Over the past two years, many sellers have felt the pressure of rising overseas-warehouse rent. It is not a single factor but several forces stacking up.
What rent is made of
Rent usually includes: site lease, warehouse-management-system amortization, picking labor, and insurance and compliance. Site and labor in the US and Europe have long shown rigid upward pressure, and a warehouse can rarely dilute that part to the point of irrelevance through scale.
Why "switching to a cheaper warehouse" is not always the answer
A lower-quoted warehouse may give up margin by cutting picking labor or system investment. Once peak-season overflow or order fluctuation hits, stability tends to break first.
What sellers can do
- Use "days of inventory turnover" to back into stocking volume, reducing slow-moving stock that occupies space long term
- Split fast-turnover SKUs from slow-turnover SKUs across warehouses to lower overall rent
- Share inventory across multiple platforms to raise single-warehouse utilization
Rent is a cost, but not an isolated one. Viewing it inside the whole "inventory turnover + fulfillment speed" picture makes better decisions easier.