In Canada, retailers and e-merchants understand that consumers are becoming more and more demanding when it comes to delivery times. These delays can strongly influence the ultimate satisfaction of your customers.
Whether you are an entrepreneur or a company, improving the shipping process is important if you want to avoid delays and ensure a smooth delivery process. Our shipping logistics experts give you 5 tips to reduce the delivery time of your packages and other mail.
1. Better managed order processing
Optimized order processing avoids oversights and delays. This requires a consistent order picking process within your company.
There are two steps to a successful logistical approach in this case.
The pre-order processing phase
Good inventory management is crucial to effectively respond to incoming orders. Knowing the status of your current inventory as well as the necessary lead times will help you avoid delays when shipping goods.
Standardization of the order picking process is important. Planning packaging that is appropriate for the size of the goods to be shipped or the number of items per order is also an important factor that should not be overlooked.
Accurate estimated delivery times are also good indicators to help you plan your orders and shipments accordingly.
Fulfillment phase
This phase involves correctly using the data provided by the customer when placing an order. This data can include the delivery address and additional requests such as the preferred date and time of delivery, for example.
The fulfillment phase is primarily an opportunity to fulfill the commitment made to the customer on the estimated delivery time. It is crucial to make sure that the order is complete and reaches its recipient in good condition.
Taking all this data into account during logistics management can help you shorten your delivery times.
2. Limit intermediaries to reduce delivery times
Having multiple parties involved in the delivery process can increase the risk of delays and the overall time required to deliver a shipment. Each additional intermediary can increase handling and storage requirements, which adds to delivery time.
We understand that streamlining your shipments can quickly become a major challenge for your company. That’s why we recommend working with a freight logistics company like Globex Worldwide Courier. Our expertise in shipping logistics limits time-consuming steps and reduces the delivery time of your parcels while guaranteeing competitive delivery costs.
3. Use a courier service for frequent and short distance deliveries
If you are looking to speed up deliveries and make them more efficient, especially over short distances, you should consider using a courier service. This type of service offers you greater flexibility and more options for personalization.
Last-mile delivery makes it easier to deliver to recipients’ homes and shopping centers, ensuring that your goods arrive safe and sound. It also allows for same night delivery, indoor pickup and better parcel tracking.
At Globex Worldwide Courier, we offer same day delivery in Montreal or same day delivery in Quebec City to ensure that your goods are delivered from the nearest location to your customers or recipients. We are also committed to delivering your goods in the shortest possible time and at the best possible price through our network of international partners.
4. Anticipate periods of peak demand
There are certain times of the year when the number of orders will increase, such as the holiday season. These busy periods impact all industries, whether they influence the increase in shipments or not.
Anticipating busy periods in advance will give you peace of mind. Not only will you avoid falling behind on your shipments, but you will even be able to deliver faster than your competitors.
Plan ahead by thinking about having enough employees assigned to shipping orders, enough packaging for shipments and close supervision at every step, in order to avoid mistakes.
5. Develop a logistics strategy tailored to your customers and business
Your logistics strategy should be tailored to your customers to meet their expectations as efficiently as possible. There are two main solutions here for reducing delivery times.
Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory management
Stocking goods is costly in terms of cash flow, storage space and handling. This adds to the risk that your goods will depreciate over time, or worse, become unusable due to deterioration, obsolescence, or a drop in demand.
Just-In-Time (JIT) management is the practice of producing only the quantities you need at the time of order. This eliminates the need for intermediate stock and reduces your costs.
But it doesn’t stop there. It also saves you time in handling and inventory. Time which can be fully dedicated to order processing.
Store your goods closer to your customers
This solution isn’t practical for everyone, but remains a future development perspective, especially for companies that want to expand internationally.
Warehousing products as close as possible to your customers greatly reduces the time needed for international delivery.
An e-merchant based in Quebec may have international customers. Consequently, for an e-commerce shipment to Europe, it would be much more convenient to also have inventory in Europe rather than a single warehouse in Quebec.
The benefits of improved delivery times
Improving delivery times has a positive impact on your business on many levels. Limiting time lost in order processing will inevitably make you more competitive and allow you to adopt a customer-focused vision.
This competitive edge is one of the four key factors of customer satisfaction:
- Product availability
- Delivery time
- Quality of service
- Safety and security
Globex Worldwide Courier knows that these factors are important assets for your business and is committed to always respecting them. Whether you need to send parcels internationally, within Canada or to the United States, we offer you an exceptional shipping service.
We choose the best shipping strategy for each of our clients and make sure to offer a solution that considers the carrier, the price, and the delivery time according to the destination.
Contact us now to reduce the delivery time of your mail and parcels today.