Lansil Global is a company that has been working hand-in-hand with e-commerce brands to scale and grow their business. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Lansil Global founder and CEO Alan Coughlan to learn more about the company.
Alan Coughlan’s Background
What is Alan Coughlan’s background? Coughlan said:
“My name is Alan Coughlan, and I am the founder and CEO of Lansil Global, a supply chain business focused on providing China sourcing and global fulfillment services for e-commerce companies.”
“I was born and raised in Cork, Ireland, where I obtained a degree from the Cork Institute of Technology. In 2011, I moved to China to get a master’s degree in International Business. After graduation, I decided to spend some time there and explore the country.”
“I have always wanted to become an entrepreneur, and while working as an English teacher, I decided to purchase a consignment of bicycles from a local factory to try and sell them in Ireland. Due to quality issues, I didn’t have much with this business. This experience led me to realize that despite China’s outstanding manufacturing capabilities, e-commerce businesses were still struggling to source good quality products from China.”
“After my bicycle venture, I decided it was time to set up my own venture. I established Lansil Global in 2015 to help e-commerce brands make the most of Chinese factories.”
Formation Of Lansil Global
How did the idea for the company come together? Coughlan shared:
“While my experience selling bicycles sourced from China has greatly influenced my decision to establish the company, there were other factors that came into play.”
“In the early 2010s, the e-commerce industry was growing rapidly, beating every forecast and paving the way for many new businesses to establish themselves online. During that same period, China’s manufacturing output was also increasing year-on-year, with Shenzhen leading the chart in manufacturing consumer electronics and other products.”
“Large corporations were able to establish their own supply chain in China, but emerging online businesses couldn’t source products at the same scale, and I found they didn’t have the experience. This is where I got the idea for Lansil Global. Our focus is to ensure e-commerce brands can benefit from Chinese manufacturing, receiving the best possible rates and products of the highest possible quality.”
Favorite Memory
What has been Coughlan’s favorite memory working for the company so far? Coughlan reflected:
“My favorite memory was after the pandemic when China finally opened up again. During a lengthy lockdown, I spent most of my time outside the country. After it was reversed, I finally met the team in person (we had been doing video calls prior to that) and saw my old office again. There were around twenty new team members I had never met. I hadn’t seen the team for around three years, which seems crazy. My proudest moment was realizing that, despite the challenges of COVID, we were still able to grow and keep operations running.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Coughlan explained:
“We started Lansil Global in 2015, focusing on China sourcing and manufacturing. While this is still our main service, we’ve expanded to offer more solutions that benefit our clients. We now provide global fulfillment services from our warehouses in Shenzhen, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, where we ship products to over 171 countries and cover all the states in the USA. In addition, we provide Amazon FBA prep services to help online businesses sell their products on the world’s largest online retailer.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Coughlan and the team faced in building the company? Coughlan acknowledged:
“Our most recent challenge was opening a new 32,000 sqft warehouse in Pennsylvania. We had to research to find a suitable location and then ensure we were hiring experienced staff. In the beginning, we struggled to manage the warehouse’s daily operations and briefly had to depend on our Nevada team who were supporting remotely. Training new staff and setting up the warehouse were continuous challenges, but we successfully overcame them and were able to serve our clients on the East Coast around the clock.”
Evolution Of Lansil Global’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Coughlan noted:
“Since our main service is sourcing and manufacturing from China, we have found that investing heavily in tech isn’t a huge priority. When communicating with suppliers, which is an integral part of our day-to-day operations, we have realized that personal touches are needed.”
“We’re proud to be still offering 100% human customer service, rather than depending on chatbots and automated replies.”
“Of course, technology still helps in automating and streamlining the process. We use software to improve efficiency and connect with our clients’ e-commerce platforms to receive their orders.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Coughlan cited:
“Since many of our clients are based in the US, I would consider opening our first warehouse in 2020 in Nevada as one of our most significant milestones. This has allowed us to offer faster shipping and better service, which was complemented in 2023 by opening our second US warehouse in Pennsylvania. These two warehouses allowed us to offer coast-to-coast coverage and ship to all States.”
“We have also expanded our operations and acquired more clients. Earlier this year, we celebrated reaching $150 million in revenue, in addition to sourcing over 4,000 unique products and shipping more than 15 million packages.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Coughlan about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“One of our clients, which is a US-based e-commerce brand specializing in cosmetics, has benefited from 12 percent savings on manufacturing and shipping after working with us. In addition, we offered the client a credit line with 60-day payment terms to help them scale faster and meet the market demand. This flexible credit line, which we offer to our clients, is not common in the sourcing industry, and we’re proud to be among the few companies that offer this to support our clients.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Coughlan affirmed:
“Since our first day in business, the growth of Lansil Global has been driven greatly by word of mouth. One of the things that sets us apart from competitors is going above and beyond to secure the best deal for our clients, especially when it comes to sourcing products from China. We’ve established strong connections with over 2,000 factories across the countries, which helped us get better rates and faster lead times for our clients.”
“Since we have extensive experience in China sourcing and have global warehouses, we offer complete supply chain solutions that ensure the product is manufactured, processed, and delivered to the customer’s doorstep. In addition, we have our very own quality control team in our China fulfillment center, which allows us to offer better services by ensuring lower defect rates and keeping the client in the loop throughout the entire process.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Coughlan pointed out:
“We’re looking forward to always improving our services and offering clients better ways to source and ship their products. Currently, we’re exploring the possibility of opening more warehouses in one of the Sunbelt states and Europe.”
“In 2023, we opened a new office in Dubai to have our in-house marketing department. Today, we’re planning to grow the team by hiring sales representatives to reach out to new clients across the world. We recently onboarded our first client in the UAE and are currently planning on expanding further into the Middle East.”
Additional Thoughts
Are there any other topics you would like to discuss? Coughlan emphasized:
“I’d like to shed light on the recent news about Amazon’s new plan to compete with Temu and SHEIN by offering budget-friendly products directly sourced from China. Given that Amazon is the leader in online retail in the US, its upcoming service has the potential to upend the market.”
“This will lead to more competition and better, cheaper options for customers. I also believe Amazon’s upcoming service will be overall beneficial, and it will help us expand our services to more clients.”
“The direct-from-China (direct-to-consumer) model has been dominated by Temu and Shein for a few years now, and this has caused some controversy about Section 321, which allows orders valued under $800 to enter the US tax and duty-free. The controversy about this law is that it mostly benefits Temu and SHEIN, two Chinese online retailers.”
“Now as Amazon, a US company, is entering the race, there is optimism that the Section 321 controversy will be mitigated and the calls to restrict this law will subside. Amazon’s participation could address concerns about competitive fairness, ultimately benefiting consumers and the industry as a whole.”
Funding
When asking Coughlan about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“We are proud to be one hundred percent privately owned and not backed by outside VCs, private equity, or other investors. I think this independence has allowed us to pursue organic growth and focus on service quality rather than just acquiring market share for the sake of scaling.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Coughlan concluded:
“Addressing the market size of our business is tricky, as it comprises China sourcing and global fulfillment, two markets which are hard to quantify.”
“However, the growth of this industry is closely related to the continuous rise of online retail. The revenue in the e-commerce market is projected to reach $4.1 trillion this year, with some estimates indicating a 9.49 percent annual growth rate from now until 2029.”
“Consumer demand is fueling the e-commerce market, and global fulfillment, along with sourcing from China, are the main businesses that are set to benefit from this growth.”
