Global growth keeps outpacing infrastructure, and borders are showing the strain. As the 2025 peak shopping season approaches, retailers and 3PLs face mounting pressure: customs documentation is tightening, carriers are raising fees, and customer expectations for fast, transparent delivery continue to climb. The result is a perfect storm where missteps can mean costly delays, lost trust, and missed revenue.
Rising Complexity in Cross-Border Trade
International shipping has always been complex, but new compliance demands raise the stakes.
“If you’re a shipper or retailer trying to do the right thing—finding the country of origin for a shipment or filling out a commercial invoice accurately—you’re working a lot harder than you did a year ago.”
– Krish Iyer, VP of Global Partnerships, Easyship
Customs agencies are expanding documentation requirements, and de minimis thresholds are shifting. High-ticket items may absorb extra tariffs, but low-priced goods under $200 now face new consumer hesitation. The question brands are facing: is the friction just shipping cost, or fear of customs seizure?
The takeaway here is that compliance and proactive adaptation are no longer optional. Brands that delay risk operational disruption and reputational damage.
“The retailers who are taking it seriously and really are trying to make that good faith effort are the ones that are gonna succeed.”
– Krish Iyer, VP of Global Partnerships, Easyship
Surcharges and Dimensional Weight Are Squeezing Margins
Carriers are also turning the screws.
“We’ve seen oversized fees go up 20–50% year over year—and some carriers now add a $2.50 fee for every 1-oz international order.”
– Krish Iyer, VP of Global Partnerships, Easyship
Dimensional-weight calculations have also tightened, rounding up even fractions of a pound. For brands already under margin pressure, these surcharges add significant cost and complexity—especially for smaller merchants.
AI Moves from Hype to Practical Tool
Amid these challenges, AI is moving from buzzword to practical solution.
“With AI, we’re seeing a far more accurate way of handling HS classification because it can learn intent.”
– Krish Iyer, VP of Global Partnerships, Easyship
Large language models (LLMs) can analyze real-time data across contracts, carrier rates, and volume forecasts to recommend optimal carrier selection—far beyond static rules like “if weight > X, choose carrier A.”
“Instead of a supervisor reading a report and making a decision, a tool can look at data and say, ‘Of these five things, here’s the logical next step.“
– Ninaad Acharya, Co-Host & CEO, Fulfillment IQ
AI-driven automation is also improving product classification and forecasting. Agentic AI—the next generation of autonomous decision-making—promises dynamic routing, proactive customs compliance, and intelligent returns management.
For a deeper dive into these insights—including real examples of AI-driven carrier selection and returns management, listen to the full eCom Logistics Podcast episode featuring Krish Iyer.
Six Steps to Peak-Season Readiness
- Master the paperwork.
Ensure teams fully understand evolving customs requirements—country-of-origin declarations, commercial-invoice accuracy, and HS codes. - Rationalize your SKUs.
Surface only products where tariffs and landed costs make sense. Avoid exposing low-margin items to expensive duties. - Tighten returns policies.
International returns are costly and complex. Build clear, customer-friendly policies that also protect margins. - Plan for carrier inflation.
Budget for oversize surcharges, dimensional-weight recalculations, and new per-package processing fees. Negotiate early. - Put AI to work.
Use AI for HS-code auto-classification, real-time carrier optimization, and demand forecasting. Modern tools finally understand context and intent—key to trueautomation. - Set clear delivery expectations.
Peak-season consumers expect precise delivery dates. Build real-time visibility and proactive alerts into your promise engine.
“When does your holiday return window start, and how are you communicating that to customers?”
– Krish Iyer, VP of Global Partnerships, Easyship
Clear policies—and clear communication—are the backbone of resilient cross-border operations.
Ready to Strengthen Your Cross-Border Strategy?
Mastering cross-border logistics means more than clearing customs. It’s about building processes that anticipate change, use AI where it matters, and keep customers confident from checkout to delivery.
Want to see how Fulfillment IQ helps retailers and 3PLs stay ahead of peak-season pressures and international shipping challenges?
