What can your Small Firm Learn from the Big Delivery Companies?

Collaborative Post

If you’re one of the army of mums who have taken the business world by storm in the UK, you’ve probably asked yourself if it’s worth scaling your venture. This is especially true if you run an Etsy or Ebay venture, which can usually grow in line with demand and the number of customers that you have.

However, even independent businesses with low overheads can suffer from growing pains, with the expansion of your online deliveries particularly troublesome.

Fortunately, momtrepreneurs can learn a great deal from the market leading logistics firms. Here are some of the most compelling lessons:

1. Improve the Efficiency of your Deliveries

One of the first things to consider is the efficiency of your deliveries, as shipping more goods will increase your costs as a small business. This is something that couriers work on continually as they trade, as otherwise their business costs and schedules would spiral out of control.

In simple terms, minimising the size, weight and frequency of your deliveries can help you to slash your business costs, whilst boosting your profits as your venture grows.

One of the best ways to achieve this is to utilise service providers Parcel2Go, which is essentially an independent website that allows you to compare quotes from market leading couriers such as DHL.

You can also gather quotes based on the total weight and size of your shipments, allowing for incremental savings that quickly add up over time.

2. Offer Variable Delivery Options Where Possible

As online shopping has grown, so too the speed and flexibility of delivery options have become a consideration for customers.

This is why the most successful couriers have thrived on the back of diversifying their delivery options available, from next-day shipments to fixed-time slots on specific days.

Whilst you may not be able to offer a huge range of options to your growing customer base, you should try to create a delivery service that’s as flexible as possible. Don’t be afraid to charge a premium for more precise deliveries or subscriptions either, as this enables you to improve your service without compromising your profit margins.

There’s demand for this type of service too, with one-in-four customers now happy to pay for delivery subscriptions and invest in time-sensitive shipments.

3. Make Open Communication Central to your Delivery Service 

In some ways, ecommerce has robbed us of the most gratifying elements of consumerism. After all, we can now buy products without having trialled them or tried them on, while we’re also required to wait until a particular item has been delivered to our door.

This means that customers automatically expect more from the delivery process, and this is why couriers have invested heavily in the development of sophisticated and real-time tracking technology.

Now, while you can work alongside couriers that utilise such technology, you’re unlikely to have access to advanced tracking software as a working mother. However, you can compensate for this by maintaining open lines of communication with customers, as you look to keep them updated about their deliveries at all times.

You should also manage expectations by establishing realistic delivery time-frames, based on the demands of the customer and the courier service that you use.

Collaborative Post