At this year’s Focus on Fulfilment event, we brought together some of retail’s most innovative fulfilment leaders to explore one key theme: best practices for managing carrier relationships.
The roundtable featured insights from Hotel Chocolat’s Fulfilment Optimisation Manager, Penny Clay, alongside leaders from top UK retail brands. Together, we unpacked how to build stronger carrier partnerships, streamline multi-carrier operations, and deliver consistently exceptional customer experiences.
From complexity to control
Managing and maintaining multiple carriers through direct connections can easily become a time-consuming and painful logistical balancing act. The discussion opened with how automation and smart delivery management technology can transform this complexity into control. Using platforms with carrier networks like nShift, retailers can apply intelligent rules to automatically match each order with the right carrier, striking the ideal balance between cost, service, and speed, without constant manual input and no need for manual maintaining of carrier connections, as this is automated.
When it comes to peak trading periods, the message was clear: success comes from preparation, automation and scalability. Forecasting demand, automating carrier allocation, and staying proactive enables retailers to maintain quality in fulfilment and delivery even when order volumes surge.
Visibility: The secret to seamless delivery
Visibility emerged as a major talking point. Retailers agreed that data transparency is the glue that holds strong carrier relationships together. When both retailer and carrier share real-time information, they can identify issues early, collaborate on solutions, and protect the customer experience.
Visibility isn’t just valuable for retailers and carriers, it also plays a crucial role in enhancing the end-consumer experience. Providing customers with clear, real-time delivery updates builds confidence, reduces uncertainty, and significantly cuts down on calls to customer service centres. Our data shows, reliable and user-friendly order tracking can cut WISMO calls by up to 60%.
Centralising carrier connectivity, tracking, performance reporting, and analytics in one platform also gives retailers full oversight across every carrier and delivery channel, ensuring consistent service and accountability at scale.
Collaboration is the next competitive edge
In the final discussion, the group looked ahead to what’s next for carrier management. A strong consensus formed around the need for flexibility without added complexity. Maintaining multiple direct integrations with carriers can drain time and resources. Partnering with technology providers that handle those connections enables retailers to focus on strategy, growth, and customer experience instead.
The future, participants agreed, lies in deeper collaboration. When retailers and carriers share performance data and insights, they move from transactional relationships to true partnerships - driving mutual improvements and better outcomes for customers.
About Focus on Fulfilment
Focus on Fulfilment brought together Europe’s most forward-thinking retail and logistics leaders to tackle the challenges of modern fulfilment. Designed for genuine peer-to-peer engagement, it’s where practical solutions, bold ideas, and future-focused strategies come to life.
Author
Thomas Bailey
Product Innovation Lead, nShift
Thomas plays a key role in shaping how new features and platform improvements deliver real value to customers. With a background spanning product, tech, and go-to-market strategy, he brings a pragmatic view of what innovation looks like in practice and how to make delivery experiences work harder for your business.
