By Johan Hellman, VP product and carrier management
For ecommerce companies, getting the right parcel to the right person at the right time has never been more important. It means that, in today's fast-paced business environment, efficient and reliable delivery management is crucial for driving ecommerce success.
Whether it’s freight management for large items or last mile delivery software for smaller parcels, having the right shipping management software in place can make all the difference.
With the rise of online shopping and the increasing demand for convenient and timely deliveries, businesses of all sizes need robust delivery management software. This software helps streamline operations, manage pod delivery, and support channel shipping to give retailers added edge in a hyper-competitive marketplace.
Let’s explore what delivery management is and how businesses can benefit from it.
What are the key elements of delivery management?
Put simply, delivery management means more than moving parcels and boxes from A to B. It represents the building blocks of an outstanding ecommerce shipping solution. Done well, it connects end-to-end customer journeys that links brands with their customers.
Key elements of a best-in-class delivery management system include:
- Book and print - Schedule, document and manage deliveries simply and easily - no matter the shipment size.
- Carrier integrations - The capability to select the right carrier for every shipment, irrespective of country, order size and frequency, or consumer preferences.
- Shipping rules - automate how couriers are assigned to orders based on a set of pre-defined criteria.
- Freight cost optimization - minimize transportation expenses while maintaining efficiency, speed, and service quality.
- Insurance - replace lost, stolen, or damaged items in transit - 57% of online shoppers expect a full refund if their package arrives damaged and over half of consumers receive damaged goods each year.
Why is delivery management important to my business?
From SMB’s to enterprise, effective delivery management helps ecommerce businesses meet customer expectations and stay ahead of competitors.ng to Recent research shows that nearly three quarters of shoppers (74%) view delivery as the most important aspect of the overall customer experience while the right delivery capability can help increase shopping-cart conversions by up to 20%, all while boosting warehouse productivity.
With features like pod track (proof of delivery) to monitor the status of deliveries in real-time and the flexibility of a transport management system (TMS) to handle larger shipments, having comprehensive systems in place is critical for keeping customers happy.
What to consider when investing in delivery management software?
When building your delivery management strategy, it’s essential to invest in the right tools and systems:
- Reliable – to ensure consistent performance your delivery management system enables businesses to track and monitor every stage of the shipment, providing reliability regardless of circumstances.
- Adaptable and agile - as demand change, your systems should adapt. This means building an ecommerce shipping solution that allows businesses to adjust to customer preferences and market trends.
- Easily integrated – Delivery management software needs to integrate seamlessly with core business and ecommerce systems. For example, connecting your warehouse management system WMS) to your shipping management software can improve efficiency, drive automation, and facilitate growth.
- Scalable – to meet peaks and troughs in demand. Carrier management software systems must support the business as it grows.
Conclusion
Choosing the right delivery management software is crucial to ensuring smooth operations.. It should be ready to go with carrier connections and have the ability to manage the post purchase and returns process effectively and provide real-time visibility customers expect.
Crucially, it must be able to demonstrate a tried and tested history of success and reliability. If the tech collapses at a crucial moment, retailers risk losing customers – and revenue – forever.
How does nShift help with delivery management?
nShift has a number of solutions to meet your delivery management needs:
- nShift Ship - is an enterprise-level delivery management software built for large organizations with complex shipping challenges, featuring multi-carrier shipping software with access to the largest carrier library.
- nShift Delivery –ideal for SMB ecommerce businesses and warehouse-to-delivery management, providing a better customer experience and building loyalty. Be up and running quickly – currently available in the Nordic regions and soon to be launched into more countries.
- nShift Checkout – Helps retailers optimize the checkout process by displaying clear multiple delivery options. It’s easily integrated with shipping management software and provides flexibility in choosing carriers based on the customer’s preferences.
- nShift Track - a post-purchase parcel tracking solution that helps improve customer loyalty. It keeps shoppers up to date with their parcel status and creates new marketing opportunities for retailers. It offers a consumer interface that can match the look and feel of the retailer or webshop’s brand. It provides delivery updates through mobile and social channels that are relevant to shoppers and reduces WISMO calls for support teams.
- nShift Returns – Without a clear returns procedure in place, people are less likely to buy in the first place. It’s that simple. Our Returns management software fully integrates with the rest of our solutions to provide an end-to-end last-mile delivery experience. Customers typically convert 30% of returns to exchanges.
- nShift TMS - Traditional software for transport management (known as TMS) attempt to calculate efficiencies in the supply chain using pre-defined shipping rules. Our TMS is different. Because it is based on multi-carrier connectivity and communication, it creates better visibility around what is happening at each stage of the process. It is easy to implement, flexible, and scalable. It encourages collaboration across the supply chain and distributes decision-making.
From parcel tracking to PUDO nShift provides the most complete end-to-end ecommerce delivery & experience management (DMXM) platform for growing brands and retailers.
Check out how our DMXM platform has helped retailers just like you. Alternatively, get in touch to find out more and create an outstanding ecommerce customer experience.