Using multiple shipping carriers to fulfil your orders can bring a host of operational challenges for your warehouse team. Each carrier is different in terms of how you integrate with them, what services they offer, and how their systems work.
The crunch comes when something goes wrong with one of your parcels. Without the ability to get delivery right the first time, every time, your customers will suffer. No one wants that.
Are you scaling your operations and dealing with increased demand? Perhaps you’re dealing with added cross-border complexity, and the other pain points of expanding your carrier network?
Here we break down the biggest benefits of using a delivery management platform to manage multiple shipping carriers.
1. Smoother day-to-day operations
Suppose you’re using a number of manual systems or portals, such as a carrier’s own labelling tool. In that case, you can spend hours booking shipping labels, which, when automated, can take a couple of minutes.
If you have missing parcels or need shipping analysis data, having to log into different carrier portals and deal with different support teams isn’t scalable.
With everything in one place, you can find a parcel, access the manifest, and quickly check the delivery status. With a simple click of a button you quickly export all deliveries, and access data that wasn’t previously available.
Learn how Scurri helped Biscuiteers optimise delivery performance and offer seamless customer service, even through their busiest period here.
2. Saving money and technical resources
Some brands make the move from manual delivery processes to more automated ones by creating separate integrations with each of their shipping carriers. However, every time you integrate with a new carrier, it can be expensive and take substantial time to implement.
This requires a lot of technical work. It often means contracting developers to complete the integrations, or building a team in-house. Every time a carrier’s connection drops and delivery disruption occurs, a developer will need to restore it, and the cost of this really adds up over time.
With a delivery management platform, you can easily add new carriers when you need them. There’s no extra development work required because the platform provider manages the technology. They’re also responsible for maintaining its uptime, at no extra cost.
3. Richer delivery data
Without up to date information it can be near impossible to understand how your deliveries are performing. Having a high-level overview of your standard delivery data (e.g. progress of packages, tracking information, returns) helps to ensure that everything is running smoothly.
It also makes the jobs of your customer support teams much easier. They can access the information they need through one platform rather than logging into multiple systems, or dealing with different carrier support teams.
With up to date shipping information readily available, you know exactly when and where parcels will be delivered.
Delivery data can also provide the intel needed to make informed decisions around long-term strategy and key promotional campaigns.
4. More flexible delivery options
As the delivery process is constantly evolving, in terms of what carriers provide and what customers expect, it’s vital for retailers to have choices.
Working with carriers you’ll also know that issues can often arise that require your team to have to act fast. For example, if a particular carrier is unavailable, or service is disrupted for any reason, you need to fulfil orders with an alternative carrier at speed.
When you use a delivery management platform, you can spot any delivery disruptions and easily switch between carriers whenever needed.
The Scurri platform matches the best shipping option for each delivery. It also helps you manage carrier costs by optimising carrier selection to get the best rate.
5. Systems that are connected
And finally, a delivery management platform can be integrated with most of the other systems you use. That could be a warehouse management system, eCommerce platform, or customer support tool.
With connected carrier and customer systems you have access to information on online orders, shipping, and delivery, when you need it. With advanced speed, cost, and reliability metrics to hand, your whole operation will benefit.
After all, it’s all about getting parcels into the hands of your customers as quickly, affordably, and seamlessly as possible.
Find out how Scurri can help you manage multiple shipping carriers, making deliveries more efficient, so that you can focus on the most important thing – your customers. Book an initial consultation today!