How To Choose The Right E-Commerce Courier Partner?
Integrating with courier partners is an essential part of e-commerce businesses. Orders may be placed in droves, but success can only be measured by order completion and customer satisfaction. After an order is placed, a whole new system of logistics switches into high gear to ensure the parcel makes its journey by sea, road, or air to its final destination. Without these considerations, selecting a courier partner can prove to be a less-than-profitable endeavour.
There are numerous factors that come into play here, from the moment a product leaves a warehouse till it is placed in the customer's hands, like the safety of the product in transit, the route being used for shipment and the time taken for delivery. This is where having trustworthy and efficient courier partners can make a huge difference in improving final customer experience.
Here’s an exhaustive list of criteria for choosing the right courier partner:
SERVICEABILITY
This is the base criteria that any courier partner must fulfil. Serviceability deals with
2 simple questions. Does this courier company ship to your company’s desired locations? Can it handle the volume of orders your business receives on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis? Given the recent boom in online retail and e-commerce businesses, multiple
courier partners are needed to meet the rising consumer demand and selecting a courier service provider requires many complexities to be taken into account.
LIMITATIONS ON CARGO WEIGHT AND SIZE
It’s important to remember that different courier partners can handle different weight and
freight capacities and different modes of transport available for shipping. While the exact size and weight of products and shipments may differ from order to order, the average size scale of cargo being transported on a regular basis must be considered. An
ideal courier partner would be one that is familiar with handling shipments of the size and the locations required.
FREIGHT COSTS
In case you find multiple courier partners that are within your range of serviceability in
terms of location, volume and weight of shipments, you may still be unsure of how to narrow down the number. This is where the shipping rates can help you decide the best option. That isn’t to say, you should look for the lowest rates, but rather the best
rates for the best overall service. Rates can vary based on the range of delivery, speed of delivery, size and weight of cargo, type of cargo, final destination, etc.
DELIVERY SPEED
Speed of delivery can be affected by the training of delivery agents, warehouse locations
and inventory management, choice of vehicle and numerous other factors. Customers typically expect deliveries within 3-5 days. Beyond that time frame, customers tend to get anxious and often struck with buyer’s remorse. This can result in a high number of
cancellations and RTO (Return-to-Origin). Courier partners with more streamlined distribution networks will likely have a history of speedy deliveries.
SECURITY AND INSURANCE
Speaking of high-value products, insurance is something that can save any person or business
from facing an immense loss. This goes doubly so in the case of cargo transportation. While every product shipped needn’t be treated like the Mona Lisa in transit, knowing that a certain standard of safety is guaranteed by your shipping agent will reduce the
immense amount of costs spent on damaged or degraded products.
DELIVERY MECHANISMS
This term essentially encapsulates the entire system used by any given courier company for
regular shipments, including storage, transport, and communication. The process starts from the moment an item is ordered and picked up from a warehouse or distribution centre and continues until the moment it is successfully delivered to the customer. How
a company trains their employees, the number of fulfilment centres along the way, the tracking platform used, messages sent to the customers and updates provided to the company all fall under this category and can impact every customer’s overall experience
which is very important for a retail or e-commerce brand.
PROOF OF DELIVERY
Having a strict policy and setup for communicating proof of delivery can ensure that complaints
made by customers can be easily verified and will also hold delivery agents accountable for the state of the product at the time of delivery.
RTO PERCENTAGE
Frequently failed deliveries are one of the biggest problems any e-commerce business can
face. RTOs can contribute to significant losses, especially if the product is not returned in usable condition or if the shipping company used does not have a system for reverse logistics and returns in place. Prior to selecting a logistics partner, it helps
to determine which courier partners have high numbers of RTOs on a regular basis. While RTOs may not be completely avoidable, they can be reduced if NDRs (Non-Delivery Reports) are handled efficiently.
RETURNS MANAGEMENT
While NDRs may lead to orders being automatically returned to their point of origin, another
important scenario that e-commerce businesses and online merchants have to think of orders being returned after successfully completing the delivery. A courier company with an efficient returns management system will play a vital role in this long and tedious
process, and logistics integration platforms can help improve the provision of services in the future.
STUCK SHIPMENTS
Stuck shipments can occur for numerous reasons, from customs clearances to logistics issues
like delay in the pickup and vehicular difficulties. Monitoring the causes for the majority of your stuck shipments can help you select a courier partner that is equipped to overcome those specific challenges.
TECHNOLOGY
Given that e-commerce businesses are heavily technology-driven and improving their tech-savviness
every day, courier partners also maintain an obligation to do the same. APIs and UI driven platforms can serve to increase delivery efficiency, streamline tracking of orders, and also help immensely in dealing with NDRs and reducing RTOs.
REVIEW
A careful review of their past performances will give you a clearer perspective of which
logistics companies and courier partners will offer the most efficient and effective fulfilment solutions customised to your business needs.
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