August 2021 Monthly Newsletter
Letter from Chief Operations Officer Jimmy Banish:
TBF Community,
I hope you are having an opportunity to enjoy the prime of summer as we begin to turn our focus towards the holidays and the seasonal change that comes with it. As always, we have a lot happening here at TBF with both exciting new developments and important updates regarding our operations so let’s jump right in.
Ocean Freight Status:
As you may have noticed on the website, we are continuing to see current items coming into circulation that have been hit with the current global ocean freight rates. Based on what we are hearing from our resources, these rates are likely to stay through Q2 of 2022 with the potential for additional increases. As of today (8/19/21) current rates are around $25k per container which is the equivalent of an additional $0.84 per unit from the original pricing we had just over 30 days ago. There is speculation with regards to shipping costs that could go north of $30k as shipping lines are trying to drive down demand by increasing rates. When in reality, demand for container space has only grown with the current shortage of containers worldwide.
What You Can Do:
As we recommended last month, adding at least $1 to your retail pricing will cover this added cost based on current market rates. We are strongly encouraging this move as it is the end consumer who is going to be bearing these costs across all industries come this holiday season. We have been connecting with many of our professional colleagues across other industries and consumers, in general, understand the current global situation and are willing to pay added prices for quality products.
What We Are Doing:
In an effort to combat these freight costs, we have transitioned all of our 16” plush case counts from 18 units to 20 units. This allows us to add a substantial amount of items to our containers and in turn will assist in driving down the added cost per piece. We started to make this transition back in June in anticipation of the current rates. We should start to see these production runs hitting the water in the next week which will assist with added costs going into the holiday season.
We will be updating product pages with the current case counts as we know many customers prefer to order whole case counts for inventory and shipping purposes. Please be sure to check the product description for this information.
Holiday Prep and Inventory Levels:
As we enter the holiday season, please note we usually see our holiday rush start in September. Assuming current sales continue in the direction they are going, items will be going fast so we are encouraging you to prepare accordingly. Backstocking the product is the safest bet considering it guarantees you the product and has the potential to save money assuming ocean freight rates are going to continue to increase. We have added anticipated re-stock dates on items we feel may go out of stock due to demand and are updating these weekly. We feel confident in our current production schedules and the ability to remain in stock on 80%+ of our product line with the remaining 20% or less being out of stock for an average of 3 weeks.
Holiday Shipping Timelines:
After talking with our contacts at FedEx, there is no denying the fact that regardless of the carrier you are going to use, there will be delays for the holiday season if you are not already experiencing them currently. This is mostly due to a lack of labor in the supply and logistics industry as a whole. However, FedEx is currently midway through the construction of new sorting facilities they began construction on back in 2019 countrywide. These are expected to be completed and operational in the next 6 months which will significantly assist with the current labor issue through automated sorting technologies. This unfortunately doesn’t help us as we enter the busiest time of the year but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
We are recommending preparing for the worst-case scenario starting in September and continuing through January of 2022. Please add 5 business days to your current transit time in consideration when ordering. Our team is standing by our 24 Hour Shipping Policy (all orders ship within one business day of being received) but once the package leaves our facility, it is in FedEx’s hands. If you have not already registered for our Billing Portal, please do so as this is where you can access all your executed invoices and tracking information for orders. We will be releasing a video tutorial on how to operate the billing portal in September’s newsletter as well. If you have any questions regarding this, please email shipping@thebearfactory.com
Keeping track of our order transit time will be imperative to your business’ success as we edge closer to the holidays.
New Plush and Clothing Items
As we round out August and enter September, we’ve had a lot of great new product releases for both 16” plush and clothing. Check out these items by viewing our New Releases page here. These items are moving fast so be sure to get them while you can!
