About two decadesago, only a few players in the freight shipping industry managed both B2C and B2B segments. However, due to the poor infrastructure and lack of technological inclusions, these services were not as reliable and efficient. Today, several companies have entered this domain and are offering excellent services to both B2B aswell as B2C segments. Here’s more on the few services that these companies areoffering today:
On-Demand Delivery
This service hassignificantly benefitted the e-commerce industry. With this service in place,e-commerce companies can expedite the delivery of their goods as soon ascustomers place their orders. With on-demand delivery, e-commerce companieshave been able to enhance their customer experience and satisfaction greatly.
Returns Management
The e-commerceindustry thrives on the fact that customers have the freedom to return productsthey do not like or are not up to their expectations. This was made possibleonly by introducing returns management that courier companies so efficientlycarry out these days. Freight shipping companies, especially those workingclosely with e-commerce companies, have very structured returns managementservices to return products conveniently.
Time-Defined/SlotBased Delivery
This is anotherservice that was not available even about a decade ago. With this service inplace, customers can easily choose the time slot within which they would wanttheir goods to be delivered to be sure that they will be at home to receive theparcel. Earlier, this option was not available, and tracking the order andwaiting for the parcel to arrive used to be quite frustrating.
Oversized ProductsDelivery
Beforesending goods via the courier, people used to worry about the size and weightof the parcel as most organizations were not keen on accepting oversizedCouriers for delivery. However, courier companies do not hesitate to take suchorders these days and even ensure efficient delivery. Such companies evendeliver products like air conditioners, refrigerators, etc., that customersorder online from e-commerce stores.
HAZMAT ProductsDelivery
Earlier, there were few restrictions on shipping certain categories of products that could poseshipping or handling risks. However, with improved packaging solutions andbetter logistics in place, freight forwarding companies can nowadays evendeliver products that were considered to be potentially hazardous earlier.
Real-TimeMonitoring
Courier companiesearlier did not have much in the way of technological integration, and as such,real-time monitoring was not an option. However, nowadays, courier companiesuse sophisticated technologies to make the whole process of shipping andtracking seamless and transparent. Customers can easily track the movement oftheir parcel right from the time it hits the roads and follow through till itreaches the destination.
Flexible Payment onDelivery
Until about a fewyears ago, companies only relied on online transactions for payments and laterallowed for cash payments. However, nowadays, customers get a range of paymentoptions. Not only can customers pay via cards/net banking/mobile wallets inadvance, but delivery executives also carry POS machines with them. These days’customers also have the option of making UPI payments.
Courier companieshave evolved immensely over the past few years and have incorporated servicesthat can highly benefit end customers and businesses.