Best physical location for Ecommerce

[xalex]

Which city/state is best for locating your e-commerce business?
Mix of cheap labor, housing cost.

NY: Too expensive to grow and warehouse, tax
Austin, TX: Too south, shipping cost
CA: High user base but high tax

WA: Expensive
VA: Expensive

Any suggestions?

[Essex_boy]

Colchester area of Essex, its known as a low pay area for low skill jobs. Despite being in Essex its still very rural and hick in some parts.

[ccDan]

Which city/state is best for locating your e-commerce business?

Scratch Ohio off your list too.

[Tonearm]

Kentucky is supposed to be good. Some high number percentage of the country's population is within some low number distance. Cheap labor too I believe.

[jsinger]

Are you talking about a U.S. ecommerce company? And where would your clientele be, worldwide or just U.S.?

We've had several coastal suppliers move distribution into Northern Texas, Ohio and other more central locations. Northern Mississippi outside Memphis is great for many reasons. Southern NH (outside Boston) is popular in New England.

Factors to look for:
1) Central Location
2) Low taxes
3) Cheap abundant labor
4) Air and truck hub
5) Quality of life factors for owner
6) Proximity to customers
7) Proximity to suppliers
8) Pool of cheap student-techie labor (college town)

Places to avoid:
1) California--of course.
2) Corner states (New England, Fl, Pac NW)
3) Rockies (too little population within 1 day shipping)
4) Places with heavy snow which can close a business for a few days a year

Ultimate location--Next door to a technical college in Northern Mississippi, 20 miles south of Memphis.

[Realbrisk]

A friend of mine has moved his warehouse from NY to NC for cheaper labor and warehouse

But i can not guarantee it, it might of been a State grant since he has over 300 employees

[webwoman]

CCDan - why do you scratch Ohio?

[gpilling]

Atlanta near the big shipping hub, relatively low wages

[ccDan]

CCDan - why do you scratch Ohio?

The sales tax system and taxes.

Ohio consistently rates at the bottom of the heap in surveys of business-friendly states as well.

[xalex]

Also remember, it cannot be middle of nowhere. After all ecommerce owners are educated high-skilled worker, who usually have other business/jobs too and would like to be near a decent city to actually enjoy/reinvest the spoils.

I have found Triangle/Raleigh/NC area to be better. You have bunch of counties and cities mixed in one small area. I prefer the center (Cary) where there is maximum no. of counties and cities adjacent on the boundary. I can chose between rich/poor/less tax/safe/educated county for each step of the operation.

[xalex]

Forbes has rankings out

Best Metros For Business And Careers [forbes.com]

[edited by: minnapple at 3:22 am (utc) on July 12, 2007]

[jsinger]

If all else fails, consider moving to a debtor friendly state like Florida or Texas and filing bankruptcy.

[incrediBILL]

Scratch Ohio off your list too.

Why would that be?

It's a depressed economic area meaning cheap rent and labor.

Good for ecommerce, bad for brick and mortar.

[mattb]

Zappos and Amazon both have distribution centers in KY. UPS has air hub in Louisville, FedEx Air is in Memphis which is not too far. FedEx Ground has a regional hub in Northern KY which cuts 1 day off most transit times. Cincinnati, OH is right across the river from KY with large colleges and ample labor force. CVG airport is also in N. KY with Delta services 120+ direct cities daily.

[sun818]

> Which city/state is best for locating your e-commerce business?

Geographically speaking, Kansas is a great state to ship from since you only take three business for delivery to most places: [ups.com...]

You would also need to consider the location of your suppliers and customers. Where are your suppliers located and the move increase your transportation costs? Where are your customers located? Would the cost of shipping change if you moved to a different location?