Delivery services were important before, yet they’re essential now. The only way to make money during the Coronavirus crisis is to leverage your website, so without the ability to ship your products, your bottom line will suffer. You can start by following these 4 practical tips that will enhance your delivery solutions.
By Team Savant
Image: Morning Brew on Unsplash
Weirdly, the demand for your online service will be higher than ever before. This is because all of the world’s consumers are being forced to use online shopping to purchase goods. Not only must you deliver on your promises, but you have to be more productive from a shipping standpoint too. ‘How?’, you may ask.
Create A List Of Couriers
The chances are that you don’t have the resources or expertise to control every aspect of delivery. Don’t worry because this is standard practice once you consider the need for specialist equipment and knowledge. The key is not to choose a partner without analysing the pros and cons. Drafting a list of couriers and noting what they bring to the table and how they may hurt your company is an excellent way to avoid unsuitable solutions. For example, a particular company may only have airport connections as opposed to a maritime network.
Simplify Your Processes
Okay, you’ve got a quality courier service by your side and you’re ready to rock and roll. However, you’ve reviewed the data and your processes don’t appear to be more efficient, causing productivity to decrease. There’s a straightforward reason — the policies are complicated. As a result, they get in the way rather than helping the warehouse seamlessly transition. As a rule, it’s hard to simplify your service without a vehicle loading programme as it’s quicker than moving products manually. Plus, there shouldn’t be too much red tape as bureaucracy stops things from getting done. Quality control is essential, yet you don’t want every manager signing off before the items are loaded.
Eliminate Paperwork
Paperwork is old-school. The new way is to upload data electronically to your servers as it clears space in the business and reduces confusion. All an employer has to do is click on the relevant document and consume the information via a mobile device. EDI (electronic data interchange) is a programme that essentially removes the necessity for paperwork; however, you should consider your cloud computing specifications. Without enough storage space or security barriers, removing paperwork can be dangerous. With them, the info is accessible and trackable.
Inform Your Customers
Glitches occur and mistakes happen, so you shouldn’t fret too much. After all, shoppers will cut you some slack, as long as you’re open and transparent. The problems start when companies fail to inform consumers about changes to the delivery schedule. Would you be happy if you organised to be at home to accept a parcel that didn’t arrive? An update allows them to maintain flexibility so that they aren’t tied down for half a day to a day. If communication isn’t enough, you should apologise and reward the relevant parties with a gift to make up for the experience.
How are you maintaining your shipping standards now that demand is skyrocketing?