2039 – Transforming E-commerce through AI and Machine Learning in Logistics with ShipTop’s Ash Jamshidpour

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1:05With us right now, it's Ash Jamshidpour. Ash, you are the founder and CEO of ShipTop. You're found on the web at ShipTop.com. Ash, it's great to have you. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be on the show. Yeah. Well, so e-com logistics and fulfillment partnering. Tell me a bit about the work you do, who you serve, and what that looks like. Yeah, so we are a third-party logistics company and e-commerce fulfillment provider based in Canada. So we help e-commerce brands and online merchants with their order fulfillment and logistics needs. Anything from Ocean Freight to North America and then fulfillment across North America to consumers, B2B fulfillment.

1:53That's the area we focus on. Yeah, well, I would love from your perspective, how is that world been going over the past few years? And specifically, not necessarily a few years, but just very recently, what is the e-com world looking like right now, particularly when it comes to logistics? And I'm sure, again, we've had some great innovations in that area. And I'd love to learn a little bit more kind of how ShipTop plays a role in that. Yeah, absolutely. So it's an extremely fast-paced industry. As you can imagine, e-commerce is changing every day. And we and every other third-party logistics company is trying to keep up and innovate and find efficiencies in everything that we do.

2:43So, yeah, it's an ever-changing industry. One area that we're focusing on a lot at ShipTop is Section 321 fulfillment from Canada into the U.S. It's a hot topic. Of course, companies like Tmua and Shein are taking advantage of this U.S. provision to import goods into the U.S. duty-free, pretty much paying no duties on their imports. Shipping low-value orders under$800. So that's an area we focus on and we have fulfillment centers across the U.S. border in Canada where we fulfill orders and ship to U.S. consumers duty free. Okay, wow. So this is something I don't understand. Can you pretend we're a fourth grade, eighth grade class and explain that just a little bit more for those who don't understand how duties and tariffs work and how this law is set up currently?

3:49Yeah, for sure. So Section 321 is a U.S. provision in the customs laws of the U.S. allowing goods under$800 to enter the U.S. duty free. So in comparison to large U.S. corporations like Walmart or Amazon, where they import goods from overseas into the U.S., pay millions of dollars in duties. Companies like Timu and Chien are shipping individual orders from China or overseas into the U.S. And each individual order or shipment is valued under$800. and so it enters the U.S. duty-free. And they gain a competitive advantage because they don't have to pay those duties and the consumers don't have to pay the duties so they can have a more competitive pricing.

4:45Yeah. When folks come to your clients, what are they typically doing beforehand and how do you help them level up? Yeah, definitely. So most of our clients are either doing fulfillment in-house from their own warehouses or they're working with a different third-party logistics company or fulfillment company. And for various reasons, they're looking for a different solution or a different partner that can provide them perhaps a more customizable fulfillment solution. And that's something that we focus on a lot. So most of our clients are e-commerce brands, direct-to-consumer brands. And, yeah, they're either doing fulfillment in-house And we find efficiencies through our operations for them and reduce their costs, reduce their transit times to consumers.

5:41Or they're working with a different fulfillment company. And like I said, for whatever reason, they're looking for something slightly different. Either it's a service or the rates or like I mentioned, they're looking for a Canadian fulfillment company that can do Section 321 fulfillment from Canada to the U.S. for them. So, yeah. Yeah. And in terms of like cost efficiencies, why is it better to partner with you rather than build out all their own infrastructure? Yeah, absolutely. That's a great question. So the third party logistics industry and companies like us take advantage of economies of scale.

6:22So we have very large warehouses. So our square footage of rent is typically lower than what you'd be able to get on your own in a smaller warehouse. And the biggest advantage of working with a company like ours is we have a buying power when it comes to shipping. So when we go to our shipping partners like UPS, FedEx, DHL, they know who we are. They know how many brands we're working with. And they are able to give us very highly discounted shipping rates, which we then pass on to our clients. And that's something that the clients take advantage of by working with a third-party logistics company.

7:08because the volume of shipping that we're doing is significantly more than any individual brand would have. So those are a couple of the main reasons. The other one is to streamline your operations. I mean, logistics is, while it's complicated, it's also fairly simple. It's getting goods from point A to point B. So if you work with the right partner, they can streamline that process and operations for you. And you can focus on your sales, marketing and growing your brand as opposed to dealing with day-to-day logistics. Yeah. Ash, what are you looking forward to? Is there any, you know, evolutions or technology on the horizon that you're kind of excited about when it comes to fulfillment, logistics, you know, shipping, distribution?

7:59I mean, it really is like if someone looks at, you know, like what Amazon has done, for example, or just other folks. I mean, it really is staggering just how much activity gets done with relatively few problems. But, you know, again, I think with, you know, continuing to improve these systems, there's, as I mentioned earlier, there's likely some things that you're kind of excited about. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, AI and machine learning is at the heart of every industry. And it's definitely the case for us as well, looking to implement AI and machine learning in different parts of our operations, whether it's through our inventory and order management platform, looking to streamline demand planning, inventory planning, or it's machine learning learning and robotics within our warehouse, looking for ways to become more efficient and get orders fulfilled faster.

9:10Trying to, you know, in a lot of ways, companies like ShipTop are allowing direct-to-consumer brands to compete with e-commerce giants like Amazon and Walmart, allowing them to take advantage of having multiple fulfillment centers and doing same day fulfillment and next day delivery. So yeah, we're constantly looking at ways to become more efficient, which leads to faster transit times, lower shipping costs, lower fulfillment and storage costs. So all of that allows us to really help our clients and help direct-to-consumer brands to be more competitive in a fast-paced industry and a very competitive industry.

10:05So what stage should someone be prior to them having a conversation with you? Or should they kind of already be shipping products out of their garage or what's too early and what might be a little bit too far down the road? Well, we actually at Chiptop, we work with companies of all sizes. So whether you're a startup or you're an enterprise company, we work with various companies and different size operations. So the right time is really when you notice that logistics is taking too much of your time and it's really holding you back from being able to focus on areas where your time is more valuable in sales, marketing.

11:03And so the right time is when, like I said, And when you find that a logistics partner would be able to streamline your operations and allows you to focus on different parts of the business. But again, as it relates to ShipTop, we work with startups. We work with mid-markets and enterprise clients of all sizes. So, yeah. Excellent. All right. So your website is ShipTop.com. and in some of the industries I see you've got listed here, beauty and cosmetics, health and wellness, apparel and accessories, home goods, pets. What does, I mean, what do you usually talk about on a first call or two just to see if this might make sense for somebody?

11:55Yeah. So on typically on our first calls with a prospect, we look at what e-commerce platform they're using, what sales channels they have, or are they more of an omni-channel seller where they're in retail doing B2B fulfillment, B2C through e-commerce platforms, and just kind of getting a better understanding of their sales channels and their technology. And then looking at order volume, how many orders they're fulfilling each week, each month, if there's seasonality with their sales. And from there, then we put together either a quote or a customizable solution around their needs. We try to focus on building really custom solutions around our client's needs.

12:52So depending on what we learn on that initial call, we come up with a proposal on how we can serve them based on their needs or how we can improve their current distribution fulfillment process. Yeah. And of course, not only just efficiency and potential cost savings here, but to our founder-led companies where the founder is very actively involved in operations and shipping. I mean, it's just a lot of headaches. I mean, there's a lot of, I'd say, invisible time thieves in any business. But certainly, again, when you're thinking about fulfillment and shipping, I mean, that stuff can really hack away at your schedule.

13:35So listen, I mean, if you like work until 10 at night every night or midnight, you know, because you got to get the orders out, that's a part of everyone's story or at least a lot of people's stories. But then at some point, you're kind of ready for that next level. And I would imagine that's some of what you've seen with your clients. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we work every day to simplify logistics, simplify onboarding, simplify pricing, and working with some of the other legacy third-party logistics companies. The pricing is so complicated. Onboarding is so complicated. We're just trying to simplify all of that and really allow our clients and potential clients to be able to streamline this part of their business, this portion of their business.

14:27Ask Jamshidpour, your website, Shiptop.com. When someone goes to your website, what do they click on? What should they do? You could reach out and go onto the contact us page or get a quote and just reach out to us. If somebody is interested to reach out to me directly, they can find me on LinkedIn. That's where I'm most active. And yeah. Awesome. All right, Ash Jamshapur, again, CEO at ShipTop, your website, shiptop.com. Thanks so much, Ash. Thank you, Josh. Appreciate it.

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