The post 4 Emerging and Promising Ecommerce Logistics Trends for 2024 appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

FedEx Rate Increase Details for 2024

UPS Rate Increase Details for 2024

UPS has followed suit with FedEx almost similarly across the table, starting with dropping the GRI from 6.9% last year.  

• Similar to FedEx, UPS has kept the shorter Zones (2-4) lower than the 5.9% increase, while shipping options such as 2nd Day Air and 3 Day Select rates in Zones 5-8 have an increase rate of nearly 8%.
• On the other hand, when it comes to rate increases based on weight, lighter packages (falling below the 1-10 lbs mark) have a maximum increase of 6.65%
• For minimum charges, faster shipping options such as Next Day Air and Next Day Air Saver see the highest increase at 7.91% and 7.51% respectively.  

The following UPS surcharges have also been effective since December 26, 2023:

• UPS also introduced an increase in rates for specific Value-Added services and other charges like additional handling rates for both weight and dimension-based packages. For instance, in Zone 2 the Additional Weight Handling rate will go from $29.00 to $34.50, and the Dimensions (Length, Width, Length+Girth) will increase from $18.50 to $22.00 (a rise of 16% in each case).
• Additional Handling fees will also be imposed on international shipments weighing 55 pounds or more. UPS has also stated that when a commercial fee is submitted in connection with a shipment, a fee of up to $5.00 per shipment will be applied to the shipper if the commercial invoice is not provided in digital form using UPS Paperless Invoice services before the processing of the commercial invoice by UPS.

How E-commerce Businesses Can Prepare for the Rate Increase

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The post 5 Supply Chain Tips For Smooth E-commerce Delivery in 2023 appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

Inflation

To run the supply chain, you need oil. And one of the major producers of oil and natural gas is, well, Russia. Therefore, the geopolitical conflict has skyrocketed the prices of both in recent weeks. 

The effect of this inflation? 

Mobility service providers such as Lyft and Uber are adding temporary fuel surcharges to fares for ride-hail and deliveries as fuel prices around the U.S rise.

In the U.S., the average price per gallon was $4.69 on March 14, 2022, according to USA Today.

Companies were not only forced to deal with the supply chain crisis that resulted from the war, certain companies willingly took the risk of putting a hold on their business activities primarily in Russia and also in countries such as Ukraine and Belarus. 

Not just corporations, even nations such as the U.S. and Canada have banned Russian oil and gas imports, and the U.K. is moving in the same direction. The governments behind these decisions believe that the actions can put meaningful pressure on Russia to end the war on Ukraine. 

1. Prolonged delivery times

The first and foremost issue for e-commerce businesses is their shipments reaching their customers’ doorstep late because of a conflict happening some 5000 miles away. 

Due to packages being held off citing the suspension of services in parts of Ukraine and Russia, 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.

Thanks to the war, the pileups at ports have created bottlenecks in the transport of goods and commodities and threatening fresh economic disruptions for countries and businesses, especially near Ukraine and Russia (or dependent on them). Adding to this disruption is logistics firms suspending services as a sign of taking a stand. 

FedEx over the weekend said in a statement on its website that the company is “closely monitoring the situation” and that it has “contingency plans in place, including temporarily suspending services in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus until further notice.” 

“Our focus is on the safety of our people, providing continued service, and minimizing disruption to our customers. UPS continues to closely monitor the situation and will re-establish service as soon as it is practical and safe to do so,” UPS said in a statement after disrupting service.

Similar to FedEx and UPS, The German logistics company Deutsche Post, DHL has said that they are suspending the delivery of goods and documents to Russia and Belarus amid the rising tensions in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion. As per a message on the company’s website, the reception of parcels in both countries has been suspended until further notice. 

2. Surging shipping costs

If delays don’t seem to be enough, imagine your worries when you realize that you’ll probably be paying skyrocketing shipping prices for them.  

FedEx Express notified customers on Thursday that it will hike its peak surcharge for many international parcels and freight shipments, beginning next week, because of the latest supply chain disruptions caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

This surcharge is unofficially named ‘War surcharge’ by retail pundits due to the news of the fee coming nearly a week after the disruption in Europe, particularly around Ukraine and Russia. 

Due to continuous disruptions in the global supply chain, air cargo capacity remains limited. We are incurring incremental costs as we continue to adjust our international networks and operate in this constrained environment. – FedEx

FedEx is increasing the surcharge by 20 to 30 cents per kilogram for most of Asia-Pacific and by a tenth of a euro, or 11 cents, per kilogram on European exports and imports. Increases also apply in the Indian subcontinent, Africa and Latin America, according to their tariff schedule. 

But in these tough times, we definitely cannot blame the shipping carriers, who themselves are straining capacity amidst this whole crisis. The fuel cost increase is passed along the supply chain to the carriers and finally ends up hurting your bottom line.

While all of this may seem like a worry, don’t let your hopes down. There are measures that you can take to counter the crisis. Understand what they are and make sure that you are least affected by them.

The post The Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War on E-commerce Shipping appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

What is Causing This Supply Chain Crisis?

The post Supply Chain Crisis in the US: Causes, Effects, and Corrective Measures appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

The 50+ failures of shipping carriers that are eligible for refunds can be separated into service failures and billing errors. Billing errors themselves can be classified separately into surcharges & fees and other billing errors. 

This classification helps you immediately identify and recognize the types of service failures and billing errors and act accordingly when faced with any of them.

The post 50+ Shipping Carrier Service Failures That are Totally Eligible for Refunds appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

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.

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!

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

Considering that dropshipping is convenient for both the customer and the selling company, this business model is thriving. eCommerce and dropshipping profits have reached over $4 billion annually, a 7% year-on-year increase for the last 10 years.

There are numerous ways in which dropshipping is changing the world of eCommerce and we’ll name the most notable ones. This will help you understand its benefits and impact on eCommerce. 

Before we get into the benefits, if you are planning to create a store that dropships, we suggest you take a look at these tips to create a unique dropshipping store, particularly in 2021. 

The post 8 Ways Dropshipping is Empowering eCommerce Business appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

Few technologies have generated as many advances in logistics as data science. The inception of the so-called “Industry 4.0,” which is driving growth in the supply chain management industry, is hinged on data science and its applications.

With the extensive use of generated data, statistical and quantitative analysis, and predictive models, data science can enable enhanced insights, decision-making, and process automation. Throughout the years, data science has helped the entire supply chain industry drive down costs, improve operational efficiency, and increase the velocity of turnover. These are much needed improvements in this notoriously complex global industry.

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A big part of all this is Big Data, which has been growing at a fast pace in recent years. Information Age details how the adoption of this new technology grew by 59% in the space of under three years. This number is only expected to increase soon. Maryville University reports that the annual data created worldwide will reach 180 trillion gigabytes by 2025. This shows how prominent data has become and why so many industries are investing in data science. The logistics industry will be a key area that takes advantage of this rise in available and still burgeoning volumes of data.

A single part of the supply chain alone can generate many streams of data, leaving an ever-widening door of opportunities for logistics companies and analytics providers. Current advances in data science are enabling businesses in the logistics industry to use these data points for innovation. 

A single part of the supply chain alone can generate many streams of data, leaving an ever-widening door of opportunities for logistics companies and analytics providers.

All said and done, there are three principle benefits that data science brings to the logistics industry.

1. Improved visibility, quality, and growth potential

Data analytics is one of the key enablers of visibility. Visibility has been one of the key trends in logistics over the past few years. The demand for greater transparency and on-demand traceability of products being moved across the supply chain is higher than ever with the advent of direct-to-consumer marketing business models.

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DHL’s Resilience 360 provides multi-tier visibility into its supply chain. The Resilience 360 app it launched to accompany its business platform offers near real-time visibility across transport modes. By leveraging multiple streams of data and modeling systems, the current platform boasts a capability to identify key areas of improvement even beyond suppliers or factories. This, as Google notes in its review, will address the various risks logistics companies face in a proactive way.

In its “Data Analytics in SMEs: Trends and Policies” white paper, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development notes that innovations in data science are making it more accessible to small and medium enterprises, which increases scalability potential. The increasing business-to-business data analytics platforms targeted to SMEs can help them envisage the same visibility as big transnational logistics businesses without the heavy cost of an ICT infrastructure. Last mile delivery applications and small e-commerce platforms can now overlay their businesses on top of third party logistics companies.

Closing data gaps in the industry also facilitates a smoother transition to automation and other applications including the deployment of Internet of Things and artificial intelligence technologies.

Data science also helps in achieving efficiencies on the operational front.

2. Operational efficiency

Amazon’s data analytics technology that is called “anticipatory shipping” takes efficiency to another level. With data analytics, the company predicts demand in specific locations to strategically position its products. This makes one to two-day deliveries easier to accomplish for customers who demand them. And not surprisingly, this patented technology can disrupt the logistics industry as we know it. With products placed near the “anticipated demand” category, consumers can greatly benefit from the reduction in delivery times and, as Amazon projects, delivery costs.

Accurately predicting demand to synchronize supply is among the top benefits of having data science systems in place. At any given time, there are multiple data points which companies will be able to model and take into consideration – this includes currency rates, commodity trends, weather data, together with the predicted demand. And with the more efficient modeling of these data points, companies can significantly drive down costs and develop better inventory management capabilities.

Being able to cut costs without sacrificing quality is one of the key features data science affords logistics companies. Managers can then make on-demand and data-driven decisions to improve operational efficiency.

[bctt tweet=”Being able to cut costs without sacrificing quality is one of the key features data science affords logistics companies.” via=”no”]

Data-driven modeling in the adoption of new technologies and innovations is also one of the key optimizations data science offers to the logistics industry. For example, research published by the Industrial and Systems Engineering Magazine used previously generated data to create a simulation designed to aid in deciding whether or not to adopt an RFID system in warehouse management systems. 

Data-driven modeling removes the guesswork and minimizes the risk in adopting new assets and technologies, and it can accurately predict the return of investments in adopting these innovations.

Data science’s impact can go as far as boosting the bottom line of businesses.

3. Raising profit margins

Optimizing efficiencies at scale saves a lot of overhead costs across every part of the global supply chain. UPS’ ORION (On-Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation) uses massive amounts of customer data to reduce costs in last-mile deliveries.

The parcel delivery company reports that it has saved at least 100 million delivery miles since the tech was employed. The technology, which is integrated with its proprietary map UPSNav, continuously refreshes and optimizes routes for its delivery transports – greatly reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as delivery costs.

With many factors affecting a supply chain, being able to have information and insights through data science can give companies that much-needed edge against their competitors. Some of these factors are regulatory effects, environmental factors, capacity challenges, and end-to-end trends. As previously mentioned, data-driven modeling acts as a catalyst to efficiently adopt technologies and cuts the costs of trial processes entirely.

Logistics is a very costly and often risky business. However, data presents an opportunity to work toward stability and the capacity to manage, if not mitigate, risks involved in both forward and backward linkages. Even in shipping insurance, Big Data analytics can tell you exactly whether it is risky to let go of insurance costs. 

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is a growing concern among logistics companies. But as data science advances in applications like fraud and attack detection, its adoption is bound to save companies billions of dollars. Especially with the changing regulatory environment around data collection, having good data-driven cybersecurity systems in place protects you from costly litigations – not to mention possible damage to your customer base.

All things said and done, expect to hear more about the role of data science in logistics in the months and years to come.

____________________________________________________________

This article is a guest post by Nicole Bowles.

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A Little about LateShipment.com

We at LateShipment.com work hard to make “parcel shipping & delivery” transparent and help businesses be fully in control of their last-mile success.

Some of our high-impact offerings are:

• Automating refund claims from your shipping carriers for service failures to help you save money on shipping.
• Giving you full control over delivery delays that harm your brand and sales. You can now predict parcel delays and even fix them by keeping customers informed.
• Reporting at every stage of “shipping & delivery” to enable you with critical supply-chain insights.

The value we add to businesses is most evident when experienced first-hand. Learn more about our solution here.

The post 3 Ways Data Science Will Benefit Logistics in 2019 appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

Unless of course, you have your own delivery fleet to do your bidding.

On the off chance that you don’t, this article is for you.

The co dependent relationship between shipping carriers and retailers spans several decades. Like it or not, almost every retailer blindly relies on carriers to fulfill last mile delivery. Needless to say, it isn’t always an equal partnership.

Opaque policies employed by shipping carriers leave retailers with bare minimum data regarding their shipments. The result is a huge number of unexpected customer calls demanding to know package whereabouts. I mean, you’d tell them if you knew right?

Haven’t you ever wished you had more information to work with?

Focused on bridging this gap and empowering you with the data you need to excel in the last mile, we bring you this exclusive report – Driving Ecommerce Last Mile Delivery Success in 2019. 

Do you offer same day shipping?

Two day shipping became the norm in last mile delivery when Prime brought it into play. Amazon introduced one day shipping after that, and it set the bar a little bit higher for every other retailer out there. The needle has slowly moved from there and come to settle on same day shipping now.

If your business does not offer flexible shipping options including same day shipping, then your chances of holding out in a highly competitive retail landscape just came down by a significant margin.

Let’s say you do offer a variety of shipping options. How do you stay in control of the packages you ship out after a third party carrier takes over the process? It’s not the middle ages anymore when you sent out a bird and prayed it didn’t get eaten by predators on the way.

No. These are times when customers expect to be kept in the loop as to where their purchase is at all times. Right up till the moment it arrives on their doorstep, they hold retailers accountable for keeping them informed of the whereabouts of the package.

• So how do you hold your shipping partner accountable for their performance? It’s your brand reputation at stake!
• How do you offer customers flexible shipping options? It’s not just an option, it’s a necessity!
• How do you know which service types are perfect for shipping the product you deal with? The wrong one can cause multiple delivery exceptions.
• How do you know an express same day delivery is going to make it on time? Forget the Money Back Guarantee, the customer is going to be livid if it doesn’t turn up on time after paying a premium!
• More than anything, how do you reduce customer churn due to delivery mishaps? Acquiring a new customer for each one that leaves is extremely expensive!

What you need is an unbiased source that can bring you industry shipping industry data which shipping carriers generally do not make freely available. This has the potential to give your business a competitive edge by improving last mile delivery.

What’s the key? What makes you stand out?

At LateShipment.com, we seek to bridge this divide and equip retailers with the data required to make smarter shipping choices. In order to do this, we have researched and analysed the shipping patterns and shipments of 100 diverse retailers within the US. The retailers chosen for study belong to different geographical locations across the US, with shipment volumes ranging from 500 to 50,000 packages per month. All are small and medium businesses, a few of whom also ship cross border.

The sole purpose of this study was to offer key insights into the workings of the last mile delivery space by providing retailers with transparent and unbiased shipping data.

Retailers from over 20 retail categories have been analyzed and grouped on an industry basis to provide targeted insights and data.

This report essentially

• Analyses delivery performance of 100 online retailers who ship with FedEx, UPS or both.
• Provides a retail category specific audit of services to determine which works best for whom
• Analyses on-time delivery performance of Priority Express services like Overnight, Next Day and 2 Day services
• Dives into delivery metrics and the impact of late deliveries across the retail value chain
• Gives insight into building a last mile strategy that can help your business win, serve and retail customers.

Carrier Performance Analysis

All shipments shipped by the 100 retailers chosen for study during January to March 2019 through both Ground and Express services of FedEx and UPS have been analysed in depth. Priority Express Service types like Overnight and Next Day have been tracked to better understand how even Premium services can suffer a noticeable percentage of delays.

Service Audit for Retail Categories

Over 20 retail categories have been analysed in this subset. There are seven major groups like Food and beverages, Apparel and accessories, Electronics, etc. Service types used by each specific industry has been audited for delivery exceptions, and any exception singularly noted is highlighted.

For instance, the Auto Parts and Home Improvement category had the least number of delays at 4.8%.

The path to driving last mile success

Last mile success is the key to creating wholesome customer experiences. Not only does the report provide unbiased shipping data for multiple retail categories, it also derives insights from this data and shows how businesses can leverage it to their advantage in the last mile. Last mile delivery exceptions can be minimized to a huge margin with data driven shipping strategies.

Be you a retailer belonging to a specific industry or a media person looking for industry data, this study is something you need to get your hands on. This is just the first in a series of reports revolving around industry based shipping data and statistics.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the highlights in the report!

1. FedEx Priority Overnight and UPS Next Day Saver faced the most number of delays
2. Cross border shipments faced 4X more delays than domestic ones
3. The 3PL industry had the most number of delays at 7.6%

There are plenty more useful statistics and insights coming your way. All you need to do is hit download, sit back and enjoy some transparent and neutral industry based shipping data. Sounds like the perfect weekend read, doesn’t it?

The post Report: Driving Ecommerce Last Mile Delivery Success in 2019 appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

Logistics is a critical factor in ensuring that customers keep coming back to you for their needs. When a customer orders off your site, they expect that their product will be delivered in the time promised. Late deliveries cause frustration and a bad impression. Studies  consistently show that over 80% of shoppers won’t shop on the same site after a bad last mile experience.

Too many businesses leave the last mile entirely in the hands of shipping carriers. This is a great folly because the last mile plays a huge role in determining customer experience, and carriers often don’t walk their talk.

If you have the intent though, you’re already on the path to being a better business. Here are some inputs to help you craft a better logistics experience for your customers.

Define Your Logistics Objectives

The first step in acing the logistics side of things is to define some objectives. Without  set objectives, you will be flailing in the dark. Decide on whether quick delivery or economic shipping will be the focus of your business. Unfortunately, quick delivery comes at a significantly higher price.

Once you make your decision, ensure that you maintain the right expectations on the part of your customers. There should never be any ambiguity about delivery times.

Audit Your Shipments

If you aren’t auditing your shipping invoices, you are doing logistics all wrong!

Many small e-commerce businesses seldom do this. And what is the outcome? They end up losing a lot of money.

The thing is, shipping carriers mess up with their billing from time-to-time. Unless you audited your shipments, you would never know. Regularly auditing your shipping invoices helps you evaluate the service you are receiving. This can help you get your carrier to improve the quality of their service and also be a negotiating tool.

Auditing can be a pain if done manually, but there are automated options to make your life easier.

Auditing shipments gives you the opportunity to claim refunds for service failures.

What are service failures, you ask? Let me explain.

Service failures are when shipping carriers mess up. There are over 50 service failure types. Some of the easy ones to identify are late deliveries, products damaged on delivery, and lost packages.

When shipping carriers mess up, they owe you money. But they don’t just own up and hand over the money to you. By design, they have a complicated process by which you need to apply for refunds within a particular time period.

Thankfully, you can be at ease using automated services like ours which track your shipments and watch out for service failures. We get your refunds for you and credit them back into your account.

Give Importance to Scheduling

This is something you cannot afford to overlook. Every stakeholder in the logistics chain needs to have enough lead time. So, scheduling becomes critical in order to avoid crippling delays.

Scheduling is particularly important when deciding on delivery times for your products.

You need to plan your schedules keeping in mind everything from manufacturing to inbound logistics to pick up by your shipping carrier or 3PL partner. There are, obviously, many cogs in the wheel, and these vary based on the nature of your business. So, be prepared!

Track Your Shipments

Manually tracking multiple orders in real time can be cumbersome. It’s a hassle to enter the tracking number of every single package you’ve dispatched into the portal of your shipping carrier to determine status.

A service like Pulse can help you in this regard. Pulse is a free service that is part of our offering. It works with all your shipping carriers to give you real-time updates on the status of your deliveries. It provides a great deal of insight into the shipping process, so you can stay ahead of delays or inform your customers about them. This way, you can ensure customer satisfaction regardless of the issues that occur during shipping.

The Dashboard of the Pulse Real-Time Shipment Tracking Service

Keep Up with the Latest Tech & Logistics Software

Stay informed of the latest tech trends affecting shipping. Be an early adopter of technology. This will give you an advantage over your competitors and also help you stay on top of challenges associated with tracking and auditing shipments. Scaling becomes easier when you move to an tech-driven process.

Automation is already beginning to play a big role in the shipping industry. Automated parcel auditing and shipment tracking is a growing industry in and of itself. Automation in these areas helps free up valuable human resources so that core business areas can be given the attention they require.

Work with a 3PL Service Provider

3PL service providers come in a wide variety of forms and perform a variety of logistics-oriented functions. Some are warehouses that handle storage and inventory management while others handle every aspect of packaging, shipping, and getting a product delivered on time.

Many small businesses shy away from using the services of 3PL service providers because they are considered to be expensive. However, using their services leads to optimized processes and significant savings in the long term. Additionally, they take control of many aspects of the logistics chain that are considered to be pain points.

Here are the main advantages of working with a 3PL partner:

• Better scalability of fulfillment operations
• Elimination of the need to spend on upgrading in-house facilities for fulfillment
• Access to industry-specific logistics expertise

Ensure You Get Quotes from Multiple Carriers

Don’t ever make the noob mistake of settling for the package a carrier offers you. When deciding upon a shipping carrier, make sure you do sufficient research. Make sure to get competitive quotes from multiple carriers. These quotes should state the cost and speed of shipping your products as well as the services you will be provided like pick up or signature confirmation.

The research you do to this end will help you negotiate better and nail some meaningful discounts. At the end of the day, shipping carriers need your business as much as you need their services.

Figure Out the Service Types Your Customers Prefer

While it is true that as a small business, you will need to balance speed and economy, it pays to figure out what your target customers prioritize. Are they willing to receive their orders slower for a reduced shipping cost or do they prefer expedited delivery even if it means it will significantly increase the cost of their orders?

Discern the right service type or types for your business. Compare the offerings of the various shipping carriers before arriving at a decision that best suits your business. And don’t forget that, provided you have done your research and have the details in hand, you can negotiate with carriers to get the rates that best suit your budget.

Provided you’ve done your research and have the details in hand, you can negotiate with carriers to get the rates that best suit your budget.

Partner with Other Businesses

There is merit in joining forces with another business to save on costs and optimize processes. When you partner with another business, you are in a position to better leverage your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses.

From the logistics point of view, a partnership with another business can help you share knowledge and best practices and also network. Your partner business may even be able to help you nail some meaningful deals with shipping carriers and 3PL service providers.

Go Green with Packaging

Green packaging is sustainable packaging that uses biodegradable materials and energy efficient manufacturing methods for the packaging of goods. It has minimal impact on both energy consumption and the environment.

The first and foremost reason to embrace green packaging is that it is the right thing to do. You save the earth through meaningful efforts. Moreover, when you do the right thing, you build your reputation. Businesses seek reputed partners to work with. Governments give brownie points, tax breaks, and more to companies that work on reducing their carbon footprint.

Beside that, 85% of consumers seem to want packaging that is recyclable or reusable!

Conclusion

At the end of the day, there is much you can do to up your logistics game. Many small business owners neglect the last mile experience they provide their customers, instead focusing their energies entirely on pre-purchase marketing and sales. This often proves to be a fatal flaw and leads to customer dissatisfaction because of bad delivery experiences.

On the other hand, focusing on optimizing logistics processes can help your business stand out and display a customer-centric attitude. The ball is in your court. Go out and ace your logistics game!

Also Read:

• Shipping Carriers Compared: DHL Vs. FedEx Vs. UPS in 2019
• How and Why of Shipping Audit for FedEx, UPS, and DHL in 2019
• How to Deal With Shipping Delays

The post Logistics Best Practices for Small Businesses appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

As I emptied my trash last week, I realized it was filled with the plastic packaging from all the products i had ordered online. Each of them had arrived in neatly wrapped layers of plastic (sometimes more than two).

As a retailer, have you ever wondered if you could reduce your carbon footprint on the planet?

Have you considered the ill effects of the packaging materials used on a daily basis?

If not, it’s high time we started seeing things through the eco-conscious lens of the new age consumer.

The stark reality of these packaging materials is that they lie in landfills and clog acres of land. A multitude of plastic materials also make their way into the sea and get into the stomachs of marine life, killing them slowly. What’s more? Once a seal dies after consuming plastic, the seal is scavenged or it decomposes. But the plastic lodged in its stomach resurfaces again and poses the same threat to other marine life forms. It is the same on land too. So, one plastic sheet or cover can keep killing innocent animals until it decomposes.

And guess what? Plastic takes over 500 years to decompose.

In order to look out for the welfare of our species and the others that inhabit this planet, we need to look for viable alternatives to plastics, styrofoam, cardboard, and paper used in the supply chain process.

Enter Green Packaging

As the name suggests, Green Packaging involves the use of eco-friendly packaging materials that pose no (or little) threat to the environment.

Green packaging is sustainable packaging that uses biodegradable materials and energy efficient manufacturing methods for the packaging of goods. It has minimal impact on both energy consumption and the environment.

The Why of Green Packaging

Being responsible world citizens, we are duty-bound to reduce our carbon footprint and figure out a way to slowly eliminate plastic from our systems.

The first and foremost reason to embrace green packaging is that it is the right thing to do. You save the earth through meaningful efforts. Moreover, when you do the right thing, you build your reputation. Businesses seek reputed partners to work with. Governments give brownie points, tax breaks, and more to companies that work on reducing their carbon footprint.

Beside that, 85% of consumers seem to want packaging that is recyclable or reusable!

Alternate Materials

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Figuring out alternate sources to the ones currently in use is an ongoing process spanning several decades.

Green packaging eliminates contaminants and chemicals that destroy the water, soil, and atmosphere. This is possible through biodegradable and recyclable packaging like returnable and reusable crates for beer and wine.

Green packaging, as a practice, also includes lower packaging content. This philosophy encourages the use of alternate renewable energy sources in supply-chain processes.

Some of the green packaging materials used today are:

•       Biodegradable plastics
•       Plant-based plastics
•       Recycled products
•       Post-consumer recycled polyethylene bags made from recycled waste
•       Recycled moulded packaging for eggs

Starch-derived PLA (lactic acid) is 90 percent biodegradable within 9 months when subjected to industrial composting processes. It is made out of sugar cane, potatoes, corn, or other starch-rich plants. PLA is a great alternative to plastics as plant starch decomposes with little external help.

Adding OXO and BIO additives to packaging material: OXO and BIO additives can expedite the decomposing process of packaging material.

What should your business avoid in green packaging concepts?

•       Plastics made from polyethylene
•       Styrofoam
•       Multi-layered packaging
•       polystyrene
•       Fossil fuel energy

Several retailers are now exploring sugarcane waste and hemp packaging. Bagasse is a by-product from sugarcane production all over Asia. After sugar is extracted, the waste is turned into pulp and pressed into plates, bowls and boxes. Bagasse has high cellulose and is very stable, heat resistant and moisture resistant.

Hemp (yes you read it right), is a good source of bio plastics. While hemp brings in concerns and is outlawed in some regions due to its CBD content, it can be a saviour when it comes to green packaging.

Industrial hemp, a variety of cannabis that has less than 0.3 percent of THC, is a good raw material for bioplastics. It is an easy-to-maintain plant that absorbs carbon dioxide and grows rapidly (which makes it a renewable resource).

Organizations That are Doing Their Bit

The bigwigs haven’t been sitting this one out.

Some of them have rolled up their sleeves and braved the murky plastic-infested waters of packaging to do their bit.

Governments offer subsidies to organizations that practise and promote green packaging. To make use of these schemes, to save the planet, and to promote themselves as champions of a good cause, organizations leave no stone unearthed in coming up with innovative methods of packaging.

McDonald’s plans to achieve 100% all fiber-based packaging from recycled or certified sources by 2020.

Logistic companies like FedEx and UPS have their own green initiatives. The best thing about one company going green in a competitive sector is that others follow suit rapidly. UPS and FedEx had committed to reduce emissions from their airlines by 20 percent between 2005 and 2020. It’s safe to say both companies are well on their way to go beyond the set target!

DHL offers a carbon report through its Go Green Initiative. It maps emissions generated from transportation within the DHL network. When you use DHL as your primary carrier, you can view these reports on monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis and bring down your carbon footprint accordingly.

In China, Alibaba and L’Oreal have teamed up to come up with a green packaging strategy for all of L’Oreal’s products. Several other beauty brands are expected to follow suit. Studies reveal that consumers are willing to pay more for a product that encapsulates green principles.

Giants like Unilever are also stepping up to do their bit. Partnering with recycling leader Terracycle, the brand is testing out a packaging model named Loop that uses reusable packaging made from aluminium and glass. REN skin care, Love Beauty and Planet, and Seventh Generation will be some of the brands in this trial. Some of the other big names who have currently signed up with Terracycle’s Loop include Procter & Gamble, Nestle, PepsiCo, Mars, Clorox, Coca Cola, Carrefour, and UPS.

Fast fashion retailer ASOS is also looking to go green in the near future by having customers return their packaging so that their next order can be packaged in the same one.

What You Can Do As a Business

The supply chain, as we know, encompasses everything from sourcing to sale. Every link in the chain has its share in the carbon footprint.

1. Resize packaging to fit the contents. Many studies indicate that conventional packages are far bigger than the required size.
2. Wherever possible, use 100% PCW paper and recycled plastic.
3. Recycle boxes and packaging material you receive in shipments. Among things you can recycle are plastic lids, packaging cushions, air pillows, and beads.
4. Label packaging material so that people know what goes into a landfill and what goes into a recycler.
5. Work on a standardised Recycling-Reusing plan that is understood throughout your supply chain. This can be built into a process that facilitates reuse and recycle in a more efficient manner across businesses.
6. Try alternatives like Scoby (which is produced like Kombucha) when it comes to packaging food stuff or fresh produce. It can be grown quite easily in two weeks.
7. Sign up with a green partner who will help you through all aspects of the supply chain including green packaging methods. They will also help you promote your eco-conscious efforts.

Going green is not something we can achieve in a day or a month or even a year. We have years of pollution to unravel before we make a positive impact on the environment. But every single step counts. No matter how small a step, it is your contribution to the cause that matters. What we cannot do alone, we certainly can together. Here’s to a better future that begins with green packaging.

A Little about LateShipment.com

Do you have a strategy when it comes to handling parcel delays and driving more meaningful customer engagement in the last-mile? We at LateShipment.com work hard to make “parcel shipping & delivery” transparent and help businesses be fully in control of their last-mile success.

Some of our high-impact offerings are:

• Automating refund claims from your shipping carriers for service failures to help you save money on shipping.
• Giving you full control over delivery delays that harm your brand and sales. You can now predict parcel delays and even fix them by keeping customers informed.
• Reporting at every stage of “shipping & delivery” to enable you with critical supply-chain insights.

The value we add to businesses is most evident when experienced first-hand. Learn more about our solution here.

The post Green Packaging: The What, Why, & How appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

Among emerging and newly developed technologies used in SCM, blockchain shows much promise.

The important and useful aspects of blockchain technology are

• decentralized/distributed ledger infrastructure for transparency and traceability
• even playing field for trusted data
• accountability and
• streamlined governance

These reasons make blockchain a perfect match for business applications within procurement and logistics.

Source: cnet.com

Supply chains are based on the physical movement of goods and human interaction, action, and sequences. There is scope for a lot of error and oversight, given the nature of multiple players and human intervention from several legs of the supply chain. Blockchain offers several technological capabilities to accomplish excellent efficiency levels with streamlining and automating processes.

Recently, an Israeli shipping organization managed to incorporate blockchain technology in digitizing the eBL of a ship. An eBL is a manifesto of a ship’s cargo which is given to the master or captain of the vessel as part of the ship’s legal documentation. The measure has shown immense improvement in reducing time, complexity, and operating costs for all the stakeholders involved.

With blockchain, logistics and shipping have scope to improve by leaps and bounds. In July 2018, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia used bloackchain tech to track the shipping of 17,000 kilos of almonds halfway around the globe.

Cost Optimization

Supply chains, with their phenomenal shipping and trade, have a huge impact on the global GDP. Blockchain technology can greatly optimise costs and have a good result on GDPs across the world. Maersk and IBM launched an optimised stakeholder pool by digitizing end-to-end shipment tracking. The move can eliminate several costs associated with trade documentation and administrative processes for global shipments. Data exchange in terms of documentation is made tamper proof via blockchain. Blockchain technology can track and trace millions of shipping containers all at the same time. so, delays and frauds can be identified and resolved immediately.

Transparency

A very simple application of blockchain technology in the supply chain is to denote transfer of goods on the ledger as transactions that would identify the parties involved, price, date, location, quality and state of the product etc. Having a central ledger of all information is a great measure to enhance the processes involved. At any given point of time, stakeholders can see what has happened, where and when. No one person can forge the data or change anything about the process. So, to identify disruptions, inefficiencies, fallacies or problem-origins, one simply has to look at the ledger.

If you run an e-commerce organization, things become immensely easy and efficient with blockchain since there is transparent tracking technology. Right from the moment your customer places an order, the chain of events from the warehouse inventory to logistics, everything is clocked individually. Every action is tracked and time stamped. So, there is no way you can miss something.

Source: globaltranz.com

Enabling IoT functionalities

The Internet of Things (IoT) can be used alongside to achieve optimum efficiency in the supply chain. Product verification is done through QR verification codes. Individual products are tagged into groups, providing easy identification regarding ownership, throughout the supply chain.

A distributed database helps stakeholders get information on inventory from anywhere in the world.  One needn’t have channelized access to a specific warehouse as everything is integrated into the blockchain. It is also brilliant in terms of accountability. Data is not locked in one place, in one computer or available to a select set of individual to tamper records. So, it greatly dampens enthusiasm insiders have for data theft as they know they will get caught.

Procurement

Procurement excellence is highly dependent on the compliance of first-tier, second-tier, and even third-tier suppliers. With every added tier, the process becomes more complex.

Technology enables linking people and collaborating on monstrous scales.  Procurement rates are also made transparent via the blockchain. Coming to procurement processes and the transparency involved, blockchain enhances tendering processes. Tendering is efficient, without any leakage of information and it helps find the best suppliers, resulting in improved quality and performance.

Smart tendering, an integral part of IoT enabled blockchain technology, has a streamlined process that is in use today in parts of Finland. Pallets in the warehouse are equipped with RFID tags. These pallets cite their reasons and need to traverse from point A to point B on the ledger. Carrier mining applications enable bids to win the stated move. The RFID assigns the job to the bidder with the most suitable conditions. All the processes involved are automated and the transaction is registered on the block chain. Each movement of the shipment is tracked through the supply chain.

Anonymity with Transparency

There is no bias in choosing a trader, agent or producer in the supply chain where the RFID or the automated process chooses the most optimal player for each part. Blockchain technology offers balance of transparency with anonymity. Furthermore, there are large producers who do not want to reveal provenance of their goods for fear of losing a competitive advantage. In this case again, block chain allows flow of information in a trustworthy and anonymous way, thereby creating a trustworthy network without revealing who the involved people are.

Auditing and Governance

Transactions are stored with time stamps and the data is tamper proof. So, blockchain offers scope for easy governance. Procurement teams can eradicate defective players with audit reports. Audits offer a one stop shop to see which player has failed where and how. So, block chain enables fraud control, helps eliminate money laundering, ethical oversights and child labour among other things.

Smart Contracting

Every move leaves a trace in the blockchain controlled supply chain. So, automatic triggers are sent using smart contracts.  A proof of delivery from a shipping partner can trigger online invoices and initiate a bank payment. So, processes are optimized in terms of time, effort, money and complexity. And since everything is based on verification methods, the payment processes are reliable and accurate.

Supplier Relationship Management

Not only do you see transparency in blockchain technology, but also accountability. The process ensures that players are accountable for their actions. Compliance is interlinked in the entire process. For example, a data transfer between two countries is expected to comply with the regulations in either country. All of this is managed in the blockchain. So, across the world, procurement professionals, suppliers, shipping and logistics partners can align themselves with their trades, improve their own businesses while indulging in trade over trustworthy channels.

Projections for 2019

A major obstacle in the path of accepting Blockchain technology has been its reputation, as it is associated with cryptocurrency and BitCoin. Both of these entities are seen with suspicion across industries. While blockchain technology is very suitable to be adopted by the logistics sector, the association with these unsavoury elements puts people off. But, if 2019 projections are to be believed, blockchain will be re-christened and disassociate itself from cryptocurrency. According to Deloitte’s 2018 Global Blockchain Survey, companies are interested in moving away from proof-of-concept projects to real-world applications. Industry majors will be interested in seeing not just where blockchain could fit, but to find places where it is the best fit.

If you liked this article, you can also check out

Blockchain: The missing link in your logistics strategy

The post Modern Supply Chain: Leveraging Blockchain in Logistics appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

Introduction

Chapter 1: Taking Our First Step To Make Shipping Count

Chapter 2: Importance Of Carrier Accountability In The Last Mile

Chapter 3: Technology To Put You In Command of Shipping and Delivery

Chapter 4: Leveraging the Power of Shipping Data

Chapter 5: The Pulse Of Your Last Mile In Real- Time

Chapter 6: Give Your Business An Edge With LateShipment.com

Chapter 7: Our Vision For the Future

The magic word that can provide a definite competitive edge in retail is ‘last mile’. Every retailer faces the challenge of keeping up with demanding shoppers who are spoilt for choice. One misstep, and the customer walks off to a competitor. It’s all about speed. Anywhere. Anytime. Anyhow. Do you offer that to your customers?

Every single one of you would be aware of the fact that your loss of control over the last mile usually stems from outsourcing it to shipping carriers who make it all the more difficult.

That’s why LateShipment.com. Technology that gives you a competitive advantage when it comes to your last mile. Here’s our story.

Chapter 1

Taking Our First Step To Make Shipping Count

That’s right. We do.

If you take a look at how retail is doing today, you’ll realize the pervasive presence of omnichannel strategies and extensive use of technology. We’re talking intelligent drones, AI powered shopping, and AR for dynamic personalization.

The world of retail has come so far from the times of trade and barter. But there is one aspect of retail that has been loathe to change over the years. Shipping. Despite the fact that technology has invaded every other field, the tech resistant shipping industry has been holding retailers on edge for far too long. Last mile visibility has become something of a luxury. Unless you have a superior in house system to track every package leaving your warehouse, you are at risk of reaching out to customers in the dark (quite literally).  What constitutes one of the most important facets of a customer’s journey simply cannot be allowed to be muddled by a third party carrier who does not have the same interests at heart.

Carrier accountability has never been a given, as sheer necessity has forced retailers into letting carriers wield the upper hand. Shipping carriers have taken advantage of this and made their refund claim processes deliberately complex and time consuming to ensure many retailers never file the claims. The shipping industry makes billions of dollars every year just because the claim process is not automated!

As a retailer, your prime focus should be on sales. The operational side of the business has to be a well oiled machine that does not require much of your time. In an era of automation and data intelligence, it isn’t quite difficult to get a competitive advantage with technology. What’s essential is to take a grounded look at how shipping successfully finishes what a retailer began on site. Crafting a remarkable customer experience hinges on the last mile of the journey.

It is this idea that gave birth to LateShipment.com. The company moves to bring in more trust and transparency to the world of shipping as a whole, by making available the kind of technology used by industry giants to businesses of every size. At the core, we aim to help businesses build a strong last mile strategy by ensuring carrier accountability through these factors:

1. Constant monitoring of all shipments
2. Collecting eligible refunds for carrier service failures

Chapter 2

Importance Of Carrier Accountability In The Last Mile

Claiming refunds is an integral part of carrier accountability. Carriers tend to perform much better when certain shipments are constantly monitored and refund claims are filed immediately.

You do not have to choose between which carrier’s shipments you want to track or file claims for separately. LateShipment.com’s intelligent automation ensures that multiple carriers are tracked simultaneously and claims are filed on your behalf.

The claim process is purposely made expensive and time consuming by shipping carriers specifically to dissuade shippers from filing for refunds in case of service errors. This gains the shipping industry over $3 billion in unclaimed refunds every year! To bring an end to this and hold carriers accountable for their performance, it is extremely important for shippers to claim the refunds that are rightfully theirs. LateShipment.com for instance claims refunds for over 50 carrier errors. You can read more about the 50 errors here.

An automated parcel audit is the way to go if you want to optimize on shipping costs for your business. But it is important that you take a look at the other side of the picture as well.

Despite shipping refunds making you feel great and saving you quite a bit of shipping costs at the end of the day, the other side of the story is not that good for your business.

At the tail end of every refund you receive for a shipping carrier error, is a frustrated and angry customer whose order didn’t make it on time. Or whose order was damaged upon arrival.

When you look at it from a customer centric perspective, the joy of receiving refunds does not really cut it when an unhappy customer is on the line. Over 50% of customers rarely choose to shop from the same retailer again after a bad delivery experience. Repeat shoppers are another story altogether.

Providing a memorable last mile experience to customers needs to top your list in order to earn the trust of repeat customers and entice new customers to keep coming back for more.

The key herein is to have an eye on the refunds while your focus is on the bigger picture- the customer.

Keeping this in mind, we decided to help retailers provide a seamless delivery experience. With our completely automated service, you can not only collect every refund that is your due, but also focus on holding carriers accountable for their performance. We give you the space to work on things that hold first priority in your business, and take over the heavy lifting on secondary activities like shipping and monitoring carriers.

Chapter 3

Technology To Put You In Command of Shipping and Delivery

We’re not gonna say we’re working on it, and it’s a prototype. We’ve got you covered.

At LateShipment.com, we believe that a shopper is not only at the core of creating a great customer experience, but also at the centre of your supply chain. In this era of shopper-led retail strategy, supply chains need to revolve around them to maintain market competitiveness. Offering a seamless customer experience is therefore key to your omnichannel success.

When our journey began, our prime focus was on creating awareness among retailers of the money back guarantee policy and claiming refunds for every eligible service failure to keep a lid on shipping costs.

Once the entire claim process became automated, we realized we held a lot of data that would highly benefit retailers of all sizes. This was data that was not available elsewhere! This led us to expand into helping improve carrier performance and prevent last mile mistakes before they happen.

So gradually, a more customer centric approach came into play.

How could we benefit customers more?

What could we offer that would give them an edge?

We realized the importance of making data available to customers that wasn’t easy to get from shipping carriers.

Sure, customers wanted to track their packages and file claims for delivery exceptions. But they also needed handy information that would help them build better shipping strategies. And that was something we could do. After tracking over 25 billion packages we had ample data on carrier performance and stats to help out customers who needed access to the data.

Some of the benefits of LateShipment.com include

1. Intelligent automation: investigate your shipments for over 50 carrier service failures like lost parcels and instantly file for refund claims.
2. Advanced shipment tracking: capture 130 data points to track parcels in real- time and get deeper transit and delivery status insights
3. Predictive error detection: instantly get notifications on potential delivery failures like delivery delays or lost packages and fix issues before they affect customers.
4. Actionable logistics reports: make data driven decisions to evaluate carrier performance and optimize supply chains
5. Ease of use: cloud based service integrates easily with existing business processes
6. Smart dashboard: monitor all shipments across multiple carriers on a single platform and get instant notifications for delivery exceptions.

Taking control of your last mile is made much easier with this tool. It integrates across platforms and can work with any existing system you might be using.

Chapter 4

Leveraging the Power of Shipping Data

As the data required by customers had to be broken down into segments for ease of use, we set about cataloguing them.

After working out what reports would best suit specific teams of a business, we built them into our dashboard for easy access.

These extensive reports give you data on everything from geography specific carrier performance to delays divided by service type. Let me take you through all the reports we currently offer.

Shipment Report

This report is designed to give you overall shipment data in one place. The shipments that leave your warehouse are categorized by date, service type, and shipping costs. You can also see how many claims have been filed and their cumulative value.

Shipping Spend Report

If you’re looking for data on how much you’ve been spending on shipping, or the difference between last year’s discount and this year’s, then this is the report for you. Yearly shipment values can be segregated by date, and the average cost per shipment can be measured and analyzed. This report also includes a graphical representation of this data on a monthly basis.

Chronological Report

This report is for when you need to know the value of either individual or bulk shipments in a specific window of time. It gives you a detailed monthly and yearly break up of shipment value.

Carrier Performance Report

If you’re wondering how to evaluate your shipping carrier, then this report is for you. It gives you an in depth report on carrier performance for the last six months. The report also includes a graph that shows package delay rate divided by hours delayed and days delayed.

Claims Filed Report

You can keep track of all the claims we have found eligible for refunds with this report. It shows the number of claims submitted by LateShipment.com on your behalf. You can also see the carrier, account and service type for which each claim has been filed.

Refund Credits Report (by service and invoice type)

For easy reference of all the refunds credited to your account versus those that are still being processed, you can use this report. The refund credits report is separated into a service type report and an invoice type report. In the service type report, you can see which service types have been granted refunds, the amount credited in your account for individual tracking numbers, etc.

Geographic Report

We understand that you will need specific stats on carrier performance based on different geographic locations you ship to. Let’s say you want to figure out where to situate your next fulfilment centre at. Then this will be your go to report. You can get a geographic mapping of the destination country and state each package is shipped to. This will give you an estimate of which areas receive faster or better delivery service as compared to others from the same service provider.

Comprehensive Report

When you need an overview of which shipments are scheduled when, then this is your go to report. It offers you a comprehensive view of each tracking number, the estimated date of delivery for that number, the actual delivery date, and delays if any.

Billing Report

Finally, you would definitely want to know how you’re being billed for our services. LateShipment.com’s billing process is clearly accounted for each return and can be seen on a monthly basis. You can see a summary of the amount payable for individual claims or shipments as well. All paid and pending payments are listed in a detailed manner.  

Apart from the reports, LateShipment.com automatically files refund claims for all eligible packages. No matter how many carriers you use, we can ensure on time claim filing as per the contract you have with your carrier. Your shipping carrier data is protected with bank grade security, and you can read more on our security measures here.

Chapter 5

The Pulse Of Your Last Mile In Real- Time

Pulse is our real time shipment tracking software that can simultaneously track all your packages (no matter how many you ship), across carriers (no matter how many you use).

Your support team will be fully equipped to identify and mitigate last mile mistakes effectively with a tool like Pulse. It also helps you inform customers about potential delays, missed deliveries, rescheduled deliveries, failed deliveries, misrouted packages and the like.

The Pulse dashboard is designed to give you valuable insight into the current status of your packages.

A few highlights of Pulse include:

1. Real time shipment tracking facility
2. Predictive notifications for packages bound to be late/lost
3. Notifications to customers when delivery exceptions are detected
4. Intimation about returns en route to your warehouse at any given time
5. Flagging orders that require immediate attention

Your game plan for the holiday season can be at its best this year if you can proactively prevent most delivery errors before they even occur.

No more frantic customer calls demanding to know where the delivery is.

No more increased customer churn because of delivery mishaps.

No more loss of revenue owing to a difficult refund claim process.

You can gear up this season and bring your customers the best experience they have availed so far. Pulse can give you the necessary edge that will set you apart from competitors.

You can read more about Pulse here.

Chapter 6

Give Your Business An Edge With LateShipment.com

Are you just starting out in the retail space? Or are you a veteran well versed in the fickle trends that possess the industry? LateShipment.com can suit your business no matter how big or small.

Join us and

• Increase customer retention
• Bring down delivery exceptions
• Proactively prevent delays
• Decrease customer churn rate
• Save up to 20% of your shipping costs through refund claims.

Allow our experts to chart out a shipping strategy that will be tailor made to suit your needs. We can also provide helpful data that will make a huge difference in your negotiations with your carrier.

To know more about how LateShipment.com has helped different retailers,  you can read our case studies here.

Not only can you grant your business the power of last mile visibility, you can focus on other things that demand your attention and leave the shipping audit to us.

You’d be surprised to hear how our pricing policy works. We do not get paid unless we collect a refund for you. Every other service (the reports, the shipment tracking, et al) comes free of charge. When we do get a refund, we collect 50% of the claimed amount as our fee. That’s basically no out of pocket costs for you!

Chapter 7

Our Vision For the Future

To put things in perspective, we at LateShipment.com firmly believe that every business should have the tools and data necessary to take control of their last mile deliveries. Unbiased shipping data should be readily available for a retailer to hold shipping carriers accountable for their performance, and overpaying for shipping should never be an issue.

A lucid and transparent shipping policy is the way to solve all this, and we aim to achieve that with our efforts. LateShipment.com was built with the purpose of leveling the playing field for retailers. From our humble beginnings, we have now grown to tracking more than 75 Million shipments on behalf of our customers and would love to add your shipments to the list.

Join us in our mission of making the last mile delivery space more transparent and fair.

If you liked this blog, then you might want to check these out too!

1. The Big picture: Think Beyond Shipping Refunds and Claims
2. The Real Cost of Late Delivery
3. 10 Best Ways to Reduce Your Shipping Costs

The post Parcel Audit & Shipment Tracking: A LateShipment.com Guide To Win Your Last Mile appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

Larger retailers have their own custom built tools. For example, Walmart streamlines its internal processes and enhances customer experiences with its own technology incubator, Store No 8. Smaller retailers usually choose paid online tools that suit their needs.

Let’s take a look at retail tools that help with shipping and inventory in particular. 2018 has been witnessing some major trends in inventory management and shipping so far. People are confidently investing in these tools because they figure that it is an important area for optimization and enhanced customer experience. That’s not exactly surprising considering global retail E-commerce is estimated to hit $1800 billion this year. We’ve put together some of the tools that rule the roost with their multiple inventory management and fast shipping methods. With newer tools, retailers find that they can see use one platform/ tool to access all details on order fulfilment, barcode inventory and purchase management.

Top 5 tools for shipping

Fast delivery is a necessity to earn customer loyalty. Retailers have to work toward meeting this expectation using every tool in their arsenal, or signing up for an effective one. Several big retailers put a price tag on their custom built tools so that smaller players in the industry can make use of the tech. Amazon for instance, offers shipping help and all associated tools for the sellers listed on their site. Here are some of the most popular shipping tools making the rounds this year.

Ordoro

Ordoro tops most lists on retail tools. It is used by several small businesses to manage their shipping needs because of its affordability and efficiency. Pricing starts at $25 a month, and retailers get access to print shipping labels easily, audit, autofill shipping forms and select/compare shipping carriers suitable for their needs.

Image source: getapp

Why we love it

• Affordably priced
• Up to 67% discounted rates with USPS
• Direct integration with shipping carriers
• Drop shipping is available with select plans
• Open API

FedEx Fulfilment

FedEx fulfilment is fairly new to the game having been introduced in early 2017. It helps smaller organizations with fulfilment needs by offering solutions for warehousing, packaging, fulfilment, transportation, and reverse logistics. The tracking facilities are excellent and all orders can be analysed in one place. FedEx makes it easy for retailers to not worry about competition with Amazon in FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon), and to fulfil international orders with ease in over 200 countries.

Why we love it

• Full scale logistics services
• Multiple channel order fulfilment
• Suitable for ecommerce retailers of all sizes    

Shippingeasy

Shippingeasy lives up to its name of making shipping easy, with its easy to avail automated shipping discounts and tracking service. Pricing begins at $29 per month for the basic version. Creating shipping labels takes no time with this app, and you can even customize your view of order details. Reviews of the app also boast an excellent support team who are available 24/7.

Image source: getapp

Why we love it

• Seamless integration with major online marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, ebay, Squarespace, Shopify, etc.
• The Autoship option
• Absolute ease of use and customization

ShipBob

ShipBob offers order fulfilment services with same-day delivery in Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Dallas and Chicago. Anywhere else in the continental US, ShipBob can reach in 2 days. There is a free version of the software to manage inventory. ShipBob is the tool you should go for when you reach out to large cities for most of your orders. ShipBob also works out to be cheap when you ship large volumes, and provides analytics and extensive reporting that helps with business decisions.

Image source: getapp

Why we love it

• Quick delivery within metropolitan areas
• Easy integration with stores like ebay and amazon
• Basic free version
• Predictive data insights, optimized shipping

Fulfillify

Fulfillify is a tech platform that boasts several strategically placed smart warehouses and boasts an order accuracy of 99%. Fulfillify lets users track orders and manage inventory with any device, and is extremely mobile friendly. You get detailed reports warehouse locations, product arrivals, status and customer orders. Alerts are automatically generated when the inventory is running low.

Why we love it

• Easy integration with existing carts and softwares
• Full transparency over shipments
• Mobile/Tablet Friendly

Top 5 tools for inventory management

Inventory Management involves well planned strategy, management and execution. Thankfully, there are some great tools available that can be of help. Inventory management tools usually handle shipping as well, so retailers can avail dual benefit. Investing in a good IM tool can help your ecommerce business (or other businesses where you need their services) function efficiently. Here are five of the best inventory management tools available in the market right now.

Unleashed

Unleashed is one of the best rated softwares for inventory management. Designed with small businesses in mind, Unleashed can be used from anywhere in the world. The system uses a cloud based dashboard that can provide the user with reports and details on revenue, stock, and profit. Moreover, the platform is very easy to use and is available from $85 a month.

Image source: getapp

Why we love it

• Tracks stock in real time
• Affordably priced

InFlow

InFlow effectively manages inventory by helping small businesses receive orders, reorder stock and manage products. Its ease of use is widely acknowledged, and the recent cloud based versions do not have the problem of integration that the earlier versions did. The best thing is the free version that is available for users who have just started a small business. So, one can make use of InFlow for free till they have requirements for the paid services.

Image source: getapp

Why we love it

• Easy to learn and affordable
• Basic free version

AdvancePro

If you are a small retailer using QuickBooks, you can go for AdvancePro without a second thought because you can integrate QuickBooks records with AdvancePro. AdvancePro boasts a set of tools that cater to high-performing inventory and warehouse management, which can be customized according to requirements. Integration with other platforms like EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is extremely simplified, and data can be exported to PDF files or Excel sheets. The pricing depends on the package you choose but it is definitely competitively priced.

Image source: getapp

Why we love it

• High performance with QuickBooks
• UPS/ FedEx shipping integration can be added

Goldenseal Accounting

Designed by Turtle Creek, Goldenseal Accounting features payable and receivable accounts along with billing, invoicing and inventory management. This tool’s specialty lies in cost job details. You can keep track of equipment hours, labor hours, materials purchased, leased contracts, etc, and even get notifications when you exceed your set budget. Multiple inventory accounts can be created and maintained with ease. Designed with construction firms and similar businesses in mind, Goldenseal inventories based on both cost and quantity. It is a little expensive, with the base version starting at $395.

Why we love it

• Easy to use
• Customizable depending on business needs
• Easy import from Quickbooks

Zoho Inventory

Zoho Inventory is very well known as a go to inventory management application for small to midsize businesses. Its multi-channel versatility and inventory control make it one of the best tools for inventory management. Accuracy, efficiency and proficiency are guaranteed as zoho is one of the pioneers of outsourced inventory control. The price is affordable, beginning with a monthly fee of $29 for basic requirements, and $249 for professional packages.

Image source: getapp

Why we love it

• Easily Customizable
• Integrates with multiple ecommerce sites like ebay, etsy and amazon

The post Top 10 Shipping and Inventory Management Tools for SMBs appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

Digital Supply Networks consolidate information from many different sources and locations, from across vendors and stakeholders to drive the chain ahead. The priorities of a supply chain are still the same, over the years: Volatility, velocity, volume, and visibility. All these are digitized today. Needless to say, digitization lowers computing charges, makes storage cheaper, and reduces costs of bandwidth among other things.

The new age methods and tools in DSNs that make a huge difference are powerful analytics, visualization, scenario analysis, predictive learning algorithms and easy access to data. Organizations are keen to collect real-time data and study them in a digitized manner to learn things better. State of the art robotics, drones, additive manufacturing and autonomous vehicle play a major role in implementing these methods.

Manual intervention has been made minimal in most logistics operations now. Robots man warehouse functions. Drones are being sent out to finish last mile deliveries. Uber tests driverless cars. These developments help with the functions of the supply chain. There is exchange of money, time, information and physical goods in every leg of the chain. Lower computing costs and real-time data sharing goes a long way now.

It is no longer a mean feat to gain insight to every step of the supply chain operation. Digitization enables systems to gather data from everywhere and present them in any format you need.  The linear flow of designing, creating, and moving physical goods is still intact with the addition of new inter-linkages that enable digitization.

Connectivity, with technical capabilities, has reduced hiccups that have plagued supply chains for aeons. Data predicts disruptions. Real-time data can hasten decisions. Damage control is handled effectively from various corners of the world. Inefficiencies and potholes are identified easily from the data generated by efficient systems.

With the advent of 3D printing, some businesses are shifting to different business models altogether. The requisite materials are shipped across destinations. On the last leg of the journey, 3D printing enables the business owner, with a careful network of logistics and supply chain, to just assemble the final product with 3D printing technology and deliver it to the customer.

Related:

Leveraging shipping data analytics to cut supply chain cost

The Beginning of the drone era in shipping: Should your business be worried?

How analytics can transform supply chain management?

The post Digitization of Supply Chain: The Rise of Digital Supply Networks appeared first on Lateshipment.com.

Automation in any segment, in any industry can bring down the number of errors caused by manual intervention. Shipping carrier management can be automated to make sure there are no errors that occur due to human interaction.

Centralize shipping operations

Today’s carrier management software can scrutinize the best transportation modes based on several factors and give you what would work best in the given situation. If a customer needs an urgent delivery, an automated system will help you choose the fastest, yet cost effective solution to your problem. Every operation related to shipping is looked into and the system works on optimizing the solution according to needs. The user can enter and maintain routes, discounts, contracts, insurance information and compare rates from one portal.

Reduce manpower
It is not a great idea to invest in a dedicated resource to manage your shipping carrier management when literally everything can be automated. There is no dearth of shipping automation tools online and you can get everything from printing shipping labels to claiming shipping refunds done automatically with tools available to be integrated with your existing systems. So, if you are a small organization, you definitely need software that automates shipping carrier management.

Easy analysis

Shipping records can be used to predict a lot of things. Seasonal fluctuations in sales, weather related shipping delays and much more can be gauged from shipping records. These details can be very useful for your business strategies. Very importantly, if you liaise with multiple shipping carriers, you can analyze cost optimization and delivery efficiency of peers through your automated shipping reports. You can choose wisely, based on these reports. All shipping related metrics are available in the same place. If you want your shipping reports from Christmas season 4 years back, it’s available to you then and there.

Save on costs

Any kind of automation is strategized on the idea of cost optimization. Automation of shipping carrier management can bring down your costs significantly. And it’s not just economic costs that come down. Efficiency of the system goes up significantly and can help you scale operations. Your bottom line gets better and better if you manage shipping. In an era where retail is beginning to be dominated by e-commerce and people are trying everything to keep shipping costs down, automating shipping carrier management should be the first strategy people implement.

To automatically claim your refunds sign up with LateShipment.com and slash your shipping cost.

Related:

A 5 point checklist for shipping cost optimization

5 Factors to consider when choosing a shipping carrier

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