Establishing a new business or expanding the existing one, hiring a courier company to look after your logistics operations can be a wise decision if you want to delight your customers and meet delivery goals. You can also achieve the same with an in-house logistics team; however, that requires investing in manpower, resources, and infrastructure. Whatever the reason is, if you have decided to choose a courier company to take care of your logistics and delivery operations, then it is imperative to select the right one.
And to help you make the best decision for your business, we have listed here five major factors to keep in mind while selecting a courier company for your business. Check them out below-
Let’s read these points in detail-
Check for the service availability
Courier companies serve multiple customers with different needs; therefore, it is important to check their service availability beforehand. You have to make sure that the courier service provider is conversant with the type of business you are into. The company should also be aware of the average number of orders you receive every month. For instance, if you deal in fragile items or frozen goods, then the company should have suitable resources to manage the transportation of your goods safely.
Use of technology
Make sure the courier company is using any tech-enabled platform or software, such as courier management software, to manage deliveries. Manually managing multiple orders from different e-commerce customers can lead to delayed deliveries, poor operational transparency, customer dissatisfaction, and various other issues. Using courier software or any other tracking software helps in rendering quality services.
Expertise and experience in the industry
While searching for a courier company, it is imperative to check the track record of the company to know its clientele, expertise, and experience in the industry. This would give you a better idea of how they will handle your orders and facilitate deliveries. Knowing the expertise of the courier company would also make you sure about time and cost-controlled deliveries and customer satisfaction.
Delivery areas or regions it covers
Every company has defined areas or regions where they operate. It is advised to check that beforehand. Also, if your order delivery range is local, then choose a courier service provider accordingly. Such a provider would have better knowledge of the region than a company that works on a large scale or international level.
Insurance
Thinking about the security and insurance of your goods is a must for any e-commerce or other kind of business. It gives you peace of mind; therefore, it is recommended to go through the courier’s insurance coverage before finalizing a courier service provider.
Hope the aforementioned tips would help you to get a suitable courier service provider for your business. But if you don’t want to hire a courier company and wish to manage delivery services at your own facility, then get logistics management software or delivery management software. Such software would automate the processes such as order sorting, order allocation, route optimization, vehicle capacity utilization, AWB generation and label printing, order tracking, and more. It would also eliminate the need for hiring logistics or delivery management teams; you would be able to save a significant amount of delivery costs while ensuring complete customer satisfaction.