Retail and FMCG Logistics

Retail supply chains fail on dates, not on distance. A container that arrives two days late is a container that missed a promotion, lost a booked delivery slot into a grocery depot, and turned a profitable order into a supplier performance conversation. Nostrac Shipping moves retail and fast moving consumer goods for importers, brand owners and wholesalers, and the work we are paid for is protecting the delivery date at the far end of the chain: choosing the sailing that gives you a realistic buffer, clearing the goods without a query, holding stock where it can be called off, and turning up at the retailer's door in the window they gave you. We are a logistics partner rather than a rate sheet, which matters in a sector where the cheapest quote and the missed launch date are often the same booking.

What We Handle for Retail and FMCG Importers

Most of our retail clients use some combination of the following:

• Container sea freight from Asia and Europe — Full container loads on the main services into UK and North European ports, planned against the on shelf date rather than against the departure date. For programme volume we build a sailing plan for the season instead of booking box by box.
• Consolidated and part loads — Groupage for orders too small for a full box, whether that is a container share out of Asia or a pallet network movement out of Europe. Useful for replenishment and for testing a new line before you commit to volume.
• Air freight for launches and shortfalls — Reserved for what genuinely needs it: a launch date, a shortfall on a promotion, or a first production run being sampled by a buyer. We will tell you when it is not worth the money.
• Ambient and bonded storage — Palletised and shelf storage with stock records, call off delivery and cross docking, so seasonal stock does not sit in your own unit blocking picking space.
• Labelling, repacking and quality checks — Retailer specific labelling, barcode application, outer case marking, multipacks and simple rework carried out in the warehouse before the stock goes to the depot.
• Retailer and grocery depot delivery — Booked in deliveries on the retailer's own booking system, with the pallet configuration, labelling and paperwork the depot expects, which is where most first time suppliers get turned away.

The Delivery Window Is the Whole Job

Retail buyers measure suppliers on availability. A booking that ignores that is a booking that will hurt you:

• Work backwards from the on shelf date — Start from the date the stock must be sellable, subtract the depot lead time, the booking slot availability, the clearance and unload time, the port dwell and the transit. What is left is the latest cargo ready date at the factory, and it is usually earlier than people assume.
• Build in buffer where it is cheap — A week of buffer bought at the origin end by shipping one sailing earlier costs almost nothing. The same week bought at the destination end costs air freight, storage penalties or a lost promotion.
• Depot booking slots are finite — Grocery and general merchandise depots release slots in advance and popular days fill. Late paperwork means a later slot, and a later slot can put you outside the delivery window on the purchase order even though the container arrived on time.
• Peak season is not a surprise — Rates and space tighten before the Chinese New Year shutdown and again through the autumn peak. Plans made in good time survive it. Plans made in the same month do not.
• One late document delays everything — A missing packing list line, an unclear description or an incomplete commodity code holds the declaration, and the clearance delay lands on the depot booking. Most of the delays we are asked to rescue started as a paperwork problem, not a shipping problem.

Getting Retailer Compliance Right First Time

Each retailer publishes its own supplier manual, and they differ. The recurring themes are consistent enough to plan for:

• Pallet specification — Pallet type, maximum height, overhang, wrapping and whether mixed SKU pallets are accepted. Non conforming pallets are commonly rejected at the door or reworked at your cost.
• Labelling and identification — Case and pallet labels in the format the depot scans, applied where the depot expects to find them. We apply these in the warehouse rather than leaving it to the depot to discover a problem.
• Product and packaging information — Barcodes, product data, country of origin marking and any sector specific labelling required for the goods you are selling. Where a rule is specialist, we say so and point you to a specialist rather than guessing at it.
• Documentation for import — Commercial invoice, packing list, transport document, origin evidence where you are claiming preference, and clear product descriptions with commodity codes. Guidance on documents and codes is part of our service. Tax and duty advice is not, and we will refer you to your accountant or a customs specialist for that.
• Traceability — Batch or lot references that run from the factory paperwork through to the delivery note, so a query on one production run does not become a query on all your stock.

Related Services

• Container options as FCL sea freight or consolidated LCL sea freight
• Storage, pick and pack and call off stock on our warehousing and 3PL page
• Declarations and procedures handled by our UK customs clearance team
• Chilled and short life lines on our perishables and reefer page
• Ambient food and drink programmes on our food and drink logistics page

Frequently Asked Questions

How far ahead should I book for a seasonal retail order?

Plan the shipping at the same time as you place the purchase order with the factory, not when the goods are ready. For sea freight from Asia into the UK, a sensible working assumption is that the cargo ready date needs to sit roughly two months before the on shelf date once you allow for transit, clearance, unload and a booked depot slot, and more than that around the Chinese New Year shutdown and the autumn peak. We will build the actual timeline for your lane and your retailer rather than working from a rule of thumb.

Can you deliver into supermarket and retailer distribution centres?

Yes. We deliver into UK retailer and grocery depots on their own booking systems, with the pallet configuration, labelling and paperwork the depot requires. Tell us which retailer and which depot at the quotation stage, because the booking lead time and the pallet rules vary and they change what happens in the warehouse before the vehicle loads.

What happens if my container is delayed and I miss the delivery slot?

We rebook, and we tell you early rather than on the day. As soon as a vessel is running late or a clearance is queried we look at the next available slot, at whether a part delivery of the critical lines is worth doing, and at whether trucking direct from the port rather than through the warehouse recovers the date. The point of telling you early is that a missed slot handled quietly is a supplier performance mark against you.

Do you offer storage and call off delivery rather than one bulk drop?

Yes, and for most retail programmes it is the better model. We hold the stock, you call off what a depot booking needs, and we deliver against it. That keeps your own unit free for picking, avoids delivering more than a depot will accept in one drop, and gives you somewhere to put stock that arrived before the promotion window opens.

Can you label and repack goods before delivery?

Yes. Retailer specific case and pallet labelling, barcode application, outer marking, multipack building and light rework are all done in the warehouse. It is far cheaper than having a factory in Asia guess at a UK retailer's label format, and it means a labelling change from the buyer does not mean a new production run.

Is air freight ever worth it for FMCG?

Sometimes, for a narrow set of reasons: a fixed launch date, a promotion that will otherwise run empty, samples a buyer needs to approve, or a shortfall on a line that is selling faster than forecast. It is rarely worth it for bulk replenishment on low value goods, and we will say so. Where a shortfall is partial, moving only the critical SKUs by air and leaving the rest at sea usually costs a fraction of shipping the whole order by air.

Which documents do you need from me to start?

Commercial invoice and packing list with clear product descriptions and weights, the commodity codes for the goods, your EORI number, the incoterms agreed with the supplier, and the delivery address or retailer depot. If you are claiming preferential origin we also need the origin evidence from the supplier. If any of that is not in place we will tell you what is missing before the goods ship rather than after they arrive.

Talk to Nostrac about your requirements and we will tell you what is realistic before you commit to it.

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