Cross Border Fulfillment for Retailers with Customers Abroad

Every shipment across an EU external border requires its own paperwork in cross border fulfillment. This is precisely where many online retailers fail when taking the step into a new market. Because this effort is rarely part of the core business, Futura Marketing takes over storage, picking, packing, and the complete shipping process for recipients outside Germany.

Within the EU, regular parcel shipping without border formalities is sufficient. As soon as goods go to Switzerland, Norway, or another third country, export declarations, commercial invoices, and tariff codes are added. Both routes run through the same shelves and the same staff at our facility.

Whether a young Shopify shop or an established brand with trading partners in multiple countries, the process remains the same. We accept orders starting from just 10 units. We do not require fixed minimum quantities. This allows a new target market to be tested before larger inventories are tied up.

We have been operating as a fulfillment service provider in the Allgäu since 1993. Shipping across national borders is not an exception in our day-to-day business, but has been a fixed part of our operations for years. Where shipments otherwise get held up, over 30 years of experience become most evident. We clarify missing information before shipping rather than after the customs declaration.

Request your individual Cross-Border Fulfillment from us now:

    Picking, packing and customs documents are part of cross-border fulfillment

    On over 3,000 sqm of heated space, we store your items with exact inventory tracking. When an order comes in, we pick it by hand, check every line item against the order and pack it to withstand transport. Following the principle of zero-error tolerance, we check every shipment a second time before it leaves the building.

    Cross-border fulfillment to a third country also generates documents that must be complete and free of contradictions. If any detail is missing, the parcel stays in the customs warehouse. We prepare these documents for you:

    • Commercial invoice with goods value, quantity and recipient data
    • Commodity code for each item for customs tariff classification
    • Statement of origin for preferential proof under free trade agreements
    • Export declaration via the electronic customs procedure
    • Shipping label with the data for the respective target market

    We enter the master data for this once and keep it up to date. If an item is missing its barcode, we work by item number or description. We separate shipments for different destination countries already during picking, so that paperwork and package stay together. Our shipping logistics shows in detail how the process runs from handover to delivery.

    How quickly do your parcels reach customers in Switzerland?

    Our Kisslegg location is around 30 km from the Swiss border, in the tri-border region between Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Shipments therefore usually reach Zurich or St. Gallen the day after handover. The short distance saves a full transport day compared with warehouses in northern Germany.

    Cross-border fulfillment to Switzerland incurs import VAT of 8.1% and, depending on the type of goods, customs duties. Whether you bear the charges or the recipient does, we clarify this in advance. We then firmly embed the arrangement in the shipping process. This way your customers never face a follow-up charge at their front door.

    For Swiss companies without a German branch, we additionally assist with a company headquarters and tax number in Germany. This saves you the effort of setting up your own entity just to be able to deliver goods within the EU. We support the process in both directions through our Fulfillment Switzerland, which uses the same location.

    We accept returns from abroad and put them back into storage

    Returns from abroad take more time than domestic German returns, because for third countries a re-import must be documented. Your customers send returns to our address, we take receipt of the goods and document their arrival. A return shipment to the country of origin is completely eliminated.

    Every item undergoes a visual inspection. Flawless goods go straight back into available stock, damaged parts are sorted out, and usable items are refurbished on request. You define once which category takes which path, after which processing runs through without any queries.

    International fulfillment stands or falls with this back end of the process. If returns remain unprocessed for weeks, you lack sellable goods in the system while demand continues. We book returns into the system the same day, so that your inventory is always correct.

    For ranges with a high return rate such as fashion or beauty, a fixed rule per product group is worthwhile. We arrange the details in returns logistics, tailored to your range.

    Planning costs for cross-border fulfillment realistically

    Cross-border fulfillment pays off as soon as your own warehouse space and staff become more expensive than handling by a partner. You pay for storage space, order processing and shipping according to actual effort, with no base fee for unused space. We show customs costs separately instead of hiding them in a flat rate.

    Retailers from overseas often search for cross border fulfillment Germany, because a location within the EU single market saves customs clearance for 27 countries. We offer exactly this access, supplemented by fixed contacts instead of changing handlers. Your existing ERP remains untouched, and we adapt our interface to your system.

    A trial run shows more quickly than any calculation whether cross-border fulfillment pays off for your range. We start with limited stock, measure lead times and return rates per destination country and only then expand. Talk to us about your target market before you invest in your own space. Control over inventory and customer data remains with you at every stage.