We are now on the third episode of this Coronavirus series and this week, we want to share more information with you right from the epicenter of the outbreak – China. When this global pandemic hit us, it undeniably rocked us all to the core. And for sure, you have a ton of questions about how China handled the outbreak, how it developed initially, how it impacted the businesses in China, and most importantly how they have survived the economic turmoil.

Hence, in today’s episode, Kunle interviews Brian Miller, founder of Easy China Warehouse, a global eCommerce fulfillment company based in Shenzhen, China, as they discuss everything right from how it all unraveled to the stringent measures they had to enforce to contain the virus, to how his team was able to operate and pull through from the outbreak, and finally how China is doing now that they’re starting to regain normalcy.

Covered Topics:

• What happened in China when the outbreak began
• How China handled the virus
• How the virus affected local and global supply chain
• Trends in the shipping/logistics market
• What can be said about demand from those trends

Podcast Show Notes:

• 01:52 – Figure out how the eCommerce industry is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through Klaviyo’s COVID-19 Daily Pulse Update. Check out Klaviyo
• 03:49 – Who is Brian Miller?
• 04:59 – Brian’s Journey to China
• 08:55 – What is  Easy China Warehouse?
• 13:20 – What happened in China when the outbreak began
• 19:12 – Get the easiest way to backup your Shopify or BigCommerce store and undo unwanted changes with Rewind.io… Mention you heard about them at 2x eCommerce Podcast and get a ONE MONTH FREE TRIAL
• 20:52 – How businesses looked in China during the COVID-19 epidemic
• 22:58 – How Easy China Warehouse operated amid the outbreak
• 24:00 – Health and Safety Measures Employed
• 27:29 – The Impact of Coronavirus in China’s eCommerce
  • Lack of inspectors
  • Lack of manpower in factories due to overwork
  • Massive shortage of migrant workers due to fear and self-quarantine
  • Slow down in production lines resulting in delays
  • Lack of effective communication between factories and clients
• 31:14 – How are things in China by March
  • Factories are beginning to operate again at 50% capacity
  • Extreme strains in the air freight market
  • Spike in air freight costs
• 32:28 – Are things going back to normal in China?
  • Decrease in new cases
  • Social Distancing Measures
  • Plummet in sales and revenue
• 38:26 – Is there any silver lining here?
  • Time to plan and strategize your business
• 40:28 – Trends in the shipping/logistics market
  • Increase in online orders
• 41:58 – What’s the integrity of delivery companies and postal services in China during and after the peak of the outbreak?
  • Is it safe?
• 46:20 – Join the 2xEcommerce Facebook Group

Topic Takeaways:

• Follow the stringent measures enforced by the government to avoid the spread of the virus and help flatten the curve more quickly.
• Practice health and safety measures to protect yourself and others from the virus.
• Take the Coronavirus seriously and expect that it will immensely affect the economy than most people are expecting and because of that, it’s important that you should prepare your business because the earlier you start doing that, the better you will be prepared to rough through the crazy water.

Tweetable Quotes:

We need to extrapolate that [stringent measures] to our own countries and realize that this is going to be very difficult for much longer.

The positive side [to the Coronavirus outbreak] is that it will bring people together. It will bring countries together and it will show the good [in] humans.

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