When a business expands within the country or as a new entrant into Canada, warehouse planning and distribution is vital.
With the likes of Amazon, Target, Marshals and lest we forget Wal-Mart all entering Canada it is becoming ever important for smaller distributors and suppliers to these multinationals to get their warehouse location and supply network "right".
To most efficiently serve the Canadian market population, locating within what's known as the Golden Horseshoe is often times the best choice.
Fully 26% of the Canadian population (9 million) lives in this area, which is expands beyond the epicentre of Toronto.
In fact, nearly 14 million (40%) of Canadians live within the province of Ontario.
This represents a consumer market as large as any major US market.
Tapping a "Best" Mid-Sized City to Access Big Canadian Markets Within the Golden Horseshoe and Greater Toronto Area (GTA) lies Burlington, Ontario.
Once again, it was named Best Canadian Mid-Sized City in Canada by MoneySense Magazine (March 12, 2014).
The rationale cited, among quality of life factors, included Burlington's proximity to the GTA market and connectivity to transportation networks.
The benefit of distribution of smaller cities lying on the fringe of the GTA market but within ready distribution reach can be a huge advantage cost-wise while maintaining the ability to ship and fulfill product orders in a timely, efficient manner.
When same day and just-in-time delivery is important, this matters immensely.
The likes of Amazon have located in none-other than the GTA themselves and have established large distribution networks that ship to consumers directly.
Third Party Warehousing Partnerships - Flexible Warehousing and Distribution Location is an important factor, and so is thinking strategically about leasing and operating fulfillment operations versus outsourcing them.
For a business expanding into Canada's largest market - whether from the US or other parts of Canada - the latter option can make much more sense.
Why? - It is far less capital intensive to outsource storage and distribution services - 3PL's have staff already in place that do this for other clients, thus the experience curve and associated costs are eliminated - Eliminates staffing issues and brings accountability for performance directly to partner management - Leveraging technology for fulfillment processes - Piggy backing on established courier and freight discounts that may be at least partially passed along by the 3PL - The ability to stock up or down, with flexible costs associated to warehouse square footage or pallets actually used rather than set fixed warehouse (and staff) costs - All the above serve to mitigate risk and lower the length of commitment and capital to be applied to your market expansion In sum, accessing the largest consumer market in Ontario can make sense without paying exorbitant fees by establishing a high cost, high effort operation within Toronto.
Look to outlying cities within Ontario's Golden Horseshoe and find a partner that can scale up as you grow business - efficiently and cost effectively.
With the likes of Amazon, Target, Marshals and lest we forget Wal-Mart all entering Canada it is becoming ever important for smaller distributors and suppliers to these multinationals to get their warehouse location and supply network "right".
To most efficiently serve the Canadian market population, locating within what's known as the Golden Horseshoe is often times the best choice.
Fully 26% of the Canadian population (9 million) lives in this area, which is expands beyond the epicentre of Toronto.
In fact, nearly 14 million (40%) of Canadians live within the province of Ontario.
This represents a consumer market as large as any major US market.
Tapping a "Best" Mid-Sized City to Access Big Canadian Markets Within the Golden Horseshoe and Greater Toronto Area (GTA) lies Burlington, Ontario.
Once again, it was named Best Canadian Mid-Sized City in Canada by MoneySense Magazine (March 12, 2014).
The rationale cited, among quality of life factors, included Burlington's proximity to the GTA market and connectivity to transportation networks.
The benefit of distribution of smaller cities lying on the fringe of the GTA market but within ready distribution reach can be a huge advantage cost-wise while maintaining the ability to ship and fulfill product orders in a timely, efficient manner.
When same day and just-in-time delivery is important, this matters immensely.
The likes of Amazon have located in none-other than the GTA themselves and have established large distribution networks that ship to consumers directly.
Third Party Warehousing Partnerships - Flexible Warehousing and Distribution Location is an important factor, and so is thinking strategically about leasing and operating fulfillment operations versus outsourcing them.
For a business expanding into Canada's largest market - whether from the US or other parts of Canada - the latter option can make much more sense.
Why? - It is far less capital intensive to outsource storage and distribution services - 3PL's have staff already in place that do this for other clients, thus the experience curve and associated costs are eliminated - Eliminates staffing issues and brings accountability for performance directly to partner management - Leveraging technology for fulfillment processes - Piggy backing on established courier and freight discounts that may be at least partially passed along by the 3PL - The ability to stock up or down, with flexible costs associated to warehouse square footage or pallets actually used rather than set fixed warehouse (and staff) costs - All the above serve to mitigate risk and lower the length of commitment and capital to be applied to your market expansion In sum, accessing the largest consumer market in Ontario can make sense without paying exorbitant fees by establishing a high cost, high effort operation within Toronto.
Look to outlying cities within Ontario's Golden Horseshoe and find a partner that can scale up as you grow business - efficiently and cost effectively.