Choosing the right delivery partner
When you run an online business, your customers could be almost anywhere – which of course is one of the benefits of ecommerce. However, it also gives you the responsibility of ensuring that the items you sell actually reach your customers. That’s where delivery partners come in.
The growth of online retail in South Africa over the last few years has been matched by a corresponding increase in the number of delivery partners you can choose from. At Bob Go, we’ve partnered and integrated with some of the best in the business, each chosen for their affordable rates and exceptional service: The Courier Guy, RAM, Internet Express, SkyNet, WumDrop, Fastway, Bob Box and Pargo.
Making your choice
We’ve already touched on two of the most important factors: price and service. You’ll naturally want to choose a delivery partner that offers competitive rates, and can be relied upon to deliver your packages timeously and in the exact same condition they were in when you handed them over.
The delivery partner you select will depend on the type of items you need to ship, where you typically send them to, and the promises you’ve made to your customers. Nothing frustrates buyers more than late, damaged or missing packages and these will reflect on your reputation, as well as costing you money in terms of refunds and lost sales.
Time is money
When choosing a delivery partner, do your research – look at coverage areas (do they go where you need them to?) and delivery timeframes. These should be as good as – if not better than – the industry average.
Cost is always a factor – because the express courier industry is highly competitive, rates across companies tend to be broadly similar. However, within these overall patterns you are certain to find differences, so be sure to carefully compare prices for specific parcel sizes and weights. Just because a delivery partner charges a better rate for one specific volumetric weight, it may not be the case across all categories.
Opinions count
Both buyers and sellers get upset when shipping goes wrong, and packages go astray. They’re likely to be vocal about this on social media, so be sure to look out for reviews to get a better sense of the reliability of the delivery partners you’re considering. You need to know that they’ll keep their promises because, after all, you’ll be relying on them to keep yours, too.
This brings us to customer support – you should choose a delivery partner for your online business that prioritises keeping both sellers and buyers happy. Key factors to look out for include a customer careline or contact centre that actually solves problems and that is easy to reach via multiple channels, plus a ‘can-do’ approach when it comes to problem solving.
Check out their tech
Delivery partner technology has come a long way, and features such as real-time tracking and automated shipping notifications are now commonplace. Integration is also a key consideration – especially if you are selling from the same inventory across various channels. For help with integration, you can always turn to Bob Go. It’s an area we’ve really made our own.
Better buyer experiences
You can empower your customers by implementing features like rules engines and rates at checkout (both available through Bob Go). Rules engines let you set parameters and automate much of the decision-making around shipping and delivery partner selection. By streamlining your processes in this way, you can offer more efficient, flexible and personalised shipping solutions.
Rates at checkout lets your customers see instantly what they will be paying for shipping, which adds to your reputation for transparency and integrity.
The choice is yours
Taking all these factors into consideration, you should be able to choose the best delivery partner for your online business. Choosing Bob Go as your order management and fulfilment partner is another great way to ensure that all your shipping passes off without a hitch – we’ve already integrated with all the top delivery partners, so we can save you the hard work of choosing just one.
Insider tip: many delivery partners regularly assign the same drivers (for collections and deliveries) to the same area – getting to know the drivers on your local ‘beat’ can bring in an extra degree of flexibility and gain you insights that might not otherwise be available.
