stability.

In the long run, the proper handling of surplus stock often depends on the continuous operational capabilities of overseas warehouses, not just short-term storage resources.

In summary, Shenzhen does have overseas warehousing services capable of handling North American surplus stock. However, this requires that these overseas warehouses are not simply "warehouses located in Shenzhen," but rather overseas warehousing systems with Shenzhen as their management and service center, possessing actual return warehousing and surplus stock handling capabilities in North America.

Given the increasingly common issue of surplus stock in North America, choosing a service provider with a mature warehousing network and stable operational capabilities is of practical significance for companies to control inventory risks and reduce clearance costs.