How A Brand Moved Fulfillment from Mexico to the US in 10 Days

In early January, a fast-growing fashion brand realized its fulfillment setup was at risk.

They were sourcing all inventory from China and shipping to US customers from a warehouse in Mexico, using Section 321 to avoid tariffs on shipments under $800. The setup worked well for years.

But things started to change.

Mexico updated its import laws. New rules required brands in categories like apparel to pay VAT up front. Then the US government announced it was ending Section 321 exemptions for Chinese goods.

Now even small parcels would be taxed. 

At the same time, trucks were backing up at the border and delivery times were getting slower. Customer support tickets were going up.

The cost advantage of shipping from Mexico was disappearing and the brand needed a new plan.

So they asked ShipMonk to help compare options. The team at ShipMonk ran a full analysis: fulfillment costs, transit times, delivery performance, and customer locations, and their California warehouse came out ahead.

In mid-January, the brand signed a contract to reserve space in California. Two weeks later, when the new tariffs kicked in, they made the switch.

They moved thousands of SKUs and went live in California in just 10 days.

If you're thinking about a similar move, or even just evaluating your options, this breakdown is for you.

I spoke with Aras Kolya (CRO at ShipMonk) and Kimberly Karp (Merchant Success Manager at ShipMonk), who helped execute the migration. We talked about what triggered the change, how they pulled it off, and what other brands can learn from it.

Keep shipping 💪 

— Gowtham

What’s Inside

• The Scene → Why the brand reached out

• The Fix → How the migration happened

• The Signal → My biggest lessons from the project

• The Playbook → A step-by-step plan you can follow

• Full Q&A → With Aras & Kimberly analyzing the project