Tips For Helping You Select The Best International Parcel Delivery Courier for your Online Store
Small business owners and e-commerce sites might moan at the thought of having to select an international parcel delivery courier. However, distribution and delivery are very important- and when this particular aspect is not done right it could negatively impact your business substantially.
With the hundreds of different international courier services that are available all over the world, it can be quite hard to select the best service to use for your business. It can be very stressful to rely on a third-party in order for your business to become successful. Therefore each option needs to be considered carefully. In this article we will be providing you with 6 tips for helping you select the best international parcel delivery courier to use for your business needs.
Speed Is Not the Only Thing
Before you start to search for various international delivery couriers, first determine which services you will be offering to your customers and then be sure to stick with them. A majority of couriers charge higher fees for express delivery. You need to ask yourself whether or not your customers are really going to be willing to pay more to have their packages arrive one to two days earlier.
According to studies, a majority of e-commerce customers are satisfied with receiving their orders a bit later, as long as it is within the time that has been advertised. If some of your customers do not want to receive their orders faster, you can offer them express service for an added fee.
Insurance and Tracking: Are They Needed By Your Customers?
Depending on what the recipient country is, insurance and tracking may not be as important as you think. In a majority of cases, packages will arrive intact at their destinations – which can make additional insurance and tracking fees to be an unnecessary overhead and expense.
When parcels are distributed overseas, there are actually few losses, which is surprising. So paying extra for premium insurance and tracking doesn’t make sense. If you send items overseas on a regular basis, choose a service where insurance and tracking fees are included in the service.
Select The Service That Is Most Flexible
Each customer will have different needs, so is it very important that a flexible courier service be selected that offers a good choice of different delivery options. Although some oversea customers are happy waiting one to two weeks for delivery, not all customers are that patient.
In order to make sure that everyone’s needs are catered to by your business, choose a courier that has a flexible line-up of various delivery services and allow your customer to decide which one they want. You can charge extra for faster express services. Whenever you are listing various international delivery options, make sure to provide your customers with enough information so that they can make an informed decision. Provide key details such as delivery times and cost.
Read Reviews
If you happen to have a shortlist of international couriers that are quite similar and you are having a hard time figuring out which one to choose, your decision can be made easier through reading impartial reviews that other businesses have left that have used the courier’s services in the past.
Reading reviews is very useful in helping you decide whether or not the services of a company are best for your business. It can also shed some light on how reliable they are. Placing your trust in a third-party service with our company’s distribution is a major step, so that is it is so critical that you find out as much information about the service as you can before working with them.
Appearance Means Everything
If you are very passionate about your products and company, the last thing that you want to have happen is for your reputation to be damaged by a courier service through providing unprofessional and sloppy service. Many e-commerce websites don’t have their own customer service department, so that makes couriers a critical middleman between the customer and business.
To make sure that you choose a professional international courier service, don’t hesitate to ask whether they have a marked vehicles fleet and find out what their uniform policy is. A professional courier service with a well turned-out staff will be a good reflection of your business.
Cormac Reynolds writes for insurethecourier.co.uk and has worked in the courier industry for a number of years
