What is a large item overseas warehouse? What are the differences between a large item warehouse and a small item warehouse?

What is a large item overseas warehouse and how does it differ from a small item warehouse?

Since 2020, home and outdoor categories have become hot tracks for cross-border e-commerce. For example, in 2021, the proportion of large items shipped using overseas warehouses reached about 30%. The demand and sales of large items on mainstream e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Wayfair continue to increase, and the trend is good. Therefore, large warehouses have also become popular players in the overseas warehouse market.

What is a large item overseas warehouse

A large item overseas warehouse is a storage and management model for overseas warehouses, aiming to provide more efficient and convenient logistics services for overseas e-commerce sellers. It is a warehouse that specializes in storing, protecting and distributing large goods. Generally speaking, these warehouses can provide services such as storage, insurance, security, customized packaging, shipping, and tracking of large goods. They are particularly suitable for sellers who sell large items such as furniture and appliances.

The FBA logistics cost of large items is extremely high. By using overseas warehouses for transfer or delivery of goods weighing over 20 pounds, sellers can greatly reduce their comprehensive logistics costs. Through high-quality and high-discount last-mile accounts, large-item sellers can effectively save last-mile logistics costs.

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Features and layout of large warehouses

Area: Due to the larger size of the goods, large warehouses have high requirements for area. A small warehouse of 2,000 square feet is enough to carry out business for small items, but even a warehouse of 100,000 square feet is not very large for large items, and there are sometimes situations where the storage capacity is insufficient.

Location: The closer a warehouse is to the central area, the higher the rental cost, and since large-item warehouses have high area requirements, they are often built in locations that are not close to the central area.

Facilities: Due to the larger volume and weight of the goods received, large-item warehouses must be equipped with sufficient loading docks, as well as multi-level shelves and forklifts to facilitate the unloading, movement, and storage of large items.

Market: The business market for large-item warehouses is about 50% in the eastern United States, with the central and western United States each accounting for 25%, so warehouses in the eastern United States are often larger than those in the central and western United States.

Warehouse resources: Since the logistics cost of the last mile of large-item goods is relatively high, large-item warehouses require more truck and last-mile resources.

The Differences Between Large-item Warehouses and Small-item Warehouses

01 Different Warehouse Management Layout: Due to the large size of the goods, it is difficult to shelve them, so by analysing the sales data of the goods, a more reasonable warehouse partition and location planning will be carried out to improve the utilization rate and operational efficiency of the warehouse.

02 Different Hardware Requirements: Large-item warehouses require more workstations and forklifts during operation, while small-item warehouses have relatively lower demand for these hardware devices.

03 Different Business Logic: The products in small-item warehouses are mainly standard parts, which can be manually placed directly on the shelves, while large-item goods need to be packed on pallets and then lifted onto and off the shelves using forklifts and other equipment.

04 Different Warehouse In-and-Out Logic: The in-and-out logic of small-item warehouses is usually first in, first out, picking goods according to the location model of “one way to the end”, while large-item warehouses usually use the principle of selecting goods that are closer to the exit for outbound operations.

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