Naveen Selvaraj, Author at Lateshipment.com Experience the future of logistics with LateShipment.com. Discover how we revolutionize efficiency and cost savings in shipping and delivery operation Mon, 24 Aug 2020 11:12:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://lswordpress.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/01181630/ipad-retina-144X144-100x100.png Naveen Selvaraj, Author at Lateshipment.com 32 32 Should online sellers include shipping cost in the product price? https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/should-online-sellers-include-shipping-cost-in-the/ Fri, 21 Aug 2020 09:30:50 +0000 https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/index.php/2017/05/23/should-online-sellers-include-shipping-cost-in-the/ Of the many reasons for cart abandonment, the shipping fee is among the biggest. It plays a crucial role in influencing consumers’ online purchasing behavior and decision making. The truth is that today’s customers don’t appreciate a separate cost being added to their products at checkout. In the Amazon era, customers are spoiled for choice […]

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Of the many reasons for cart abandonment, the shipping fee is among the biggest. It plays a crucial role in influencing consumers’ online purchasing behavior and decision making. 

The truth is that today’s customers don’t appreciate a separate cost being added to their products at checkout.

In the Amazon era, customers are spoiled for choice by businesses offering free shipping and faster deliveries.

So, should you include the shipping cost in your product price?

The answer actually depends on a few factors.

What does including the shipping cost in the product price entail?

By making the shipping cost part of the product price, you totally blanket your customers from the idea that they are paying an extra amount apart from the product price, and provide the impression they are  getting FREE SHIPPING for purchasing from your brand.

 

And boy is “FREE SHIPPING” a major hook!

 

According to Berman and Wharton marketing professor Barbara Kahn, there’s a certain psychology behind “FREE SHIPPING” that makes it almost mandatory to include shipping cost in overall product price. Kahn calls it the “pain tax.”

 

Pain tax: As humans, we have a tendency to segregate gains and take pleasure individually in each positive benefit, but when it comes to dealing with a loss — in our case paying an extra amount for shipping — we’d rather take it in one lump sum.

 

This means when the shipping cost is charged separately, customers perceive it as a loss on the whole, neglecting the benefits of the product they wanted to purchase, and they end up abandoning their carts.

Will free shipping impact my margin?

The answer depends on the choices you make.

Giving away shipping 100% free, which means you bear the full shipping cost from your margin, can hurt your business unless you charge a premium on your products from customers.

This is because shipping charges are dynamic and differ from location-to-location. Even the eCommerce giants, who get better shipping rates from shipping carriers, struggle to provide free shipping on all of their goods because it is still expensive.

In order to make optimal use of free shipping, you need to get the balance right. 

Threshold-based free shipping or “condition-based free shipping,” where a minimum purchase limit is set, has seen good success among retailers.

In fact, 60% of eCommerce companies cite “free shipping with conditions” as their most successful marketing tool.

The reasons are obvious. On the one hand, it satisfies customers’ need for free shipping and on the other it increases the Average Order Value (AOV) of purchases by motivating customers to meet the threshold for free shipping.

You can also opt for shipping options that are less expensive or which have an extended delivery period. Based on the fact that free shipping is provided, customers who are not in immediate need of a product will still choose to wait it out.

So, what are the different ways of providing “free” shipping?

1.Increasing your product price to cover the cost of free shipping

You could include the shipping cost in the product price, making the customer pay for shipping. This way, the customer is technically paying for shipping, even though it feels free.

2. Setting a minimum order value​

You could stipulate a minimum order value beyond which free shipping would be provided. This approach will motivate customers to exceed that limit, thus increasing your Average Order Value.

3. Limiting free shipping to certain regions​

If your business is US-based, you could provide free shipping to states closer to your warehouse and charge full shipping fees for the states that are distant. This way you will not lose money to shipping on all orders.

4. Limiting free shipping to particular products ​

If you offer a wide range of products, you could limit free shipping to the ones that are expensive or which have high margins.

5. Offering free shipping to your most loyal customers​

You could offer 100% free shipping to your most loyal customers, i.e. after a certain number of purchases have been made by them. Doing this could spur repeat purchase and contribute to increased Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

6. Offering free shipping with a longer delivery window​

This approach has dual benefits. If you have a faster shipping option, you could nudge your customer toward paying some percentage of the shipping cost for faster delivery. For those customers who are simply unwilling to pay for shipping, the option with the longer delivery window is likely to suffice.

Free shipping - best practices in e-commerce

There are a few other approaches you could consider while charging for shipping.

What are the other ways to charge for shipping?

1. Charging real-time carrier rates ​

All major shipping carriers like FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL, etc. provide APIs that could be connected with your eCommerce platform. These APIs enable your store to calculate shipping rates live while a customer is purchasing. Shipping rates are calculated based on the product size & weight and origin & destination.

 

There are two benefits with this approach. Firstly, there won’t be a risk of under charging your customers. Secondly, this will earn you points for transparency.

 

With this strategy, there is risk of cart abandonment, but it works well if you ship to international destinations with wildly varying shipping charges.

2. Charging a flat rate​

Under this strategy, you charge the same rate for all orders. This strategy works best when you have a standard product line with items that are similar in size and weight. 

 

The benefit of offering flat rate shipping is that it makes it easy to communicate the shipping charge to customers. It also encourages customers to order large volumes since the shipping cost does not increase as the number of products in the cart increases. 

 

One obvious disadvantage is that you might lose a few orders, so you must maintain a balance between undercharging and overcharging customers.

 

There are still other ways to reduce your shipping spend. Read on to learn more.

What are some simple & effective ways to reduce shipping costs?

1. Offer local delivery ​

This could be a simple and reliable way for you to save on your shipping costs. When you set up a local delivery service, you can set a radius within which you want to deliver to your customers. This is quick and cheaper than the traditional way of shipping. 

 

You can maintain a tab over where you are willing to deliver for free, or else charge a low price on deliveries to reduce your shipping spend. 

 

The best thing about handling local deliveries in house is that it allows you to stay connected with your customers throughout the delivery process and  helps you build a sense of community.

2. Claim shipping refunds for service errors​

Did you know that by claiming refunds for service errors committed by shipping carriers, you could save up to 20% on your shipping spend? 

Shipping carriers are prone to over 50 service failures like late deliveries, lost & damaged packages, incorrect surcharges, etc. that are eligible for 100% shipping refunds.

However, many eCommerce retailers are not aware they are eligible for refunds, while those that are in the know are put off by the time-consuming claim process that has a short submission window.

LateShipment.com’s algorithms can submit shipping refund claims on your behalf and credit your account with the refunded amount, thus helping you save on shipping costs. Since the whole process is automated, you don’t have to break a sweat. More on this later.

3. Negotiate with various shipping carriers​

Negotiating with shipping carriers for better rates is an important aspect of eCommerce shipping. Generally, major carriers like FedEx UPS, USPS, and Canada Post offer you pre-negotiated rates, but you should always try negotiating with these carriers for a better deal, especially if you are starting out.

While negotiating : 

  • Have a clear grasp of your shipping data, and use it.
  • Know your average shipping volumes and ask for volume discounts.
  • Watch out for hidden fees and surcharges.
  • Know the types of discounts offered by shipping carriers.

LateShipment.com’s Carrier Performance report gives you access to actionable insights that will provide you leverage while renegotiating rates with your shipping carrier.

4. Don’t stick with a single shipping carrier ​

A multi-carrier shipping approach gives you the flexibility to choose the carrier that gives you the best rate at any given time. It also provides you the ability to switch carriers when a carrier fails to meet delivery expectations or is facing delivery issues due to high volumes. 

 

Using a single carrier while starting out makes sense, but as your business grows and your delivery volume increases, it would be risky not to have a multi-carrier approach because it could result in delivery issues and increased shipping spend.

5. Increase your packaging options​

Since shipping carriers don’t charge only based on the volume of packages but also package dimensions, it is important to have diversity in packaging options. This will help you reduce the price that you may have to pay for the extra space in your packaging. 

 

Space in packages may also increase your package material cost and the risk of damaging your product.

simple & effective ways to reduce shipping costs

Final Word

While there are different ways and approaches when it comes to dealing with shipping costs. But, as we have seen, adding shipping cost into the product price has the definite benefit of reducing the friction for customers contemplating buying your products. Yes, 100% free shipping can impact your margin, but you can always opt for conditional free shipping, or another option best suited to your business model.

A Little about LateShipment.com ​

LateShipment.com is the world’s only logistics cloud tool that helps businesses of every size reduce shipping costs by up to 20% and provide memorable delivery experiences to customers at scale.

At LateShipment.com, our focus has remained steadfastly on the last mile, typically the part of the logistics chain that is the most opaque.

Some of our high-impact offerings are :

 
  • Shipping Cost Savings (up to 20%) – Automate the audit of your shipping invoices and recover refunds for 50+ service failures & billing errors including late deliveries.
  • Real-Time Parcel Tracking – Monitor your outbound & inbound shipments across multiple shipping carriers on a centralized window, in real-time.
  • Predictive Delay Alerts – Pay attention to daily deliveries with predictive delay alerts and more on a purpose-built dashboard for support reps.
  • Proactive Issue Resolution – Proactively communicate with customers to prevent them from having bad experiences due to delivery failures.
  • Delivery Status Notifications  – Send custom or automated delivery status notifications to your customers for events like “shipped,” “attempted,” & “delivered.”
  • Branded Order Tracking – Build fully-customizable order tracking pages for your customers to improve brand recall and sales.
  • Delivery Experience Feedback – Gather feedback from customers about their delivery experience. Measure and optimize shipping operation

The best part is, it takes less than 2 minutes to see LateShipment.com in action.

The value we add to businesses is most evident when experienced first-hand. Try LateShipment.com now.

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]]> [COVID-19] Service Updates from FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL, & Canada Post https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/covid-19-service-updates-from-fedex-ups-usps-dhl-canada-post/ Fri, 31 Jul 2020 03:00:52 +0000 https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/?p=5004 With updates as of July 31, 2020. With most people staying indoors & practicing social distancing, isolation or quarantining, there has been a spike in online shopping over the past few months. Major eCommerce marketplaces including Amazon have put up messages on their sites warning customers of possible delivery delays due to a surge in […]

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With updates as of July 31, 2020.

With most people staying indoors & practicing social distancing, isolation or quarantining, there has been a spike in online shopping over the past few months. Major eCommerce marketplaces including Amazon have put up messages on their sites warning customers of possible delivery delays due to a surge in orders.

This post is intended to enable you with critical updates from the major shipping carriers about possible discrepancies on the delivery front and also what your business can do to tide over them.

At this point, the situation remains volatile and is rapidly changing. We will keep a close watch on developments within the industry and update this page as the situation evolves.

Read till the end for valuable insights on how your business can navigate these uncertain circumstances.

1. FedEx Corp.

FedEx is facing discrepancies in its services due to the prevailing situation. In its latest service alert, the carrier has stated that due to the high volume of parcels that they are dealing with at the moment, they are facing delivery delays in their FedEx Ground services in various parts of the U.S.

What You Need to Know

Global Suspension of Money-Back Guarantee

FedEx has suspended its Money-Back Guarantee for all FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Office services worldwide. Packages shipped after March 23, 2020, won’t be eligible for the Money-Back Guarantee.

Temporary Surcharge for International Shipments

FedEx implemented a temporary surcharge on all its FedEx Express services beginning April 6. The carrier has stated that these surcharges are being levied as a result of limited air cargo capacity and escalating costs due to the current constrained environment.

Temporary Peak Surcharges

FedEx has implemented temporary peak surcharges, in addition to existing charges, for shipments that qualify as oversized or unauthorized or which require additional handling. These surcharges have been implemented in order to deal with the surge in residential deliveries and transit of large-sized packages, which substantially escalate operational costs.

Temporary Suspension of Signatures

FedEx has temporarily suspended its signature rules for most deliveries in the U.S. except for those that require an adult signature in order to protect customers and workers from getting infected. 

LateShipment.com Banner Ad Incorrect Surcharges

2. United Parcel Service (UPS)

UPS is facing discrepancies with its services and has communicated that it is continuously reassessing its operations to deal with the situation.

What You Need to Know​

Implementation of Peak Surcharges

UPS has applied a peak surcharge to certain UPS Ground Residential and UPS SurePost Packages for packages with U.S. origins and destinations. 

This surcharge is applicable for businesses whose average weekly shipment volume between February 2, 2020 and February 29, 2020 increased by 25000 packages.

The carrier has also implemented a surcharge for overweight packages. This surcharge is applicable for businesses who have shipped more than 500 large packages in the above-mentioned period. 

Large Packages are defined as packages with length (longest side of the package) + girth [(2 x width) + (2 x height)] combined exceeding 130 inches, or with length exceeding 96 inches.

The surcharge has been in force from May 3, 2020.

Suspension of Service Guarantee

UPS has suspended service guarantees on all its shipments originating from the U.S. for both U.S. Domestic and International packages.

Temporary Suspension of Signatures

UPS has suspended the requirement of signatures for most of its deliveries. During a delivery requiring a signature, the UPS driver will leave the parcel on the customer’s doorstep along with the form to be signed. The driver will retrieve the form after the customer has signed it and is away at a safe distance.

Contactless Deliveries

UPS has also provided a contactless delivery option. This option provides for a customer to ask their UPS driver to drop the parcel at their doorstep or redirect it to another desired address.

3. United States Postal Service (USPS)

The US Postal Service released its latest service update on July 30,2020.

As per its update on April 17, 2020, it changed its service commitments for a few services. 

The service commitments for Priority Mail’s two- and three-day services have been extended to three and four days respectively.

Similarly, for the Priority Mail Open and Distribute (PMOD) service, the service date has been extended from two to five days nationwide, and for the First-Class Package Service (FCPS) two and three-day services, the service date has been extended by three and four days respectively.

What You Need to Know​

Suspension of Refunds

USPS has suspended refunds for items shipped to international countries where their service has been suspended.

Here is the list of all the international destinations which are facing service disruptions and are thus not eligible for refunds.

Safety Measures for Services that Require Customer Signatures

USPS has implemented a few safety measures in order to ensure the safety of both its employees and customers. Following are the safety measures:

  • Employees have been instructed to ask customers to stay at a safe distance or close the screen door/door while they leave the item being delivered in the mail receptacle or appropriate location by the customer door. 
  • Employees are expected to maintain a safe & appropriate distance while obtaining details from customers.
  • Employees have been instructed to avoid areas that may be frequently touched when knocking.
  •  If there is no response during a delivery, employees have been instructed to follow the normal Notice Left process. 

4. DHL International GmbH

DHL has made some temporary adjustments to its time-definite international services due to an increase in the transit time for many international destinations.

The carrier has formed the Deutsche Post DHL Group Coronavirus task force in order to closely monitor and manage services during the Coronavirus outbreak. 

The carrier has stated that it is coordinating with international organizations to provide the necessary information to all employees on relevant operations.

What You Need to Know​​

Emergency Situation Surcharge

Due to the high volume of packages and the impact on the aviation industry, DHL introduced an Emergency Situation Surcharge in early April that was reduced starting July 1, 2020. 

No Suspension of the Money-Back Guarantees

DHL has stated that there is no suspension of its money-back guarantee, which is applicable for its Time Definite services.

No-Contact Deliveries

DHL is offering signatureless deliveries to customers who do not wish to sign via their scanner screen or on paper in order to maintain social distancing. It has temporarily enabled Signature Release for all business-to-consumer (B2C) shipments on its On-Demand Delivery platform. 

5. Canada Post Corp.

As per Canada Post’s latest update released on July 29, 2020, service levels are improving as a result of their parcel volumes reducing due to the reopening of some stores. However, the On-Time Delivery Guarantee for parcels remains suspended.

What You Need to Know​​

To help contain the spread of COVID-19, Canada Post has taken the following preventive measures:

No Refunds for Late Deliveries 

The carrier has waived off refunds for late deliveries, but other service failures like billing errors, incorrect surcharges, and others are still eligible for refunds.

Temporary Suspension of Signatures

In order to avoid close contact between delivery agents and customers, Canada Post no longer requires signatures on normal deliveries. 

However, for items using the Registered and Xpresspost Certified services and those that require Proof of Identity, Proof of Age, and COD (collect-on-delivery) and items which require custom fees, a signature will be required.

Contactless Deliveries

Canada Post delivery agents will drop packages in the mailbox or outside the door if possible and safe to do so. Else, a notice card will be left indicating the post office from which customers can collect their parcels by showing their identity proof.

Overview of the service updates from FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL, & Canada Post

6. Here’s How Your Business Can be Prepared

With all the changes that COVID-19 is bringing to the logistics industry, it makes it incumbent upon retailers like you to be prepared to deal with the fast-changing situation. 

1.Get your workplace COVID-19 ready

Take every sanitary step possible to ensure the safety of people that work in your organisation. Promote frequent and thorough hand washing, encourage workers to stay home if they are sick, encourage respiratory etiquette, etc.

2.Regularly disinfect your shared elements

Routinely disinfect surfaces, equipment, devices and other elements that are frequently shared among the people in your organization.

3.Prioritize your stocks

Understand what your customers are buying from you and prioritize your stocks so that you can quickly receive, restock, and ship them during demand. 

4.Prepare an emergency response team

Online orders can spike at any time so, in order to deal with the situation, prepare an emergency response team.

5.Inform your customers about possible delivery delays

Notify your customers about possible delays in deliveries on your website or by sending emails or messages.

6.Follow a multi-carrier approach

Make use of multiple shipping carriers so that you can prioritize between them and deliver your orders efficiently.

7.Build a contingency plan

Plan ahead for scenarios that could affect the bottom line of your business, like unavailability of staff, shipping carriers not operating in a particular region, suppliers not being able to deliver your orders, etc. 

7. How LateShipment.com Can Help in This Crisis

With shipping carriers straining to deliver parcels and a high possibility of delays, here are some capabilities of our Delivery Experience Management (DEM) suite that can help you now more than ever in the last mile of parcel shipping:

1.Real-Time Visibility into Shipments in Transit

Monitor all your shipments across carriers, services, and locations unfold in real-time on a single unified dashboard.

2.Purpose Built Dashboard for Your Customer Support Reps 

Empower your Support team with critical insights on a purpose-built dashboard that lets them intervene and fix last-mile issues before customer impact.

3.Send Automated Email & SMS Updates to Your Customers

Engage with your customers in the last mile with timely notifications on their parcel status and show them you’ve got their back.

4.Send Customized Email Updates to Specific Customers

Sometimes, certain parcels need more attention than others. At such times, reach out to specific customers well in advance and allay their concerns.

Additionally, our solution also allows you to provide customers an on-brand tracking experience through custom tracking pages that reside on your domain rather than on the shipping carrier’s.

You can start using these features in less than 2 minutes without the need for any IT/business process change or coding. And the best thing is that LateShipment.com is a simple cloud-based plug-and-play solution that can seamlessly integrate with the tools you already use.

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]]> [COVID-19] Everything you need to know about eCommerce Parcel Shipping During the Pandemic https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/covid-19-everything-you-need-to-know-about-ecommerce-parcel-shipping-during-the-pandemic/ Fri, 24 Jul 2020 10:26:45 +0000 https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/?p=5836 The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on the retail landscape. It has led retailers to accelerate their efforts towards digitizing their businesses and improving their eCommerce channels. Undoubtedly, one of the main spurs behind this push has been consumers’ widespread adoption of online shopping that has led to a massive spike in eCommerce […]

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The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on the retail landscape. It has led retailers to accelerate their efforts towards digitizing their businesses and improving their eCommerce channels.

Undoubtedly, one of the main spurs behind this push has been consumers’ widespread adoption of online shopping that has led to a massive spike in eCommerce sales and home deliveries.

While initially shipping carriers weren’t prepared for a volume surge at this time of the year, they have come to terms with the situation. 

Major carriers set up temporary fulfillment hubs and took preventive measures like contactless and signatureless deliveries to protect both customers and their employees from getting infected.

With the understanding that COVID-19 is here to stay, most businesses have come to terms with the new normal. 

Under these conditions, here’s what you should know about shipping orders to your customers:

1. Additional surcharges mean higher shipping costs​

U.S. eCommerce sales made up roughly 11% of total retail sales in 2019. That number jumped up to 22% of all retail sales in April and May of 2020.

US eCommerce Sales During COVID 19

Shipping carriers, in-order to cope with the spike in demand and the complexities of delivering parcels, added surcharges, thus increasing shipping costs.

 

FedEx added 30 cents to parcels delivered to homes. This surcharge is applicable to retailers who ship at least 40,000 packages a week and whose volume is higher or more than their average in February 2020. Oversized items will also include an additional fee. 

UPS added 30 cents per package as surcharge for retailers who exceeded their average February weekly volume by 25,000. An additional surcharge is also levied for oversized packages shipped by businesses that ship more than 500 packages a week.

Similarly, DHL added a variable surcharge to all its Time Definite International shipments for packages between 2.5 kg and 300 kg.

Such surcharges from shipping carriers during the holiday season are not unusual but having them levied in the first half of the year presents a challenge.

However, since shipping carriers have canceled money-back guarantees only on late deliveries, you can still claim refunds for incorrect surcharges and 49+ other service failures.

2. Expect an increase in delivery delays due to shipping carrier impacts​

During the pandemic, shipping carrier operations have taken a hit due to the surge in parcel volumes, especially home deliveries, and staffing shortages. As a result of this, there has been an increase in delivery delays. 

 

Some parcels have been delayed for days and even weeks, leading to frustrated customers calling out shipping carriers on the internet.

Customers calling out the shipping carriers on the internet

Without a doubt, major shipping carriers like FedEx, UPS, and USPS have delivered a relatively lower number of packages on-time in recent months.

As of April 14, FedEx delivered 81.7% of its parcels on-time, UPS 86.0% of its parcels, and USPS 89.3% of its parcels. 

Experts opine that this trend will likely continue in upcoming months as more consumers turn to online shopping, increasing the number of home deliveries, to get essential products while sheltering at home. So be prepared for delays with your shipments.

While you cannot control the delivery speed of your shipping carriers, you can always keep a tight grip on order processing and handling times to ensure that your packages reach as early as possible.

3. Delivery uncertainties mean a spike in delivery-related customer queries​

Searches for “customer service” have been higher during the lockdown than during the last holiday season.

Holiday Season vs COVID19

Also, businesses have been seeing a surge in customer queries, as customers are anxious and frustrated due to the uncertainties around deliveries. 

Initially, customer support agents had limited visibility into order deliveries since updates on packages were sometimes not available or because some packages were not getting scanned or were being sent back without notifications.

But as restrictions were removed and businesses started opening up, the volume of queries dropped. On average, global weekly tickets in mid-May were down nearly 5% from their peak.

Benchmark Snapshot: Tracking the impacts of COVID-19 on CX

This trend didn’t last long though and the volume of tickets rose in early June, before dropping again in the middle of the same month.

 

With the pandemic evolving and uncertainties during deliveries still a major problem, keeping your customer support representatives on top of every issue is critical. More on that later.

4. Customers seek transparency & proactive communication on their orders​

Transparency has never been more critical than now, during the pandemic. Though customers have been giving retailers some leeway with all the delays and delivery uncertainties, they expect more transparency and pro-activity.

 

They expect brands to communicate about delivery delays in time. They do not appreciate being left in the dark.

Customers calling out shipping carriers on the social media

Many brands have put out messages on their sites, informing customers to be prepared for possible delivery delays and giving them a variable delivery time.

With the present conditions set to continue for a while, it’s in your business’s best interest to overcommunicate with customers rather than the other way round.

Here’s what you can do to navigate ‘shipping and delivery’ challenges and control shipping costs​

Though costs are spiraling, there is much you can do to make every dollar go farther for you and your business.

1. Offer access-point deliveries

Access point deliveries are generally cheaper than home deliveries. Access points are usually situated near the point of delivery, where recipients can come and pick up their parcels.

 

In the USA, major carriers like FedEx, UPS, and USPS have over 100,000 staffed or automated access points, usually retail stores. 

 

Apart from stores, access points can also include:

 

• Dropboxes

• Mailboxes

• Carrier shipping centers

• Full-service, carrier-authorized outlets

• Parcel lockers

• Third-party retail stores

 

You can also offer alternative delivery locations, which will be convenient and accessible to your customers.

2. Offer Curbside Deliveries​

If you own an offline store, then offering a curbside delivery could be a win-win situation for both you and your customers. 

 

From a shopper’s perspective, it is quick and convenient, and for you, it will help save on shipping costs.

 

While until the pandemic, only mass retailers offered buy online, pick up in-store services (BOPIS), after the pandemic hit, more and more independent retailers have started offering such services. These have received good adoption by customers. Many experts believe that this trend will stay on even after this pandemic ends.

 

One drawback of curbside deliveries is that offline retailers will lose the discovery aspect of shopping, wherein a shopper comes into a store and discovers and buys a product. 

 

However, since pandemic-spurred rate increases are still in effect, this approach will help you control your shipping costs.

3. Claim refunds for over 50 service failures and billing errors including incorrect surcharges​

Shipping carriers have temporarily suspended money-back guarantees for late deliveries. However, there are 50+ service errors like incorrect surcharges, misbilled packages, duplicate invoices, etc. which are still eligible for refunds. 

Since porch piracy is a huge problem nowadays, you can also claim refunds for lost packages.

By auditing your shipments and claiming refunds, you can save up to 20% of your shipping spend.

4. Proactively communicate about delivery issues before customer impact​

Earlier, we mentioned about the value customers place on being informed of possible delays in advance. 

 

Since it’s a well-established fact that the delay rate is still high, you could put up a message on your website informing customers of the fact and providing them a general revised timeline.

 

A better alternative is to use a service that proactively notifies about packages that are likely to be delayed. 

 

This will give you ample time to inform your customers about the delays.

 

This is a great way for your business to demonstrate to each of your customers that they are valued, thereby reducing the possibility of them switching over to a competitor for lack of service.

pROACTIVE DELIVERY ISSUE RESOLUTION

The best part is you can automate this process, while you focus on core business functions.

5. Equip your Support Representatives with Essential Tools​

 Times like these present a significant challenge to your support reps as many of them are working remotely and might not have the required infrastructure to deal with customer queries. 

 

Equipping them with a tool that provides critical delivery-related information across carriers on a unified dashboard can ease their workflow, thereby helping them provide better customer experience.

 

Even better if the tool allows access to parcel information both broad and granular negating the need to juggle between multiple tools.

Keeping Support Reps on Top of Delivery Issues

6. Offer customers a self-serve tracking page​

Provide a self-serve tracking page to customers, so they have quick access to their order delivery status, thereby reducing incoming tracking queries. 

 

A branded tracking page can help improve brand perception and allows you to re-engage with customers and cross-sell and upsell to them.

Order Track Button

A Little About LateShipment.com​

LateShipment.com is the world’s only logistics cloud tool that helps businesses of every size reduce shipping costs by up to 20% and provide memorable delivery experiences to customers at scale.

LateShipment.com is value-packed with great features to supercharge your post-purchase processes:

  1. Save up to 20% on Shipping – Automatically audit your shipping carriers’ invoices and recover refunds for 50+ service failures & billing errors including late deliveries.
  2. Real-Time Visibility – Monitor your outbound & inbound shipments across multiple shipping carriers on a centralized window, in real-time.
  3.  Critical Delivery Alerts – Pay attention to daily deliveries with predictive delay alerts and more on a purpose-built dashboard for support reps.
  4. Proactive Issue Resolution – Proactively communicate with customers to prevent them from having bad experiences due to delivery failures.
  5. Custom Delivery Notifications – Send custom or automated delivery status notifications for events like “shipped,” “attempted,” & “delivered.”
  6. Branded Tracking Pages – Build fully-customizable order tracking pages for your customers to improve brand recall and sales.

The best part is, it takes less than 2 minutes to see LateShipment.com in action, so sign up now!

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]]> [COVID-19] How to Boost eCommerce Sales and Overcome Operational Challenges https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/covid-19-how-to-boost-ecommerce-sales-and-overcome-operational-challenges/ Fri, 26 Jun 2020 14:49:18 +0000 https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/?p=5655 As lockdown restrictions are lifted in various parts of the world, people are showing increased enthusiasm toward coming out and spending their money, which is good for the global economy. This is particularly true in the case of Europe, where even the worst-hit countries like Italy and Spain are gradually easing restrictions. Although the COVID-19 […]

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As lockdown restrictions are lifted in various parts of the world, people are showing increased enthusiasm toward coming out and spending their money, which is good for the global economy. This is particularly true in the case of Europe, where even the worst-hit countries like Italy and Spain are gradually easing restrictions.

 

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has not gone away for good, according to the latest report released by the Commerce Department, retail sales, comprising sales at stores, restaurants, and online shopping, has increased by a seasonally adjusted 17.7% in May. 

 

The increase in retail sales is compared with the sales of 1992, considered as one of the highest on record. 

 

Though the numbers paint a hopeful picture, the reality is that sales remain sluggish and below pre-pandemic levels.

 

Also, with warnings from scientists about a possible “Second Wave” coming and no sign of an effective vaccine for COVID-19, we are sure to be in a recession for a while.

Amp Up Sales in the Recession

All things considered, from an eCommerce perspective, it makes sense to leverage the increased online engagement of the present times to increase sales. Here’s what you can do to amplify sales:

1. Focus on your loyal customers​

One of the most valuable assets that you have right now to increase sales is your existing customers. For most eCommerce stores, the top 20% of customers are responsible for 50% of overall revenue. 

 

Make sure to align your marketing efforts and investments with this segment of customers to improve your bottom line.

 

Rather than merely providing discounts and deals, provide additional value. Provide free shipping, offer great customer service and highly personalized recommendations, interact with customers on social channels, and keep your messaging relevant to impress your existing customers.

2. Tighten your marketing game​

It’s natural to be wary of spending your money on advertising at a time like this Obviously, you want to minimize operational expenses. 

 

However, totally ignoring marketing will hurt your business in the long run. Totally cutting down on your ad spend now will force you to spend an increased amount to get back on track and amplify your brand recognition later. 

Continuing to invest in marketing now, albeit at a smaller scale, has the advantage of leveraging cheaper ads at a time when your competitors might also be cutting their marketing spend. 

Beyond spending money on advertising, there are other ways to amplify sales. Here are some of them:

  • Get reviews from your existing customers: With more people shopping online now, your business will get new visits from potential buyers. Since seeking validation to make a decision is core human nature, reviews from your existing customers will help a great deal.
  • Connect with your audience on Instagram: Many brands have successfully leveraged the power of Instagram during this lockdown to stay relevant and connected to their customers. The world’s second largest social media channel is particularly useful for shoring up the brand reputation of eCommerce-based businesses.
  • Make use of Referral Marketing: Nothing can compare to peer-to-peer marketing. At times like this when shoppers are calculative about their choices, a little nudge from a peer can help them make that all-important purchase from your brand. So, use a referral marketing campaign now.
  • Use Live Video Streaming on Your Social Channels: Live video streaming is engaging, authentic, and helps build an intimate connection with your customers. It captures eyeballs and gives you instant feedback. It lets you clearly gauge what your customers want by interacting with them.
  • Rethink your Cross-sell/ upsell strategy: In order to increase your sales now, you need to tap it from all the angles possible. As a general practice, this strategy is used before or after a checkout, but now you can also cross-sell and upsell to your customers whenever they check their delivery status using your own branded tracking page (You can simply create one using LateShipment.com).
  • Build your audience organically: SEO is more important than ever now. As people are spending more time on the internet, purchasing online and looking for more locally sourced goods, having your website well optimized can play a critical role in bringing in new traffic. Best of all, it’s free.

3. List your store on different marketplaces ​

If you see your sales graph on a downward curve, try listing your products on different marketplaces. 

 

Marketplaces give you exposure to millions of potential customers, consequently helping you gain new customers. 

 

Also, it helps that people trust these large platforms due to their reputation, availability of product ratings, and peer reviews. 

 

Try listing your products on multiple marketplaces to diversify your risk and help you discover different sets of audiences.

 

Another important reason for you to list your brand on various marketplaces is that it will help you clear your inventory quickly. The sooner you clear your inventory, the better the cash flow. 

 

If you are on a platform like Shopify, you can easily integrate your store within a few clicks.

 

Since the recent launch of Facebook and Instagram marketplaces, brands are considering listing their shops on these platforms.

Facebook Marketplace

4. Listen to your customers​

Expect customer behavior to be dynamic and ever-changing during the present recession. 

 

Since consumers now are more rational about their choices than usual, you cannot take risks by stocking up on inventory that may not click with their needs. 

 

Take a cautious approach to be safe from unsold inventory.

5. Launch new products​

According to researchers, a period of recession or the period immediately after it is a great time to launch new products. 

One of the main reasons for this being the fact that there is less of a buzz in the market. 

This increases the possibility of getting heard and increasing reach. It is also a great way to stay relevant and connected with your customers.

If you are not able to unearth product ideas, you can create a product like the ones that are selling the most currently.

Hawaiian Tropic is a skincare brand, specializing in suncare products, launched a limited edition aromatic candle featuring their trademark coconut scent. This was done to give their customers a sense of being on the beach while staying indoors!

Hawaiian Tropic launches aromatic candles

6. Give back to the community​

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a situation in which many people have lost their lives, businesses have folded, and breadwinners have lost their jobs. 

 

With the recession at full strength, many people are unable to fulfill even their basic needs.

Taking measures at an organizational level to tap into the tendency of people to reach out and engage with businesses that reach out to those in need can help both your brand reputation and bottom line. 

While consumers are cautious about spending their money, you being associated with a charity through sharing a part of each sale with it will give them good reason to make a purchase from you.

FRYE launched a campaign #FRYEFightsHunger to help their charity organisation, Feeding America, during the pandemic. Every time, when their customers entered their FIGHTHUNGER coupon code, FRYE donated $10 to Feeding America.

And also, for every picture shared on social media wearing a pair of FRYEs, they donated $1 to Feeding America.

This not only helped Frye build brand exposure but also gave their customers a sense of giving back to society.

The Frye Company: #AtHomeWithFrye Campaign

Boosting sales, at the end of the day, is one part of the equation. Dealing with operational challenges in a time of recession is the other. Continue reading for insights on how to handle the operational side of your business.

Operational Challenges to Overcome in the Recession​

1. Dealing with unsold Inventory​

Inventory lying unsold for long enough will affect the cashflow of your business. 

 

As the economy opens up, you can sell your inventory at full retail price and hope your sales pick up. But since the market has so much unsold inventory, discounting is going to be prevalent.

 

And with discounts, customers are going to be spoiled for choice. They will simply choose the brands that supply the same quality of goods at a discounted price. So you will probably need to enter the discounting game.

 

If you plan on holding to your inventory and selling it next season, you will need to bear the cost of the unsold inventory apart from rent and labour charges. 

 

It’s always better to clear off unsold inventory as soon as possible as doing so will give you liquid cash that will help you invest in relevant products for the current situation.

 

Consider reaching out to a financial consultant for expert advice at this time as the situation is ever-changing.

2. Overburdened shipping carrier networks​

Broken shipping networks during the pandemic have resulted in uncertainty over parcel deliveries. And with the lack of transparency and data from the end of shipping carriers, support agents are often in the dark when addressing customers’ queries.

 Also, if you use multiple shipping carriers, it can become quite a challenge to juggle between the various dashboards while addressing customer queries. 

To handle such a situation, It is incumbent upon your business to equip your support team with a Delivery Experience Management solution like LateShipment.com. 

Using LateShipment.com’s Delivery Experience Management tool, you support agents can enjoy a bird’s eye view of all in-transit shipments across shipping carriers on a single dashboard along with independent real-time shipping data.

You will also be able to automate the process of sending delivery notifications to your customers by text or email, which by itself will reduce the volume of incoming customer queries. 

Here are some of the benefits of using LateShipment.com:

  • Real-Time Visibility – Monitor your outbound & inbound shipments across multiple shipping carriers on a centralized window, in real-time.
  • Critical Delivery Alerts – Pay attention to daily deliveries with predictive delay alerts and more on a purpose-built dashboard for support reps.
  • Proactive Issue Resolution – Proactively communicate with customers to prevent them from having bad experiences due to delivery failures.
  • Custom Delivery Notifications  – Send custom or automated delivery status notifications for events like “shipped,” “attempted,” & “delivered.”
  • Branded Tracking Pages – Build fully-customizable order tracking pages for your customers to improve brand recall and sales.

Best of all, it only takes 2 minutes to sign up to LateShipment.com and begin enjoying all the benefits for your business.

The post [COVID-19] How to Boost eCommerce Sales and Overcome Operational Challenges appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

]]> Top 4 Learnings From eCommerce Businesses That Handled the COVID-19 Situation Right https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/learnings-from-ecommerce-businesses-that-handled-the-covid-19-situation-right/ Fri, 12 Jun 2020 04:34:48 +0000 https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/?p=5520 The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caught eCommerce businesses on the wrong foot when it hit. While most businesses have, unsurprisingly, struggled under these extraordinarily challenging circumstances, some have managed to step up to the situation and stay relevant. The efforts of these resilient companies that have navigated the crisis well have key learnings for your business. […]

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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caught eCommerce businesses on the wrong foot when it hit. While most businesses have, unsurprisingly, struggled under these extraordinarily challenging circumstances, some have managed to step up to the situation and stay relevant. The efforts of these resilient companies that have navigated the crisis well have key learnings for your business. Let’s explore these!

Hang on till the end for a great way to engage customers in the last mile!

1. Quickly Adapt to the Situation ​

The sudden impact of the pandemic caught businesses unaware. With shop closures being the norm in most parts of the world, and with social distancing no longer an option but a mandate, the fear of losing business has been at an all-time high. And yet, even in this situation, some businesses have managed to adapt. Nike is a case-in-point.

Nike’s Digital Push​

Nike outperformed its peers with its quick move to leverage the digital ecosystem to help its customers maintain their physical and mental health while at home. According to their CEO, John Donahoe, this course of action was derived from their China Playbook.

NIke's play insde, play for the world COVID campaign

The China Playbook: Nike Training Platform​

In China, one of Nike’s key markets, when the pandemic broke, it had to shut more than 5000 of its physical stores. With most of the brand’s physical stores shut, the emphasis shifted online. 

While reaching out to their customers through their digital platforms, they didn’t just push products but also came up with creative ways of connecting and engaging with customers. 

Since, in this period, people are confined at home with limited opportunity for physical exercise, Nike opened their online Nike Training Platform to anyone interested and encouraged all site visitors to workout daily. 

This increased Nike’s weekly sign-ups by 80% across all their activity apps and translated into a 30% growth in online sales.

The Living Room Challenge​

The brand collaborated with popular athletes, including Cristiano Ronaldo, for a ”Living Room Cup” campaign in which participants were given a challenge to complete and were asked to post their videos online with the hashtags #playinside and #thelivingroomcup.

 

Nike’s example proves that though people are cautious now about spending their money on “non-essential” items and activities, there are still ways to connect and engage with them.

 

While adapting to a situation can help a business under extraordinary circumstances, being innovative is always beneficial.

2. Be Prepared to Innovate​

Innovations often develop out of an intense desire to help others and find a solution when things get hard. When the present pandemic broke, retail outlets downed shutters and customers became reluctant to spend money online on non-essential goods. 

 

Many brands were forced to bring innovation to their regular strategies and products. And according to some experts, some innovations that have come about as a result of the present  situation are valuable and will last.

KREWE: Blue Light Filtering Lenses ​

KREWE is a fashion eyewear brand. With so many people working from home and staring at screens all day, They saw an opportunity to provide customers with something that would be relevant and useful to them at this time. So, they launched a segment of blue-light lenses to help protect themselves from digital eye strain.

KREWE introduces blue light lenses

Hawaiian Tropic: Aromatic Candles​

Hawaiian Tropic is a skincare brand specializing in suncare products. With people staying at home and beach vacations a no-go for quite some time this year, they launched a limited edition aromatic candle featuring their trademark coconut scent. This was done to shine a light on their beachside businesses as well as to give people a sense of being on the beach inside their homes!

Hawaiian Tropic launches aromatic candles

Hanifa: Virtual Catwalk Show on Instagram​

Hanifa is a US contemporary fashion brand. With several fashion shows getting canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, they put on a virtual catwalk fashion show using 3D models on Instagram.

Users were allowed to tune in live and watch the show, which displayed the brand’s Pink Congo Label Collection. This show was a huge success and was applauded as “groundbreaking” for giving insights into “the future of fashion.”

3. Leverage Social Media​

Before the pandemic struck, social media usage for most of January, February, and early March remained relatively flat at about 20% of overall mobile app usage.

But in the middle of March, when lockdowns in different countries started, social media usage increased markedly to 25% of overall mobile app usage.

With many people spending more time on social media, brands are using this opportunity to deliver relevant messages and to engage with their customers creatively.

Social Media usage during the COVID19 pandemic

Kora Organics: Hosting Master Classes ​

Kora Organics is a beauty brand. The CEO, Miranda Kerr, has been hosting masterclasses on makeup on Instagram Live. Every week, they feature a new guest and give wellness tips that can be implemented at home. These masterclasses have increased their engagement on social media.

Kora Organics: Hosting Master Classes

Lucky Brand: #WinFromHome Challenge​

Lucky Brand is a denim and lifestyle brand from Los Angeles. It ran an Instagram campaign, #WinFromHome, which urged its users to participate in daily challenges to win prizes. 

 

Each day they would post an offbeat challenge on a richly illustrated retro-themed play card.  Participants were required to post a photo of themselves completing that challenge tagging Lucky Brand and the hashtag #WinFromHome. 

 

Rewards included gift cards, promo codes, and charitable donations on the player’s behalf. This campaign helped Lucky Brand both engage with their customers and well as gain followers.

Lucky Brand: #WinFromHome Challenge

4. Help Others Selflessly ​

This pandemic has seen many brands step forward to donate and provide aid to communities to help them weather the storm of Coronavirus. This has both helped brands capture the hearts of customers and also paved the way for customers to use their buying power to give back to society.

Corkcicle: #SupportLocal Campaign ​

Corkcicle is a retail brand that specializes in drinkware. When many of Corkcicle’s retail partners had to close their doors on account of COVID-19, this affected the livelihoods of their employees. 

 

As a response to this, Corkcicle started the #SupportLocal campaign, which aimed at supporting local retailers who sell their products. 

 

They added a section on their checkout page where customers could select the retailer of their choice from a list of Corkcicle’s 500 retail partners. 

 

After the purchase, Corkcicle credited the purchased amount directly to the selected retailer as if the purchase had happened directly from them.

The Frye Company: #AtHomeWithFrye Campaign​

Frye is a leading American footwear brand. Like with almost every retail brand, Due to the pandemic, they had to shutter their brick & mortar stores, with sales only taking place through their website. 

They launched a charity campaign in which their customers were given a coupon code, FIGHTHUNGER, which when applied would give them flat 20% off on all their purchases and also automatically donate $10 to Frye’s charity partner, Feeding America.

To enhance their campaign efforts on their social media channels, they launched the #AtHomeWithFyre hashtag. They asked their users to post a picture of them wearing a pair of Fryes on social media, tagging them with the hashtag. For every picture posted, they donated $1 to Feeding America. 

This not only helped Frye build brand exposure but also gave their customers a sense of giving back to society.

The Frye Company: #AtHomeWithFrye Campaign

Ready to Show Customers You Have Their Back​?

In these uncertain times, what can help your business moving forward is demonstrating to customers that you care about their experience with you. A quality Delivery Experience Management platform can help you do that.  

LateShipment.com is the world’s only logistics cloud tool that helps businesses of every size reduce shipping costs by up to 20% and provide memorable delivery experiences to customers at scale.

At LateShipment.com, our focus has remained steadfastly on the last mile, typically the part of the logistics chain that is the most opaque.  

Some of our high-impact offerings are :

  • Save up to 20% on Shipping – Automatically audit your shipping carriers’ invoices and recover refunds for 50+ service failures & billing errors including late deliveries.
  • Real-Time Visibility – Monitor your outbound & inbound shipments across multiple shipping carriers on a centralized window, in real-time.
  • Critical Delivery Alerts – Pay attention to daily deliveries with predictive delay alerts and more on a purpose-built dashboard for support reps.
  • Proactive Issue Resolution – Proactively communicate with customers to prevent them from having bad experiences due to delivery failures.
  • Custom Delivery Notifications  – Send custom or automated delivery status notifications for events like “shipped,” “attempted,” & “delivered.”
  • Branded Tracking Pages – Build fully-customizable order tracking pages for your customers to improve brand recall and sales.

The best part is, it takes less than 2 minutes to see LateShipment.com in action.

COVID-19 Note: To help tide over the current crisis, we are giving all businesses full and free access to our LateShipment.comPlatform till June 30, 2020.

The value we add to businesses is most evident when experienced first-hand.

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]]> COVID-19: The Retail eCommerce Picture & What You Can Do https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/covid-19-the-retail-ecommerce-picture-what-you-can-do/ Tue, 07 Apr 2020 05:38:29 +0000 https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/?p=5077 Sitting at my home desk, I’ve never seen business conditions change as rapidly as they have now. And they continue to change. Even as you read this article. These are abnormal circumstances where “social distancing,” “self-quarantine,” and “lockdown” are words we hear more often than a pleasant “good morning” or “good day.” In a matter […]

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Sitting at my home desk, I’ve never seen business conditions change as rapidly as they have now. And they continue to change. Even as you read this article.

These are abnormal circumstances where “social distancing,” “self-quarantine,” and “lockdown” are words we hear more often than a pleasant “good morning” or “good day.”

In a matter of weeks, the Coronavirus outbreak has swept across the globe and dramatically shifted the way we live our lives. 

And the online retail industry hasn’t gone unscathed. 

While the outbreak has led many retailers to close their stores temporarily, others have scrambled to deal with the surge in demand. This, in turn, has put a strain on the supply chain and last-mile side of eCommerce retail.

Read on for a bird’s-eye view of the current situation within retail and shipping, its impact on business, and strategies to deal with it.

What’s Happening in the eCommerce World?

1.Surge in Online Traffic

People are staying at home in response to the Coronavirus crisis, and they are doing nearly all their essential shopping online. This has resulted in online sales for essential items zooming 52% compared to the same period last year, and retailers supplying essential goods like groceries and medical supplies are facing an unprecedented surge in demand. 

In response, Amazon has announced that it will be hiring an additional 100,000 employees to meet the surge in demand and has suspended the shipment of all “non-essential” goods.

2.Discounts & Deliveries

The economy is in shock and customers are cautious about spending money, so, in order to keep the inventory moving and to capture the potential audience-market, businesses are giving huge discounts in the form of free shipping or site-wide sales. Some businesses are even giving out freebies.

3.Return & Exchange Policies

Retailers are bending the rules of their return policies in order to cope with the current situation. While some businesses have stopped receiving returns or are disallowing product exchange for the next couple of weeks, apparently to avoid contamination, others have extended their return periods in order to retain their customer base. 

4.Capping Orders

A large number of people are panic buying and stocking up on supplies. With most workers working remotely and others trying to maintain social distance in warehouses, the situation is putting a strain at the fulfillment end. To handle this situation, many retailers are putting a cap on the orders that one can place.

How are Shipping Carriers Coping?

Due to the surge in online shopping, shipping carriers are straining to deliver parcels on time. Major shipping carriers like FedEx, UPS, U.S. Postal Service, etc. have sent out updates informing customers about possible delivery delays. 

All guaranteed or premium services have been suspended for the time being, and no refunds are being provided for service errors like delivery delays. 

In order to help the situation of already panicked customers and to avoid the transmission of Coronavirus, shipping carriers have taken preventive measures such as signatureless deliveries, contactless deliveries, and store pickup. 

Impacts and Solutions

Supply Chain Impact

The pandemic has crippled the global supply chain. Consequently, the fluctuations in demand due to the uncertainty in the prevailing situation have the potential to severely affect the bottom line of your business. 

Here’s what your business can do to deal with the current situation on the supply chain front: 

  • Be in constant communication with your suppliers, revisit your demand, and narrow down the product varieties you offer.
  • Revisit payment terms with your suppliers to smooth out the changes in cash-flow.
  • Retrain and allocate your staff toward high demand categories, and begin looking for alternate suppliers. 

Shipping & Delivery Impact

As we’ve already discussed, shipping carriers are struggling to deliver orders due to the volatile situation, and there has been an increase in delays which, under the prevailing situation, can make it difficult for your business to deal with already panic-stricken customers.

Here’s what you can do on the shipping and delivery front:

  • Prioritize high-demand products and allocate the major portion of your shipping capacity toward them.
  • Create local hubs from where people can collect their goods or use local stores as inventories to ensure the quick supply of goods directly to your customers.
  • Be in the know of your shipping carriers’ moves while exploring alternate ways to deliver goods.

Customer Impact

Now’s when your customers are more vulnerable than ever. The things they need go out of stock quickly, and their parcels do not reach on time. 

In this time of great uncertainty about how their deliveries will be completed, not being empathetic can impair your relationship with them.

Here’s what you can do to have your customers’ back at this time of uncertainty:

  • Be in constant touch with customers about their parcels and let them know that you have their back.
  • Since all major shipping carriers are facing discrepancies in their services and are straining to deliver orders on-time, consider suspending same-day / next-day deliveries temporarily.
  • Expand your order return timeframe to give your customers some flexibility.
  • Bonus tip: Coming off as salesy at this time can show you as insensitive and hurt your prospects. So go easy on the upselling and cross selling and focus on last-mile customer engagement and support. Make sure to clearly communicate the impacts your business is facing on your website.

LateShipment.com Has Your Back

We know it’s a stressful time, and we want to extend all the help we can to support you through it. That’s why we’ve decided to provide our Delivery Experience Management suite for free for now.

With shipping carriers straining to deliver parcels and a high possibility of delays, here are some capabilities of our Delivery Experience Management (DEM) suite that can help you now more than ever in the last mile of parcel shipping:

 

1.Real-Time Visibility into Shipments in Transit

Monitor all your shipments across carriers, services, and locations unfold in real-time on a single unified dashboard.

Real-time visibility

2.Purpose-Built Dashboard for Your Customer Support Reps

Empower your Support team with critical insights on a purpose-built dashboard that lets them intervene and fix last-mile issues before customer impact.

Support dashboard

3.Send Automated Email & SMS Updates to Your Customers

Engage with your customers in the last mile with timely notifications on their parcel status and show them you’ve got their back.

4.Send Customized Email Updates to Specific Customers

Sometimes, certain parcels need more attention than others. At such times, reach out to specific customers well in advance and allay their concerns.

Proactive handling

Additionally, our solution also allows you to provide customers an on-brand tracking experience through custom tracking pages that reside on your domain rather than on the shipping carrier’s.

You can start using these features in less than 2 minutes without the need for any IT/business process change or coding. And the best thing is that LateShipment.com is a simple cloud-based plug-and-play solution that can seamlessly integrate with the tools you already use.

Ad for LateShipment.com's Delivery Experience Management suite

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