Restock speed is usually discussed as a service-level question. For a growing brand it is a finance question. Every week of lead time is a week of inventory bought, shipped and stored before it earns anything, and the faster the brand grows, the more capital that cycle absorbs.
Where the weeks go
A local warehouse carries the full inbound freight cycle on every replenishment: production, sea freight, receiving, then shipping to customers. That is typically four to eight weeks. Stock that is already at the source skips the freight and receiving legs, so replenishment takes days. Actual lead times vary by product and route.
Where the money goes
The traditional route stacks four cost layers before an order ships: inbound freight, warehouse storage, handling and labour, and last-mile delivery. Source fulfillment has two: pick, pack and handling, and direct worldwide shipping.
- Local warehouse: buy inventory in bulk up front, pay freight to ship it overseas, pay to store it before it sells, keep capital locked in stock for weeks or months.
- Source fulfillment: hold stock at the source and ship per order, no overseas freight paid in advance, no pre-paid overseas storage, capital stays free to reinvest in growth.
Why scale makes it sharper
SuperFulfill moves enormous combined volume across its network every day, and that scale earns carrier rates no individual brand could negotiate alone. You ship on the network's buying power, with no investor markup on top, from multiple warehouses across China's key production regions.
Written by the SuperFulfill team from the facts in the SuperFulfill introduction pack. Questions? Contact us.