OceanWaves: How Amazon aggregator Perch finds shipping capacity

‘You have to think differently, you have to be creative in this environment’

Perch's John Esborn (right) talks with FreightWaves' Andrew Cox during the OceanWaves summit.

This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ OceanWaves Summit on Wednesday.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: How Amazon aggregator Perch secures shipping capacity 

DETAILS: Perch’s John Esborn explains to FreightWaves Senior Retail Analyst Andrew Cox how the company works to get capacity with ocean carriers as it continues to grow through acquiring Amazon sellers. 

SPEAKER: Esborn is a director at Perch who serves as the head of international transportation.

BIO: Esborn has been working in international transportation for over 40 years. Before joining Perch, he spent nearly five years at furniture e-commerce firm Wayfair, where he created an in-house nonvessel operating common carrier. He also recently was tapped to join the Federal Maritime Commission’s National Shipper Advisory Committee.

KEY QUOTES FROM ESBORN

“We’ll be able to contract with the guys that truly want to grab the tiger by its tail … and those are probably the more creative-thinking carriers, anyway, the ones we want to do business with.”

“How do you get space and make you a priority to the carriers in this environment? I always want to think that way. I want to be a priority to them.”

“You have to think differently. You have to be creative in this environment. I mean, is there space to be had out there? I don’t know that there is. But all I know is that we’ve done some deals that protected our space, if you will, [and] had a growth aspect to it as we continue to scale.”

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