Do you run an eCommerce business or thinking to set up one? If you do, you must know the importance of hiring a courier service provider for your online business. In most cases, eCommerce businesses tie-up with a third-party logistics partner to deliver their products to end customers. While independent courier services for eCommerce are the ideal choice for managing your logistics operations, courier aggregators have come into the limelight for offering miscellaneous benefits on a single platform.
Importance Of Courier Services For Ecommerce
From receiving thousands of orders to products leaving the inventory storage and reaching the customer’s doorstep, there are several stages of order fulfilment. An online business needs a courier partner to accomplish the order fulfilment process. An eCommerce logistics partner helps you earn your customers’ goodwill and adds value to your business by safely delivering the orders to them.
When it comes to choosing a courier service for your , it’s important to take care of several important factors. Whether you’ve just entered the industry or you’re a well-established brand, you will need a shipping partner that offers COD delivery, prepaid payment methods, and other benefits.
Factors To Consider While Choosing A Courier Partner
Shipping Prices
Shipping prices can determine your profit margin to a great extent. If you associate with a courier partner that offers shipping services at high rates and charges you other irrelevant fees, you must be ready to compromise on your margin.
You can find various courier companies in India with different shipping rates and subscription costs. Blue Dart, DTDC, FedEx, DHL, Delhivery, XpressBees, Gati, Aramex, and Shadowfax are some of the most prominent names in the market. To weigh the pros and cons accordingly, you can compare the shipping rates of these courier partners and decide accordingly.
Delivery Coverage
You must keep your target audience’s geographical location in mind before choosing a courier partner. Different courier partners have different pin code serviceable areas. While some offer courier services only in metro cities, some others may cover even the remotest locations across the country. Depending on your needs, you may also need a courier partner with an international presence.
Delivery Mechanism And Hidden Costs Involved
Always check the delivery mechanism of the courier service provider and choose your preferences accordingly. Checking the delivery mechanism process includes the locations or pin codes covered by the courier company, the average delivery time, shipment tracking facilities, shipment handling techniques, etc.
You may also want to go through the terms and conditions of the agreements and ensure the courier partner doesn’t have any hidden charges which may lead to lowered profit margin in the future.
Additional Benefits
When it comes to additional benefits, courier aggregators like NimbusPost can offer you advantages like integration with leading eCommerce channels and marketplaces. You can also avail of their fulfilment services for faster and more efficient order fulfilment. Integration with Amazon and other marketplaces lets you sync all orders fastest and deliver them to the customers at the earliest.
Consignee Experience
Optimized order fulfilment experience is vital to drive repeat sales and positive responses. It also helps in reducing customer complaints and higher Average User Value (AUV).
You can have an improved shipping experience with advantages like order tracking facility, return shipment facility, advanced features like NDR panel, and others. Besides this, your shipping partner can also improve your customers’ experience as well by offering them an order tracking and order return facility.
Websites And Forums Reviews On Various Courier Service Providers
You will always find reviews about courier partners on multiple seller forums and discussions. The reviews and discussions give you a good insight into their functioning and provide a fair idea of how viable your shipping partner is and how it has performed in the past few years.
Which Is The Best Courier Service For Ecommerce?
Considering the above-listed factors, you can pick the right courier partner for your online business. Since independent courier partners don’t offer high-end features like shipping aggregators, tying up with an advanced logistics partner may be a better option for you. Laced with several advanced features, a tech-enabled shipping aggregator can provide you with features like:
- Shipping rate calculator
- Lower shipping rates
- Multiple courier partners
- Wide pin code reach
- API integration with marketplaces & eCommerce channels
- Advanced NDR panel
- Lower RTO
- COD facility
- Everyday COD remittance
- Real-time order tracking facility
A courier aggregator offering the above-listed features and benefits would prove to be the most fruitful for your online business. By offering advanced advantages, shipping aggregators mainly help in bridging the gap between eCommerce sellers and their customers. So, start shipping with the most benefitting logistics partner and get ready to scale your business without delay.
