The rise of online shopping and eCommerce has meant that delivery services now play a vital role in the management of businesses. In fact, due to this major shift in purchasing, the courier and express delivery market has become one of Britain’s fastest growing business services markets.
There are now numerous services available, and it’s fairly common for businesses to use a number of delivery services simultaneously. Factors such as geographical destination, fulfilment speed or package size/nature ultimately influence which courier service businesses opt for.
The only drawback with this is that when a business is processing an order an employee probably has to make the selection and subsequently wastes time manually performing the order fulfilment process. Losing valuable employee time and money to this repetitive administrative task is a business pain many businesses would happily live without.
This is where shipping automation and Codeless Platforms’ BPA Platform can play a pivotal role.
Shipping automation and Courier service integration
With BPA Platform's ability to integrate with practically any courier or delivery service (DHL, DPD, FedEx, Interlink Express, Parcelforce, UPS, to name just a few) it is possible to set up tasks to automatically extract orders from your business software and, depending on the business rules set, place an order with the most economical/suitable provider. This enables you to keeps costs down and save time.
Getting a parcel to customers is only half the challenge as they also expect a highly proficient returns service. Most couriers provide a dedicated returns service that can facilitate this requirement, but this information needs to be shared across all business systems to ensure warehouse staff are aware and stock levels are up to date.
Extracting and utilising intelligent data
Codeless Platforms’ BPA Server can automatically retrieve all returns data from the courier and enter this information into your CRM, ERP and stock level management systems, as well as automatically updating your warehouse and all relevant eCommerce and retail stores.
In fact, Codeless Platforms’ BPA Platform can retrieve a wealth of information, such as tracking numbers and delivery notifications, from the courier’s systems to help better manage deliveries. Extracting that data would usually take up more valuable employee time and administration, but with a shipping automation solution in place it is possible to retrieve all relevant delivery details, including proof of delivery, and push that data into your existing CRM, ERP or financial system.
Once updated, the BPA Platform can then publish tracking numbers to your customer portal, eCommerce solution or send them to customers via email or SMS. Intelligence data (shipping trends, faults or delivery failures) and reports (carrier performance/service selection) that are generated can also be automatically extracted and delivered to the right personnel/department.
Integrating SaaS Delivery Management System
Codeless Platforms’ BPA Platform can also provide integration with Metapack – a dedicated SaaS delivery management system for retailers, 3PLs and carriers. The multi-carrier software provides a single point of integration to 200 carrier networks and 3,500 delivery services, enabling businesses to select a courier on a parcel-by-parcel basis and give customers the best possible delivery experience.
Again, if the business uses a CRM, ERP, financial or warehouse system to manage sales and accounts, then inputting any orders and delivery information from these systems will be a time-consuming process. All delivery information will also remain solely within Metapack. The Codeless Platforms’ Metapack Integration solution can automate the flow of information between Metapack and your business software.
If you want to find out more about Codeless Platforms’ shipping automation and integration solutions with courier or delivery services, please call us on +44 (0)330 998 8700 or download the eBook below.
