eCourierz Blog | Ecommerce Shipping and Logistics Solution.

Best Sales Channels for your E-commerce Website and Marketplace Integration

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 07:55:00 +0000

In today’s day and age, in order to achieve stability in the E-commerce ecosystem and to get ahead of the competition, it has become imperative to choose a robust and powerful marketplace or sales channels for your business.

The pandemic has pushed the increase in availability of most products over the internet which in turn has changed the way things are bought and sold, with the increase in online shopping and digitization, retailers are now obliged to have a flexible approach to tap into this vast pool of potential customers.

Even though prerequisites to enter the online marketplace are much lower than what they used to be, the sheer number of options to choose from, mean that choosing the best sales channel plays a crucial part in determining the success of your business.

Ecommerce Marketplaces

Ecommerce marketplaces are the websites that allow you to sell your products alongside other sellers. While they do take a cut of your revenue, they give you a chance to expose your product to a large number of their already existing customer base.

To give you a head start, we have curated a list of top sales channels that can give your business a deeper penetration to the minds of your target audience.

Check out these top eCommerce marketplaces:

Amazon

No introduction needed here. Amazon is probably the first name that comes to mind when anyone thinks of selling their products on an eCommerce marketplaces. This eCommerce giant helps you to reach a huge audience base. But you need to have an uphill battle to get your product ranked good on amazon as the volume of sellers on the platform is equally large.

Etsy

Etsy is a large marketplace for handmade products. Every product listed on the platform needs to be made by the seller only. The number of buyers and sellers has increased drastically over the years on Etsy.

Flipkart

Flipkart is India's first and, probably, most successful online retailer. Flipkart started up as a multi-vendor bookstore, comparable to Amazon, but now sells almost anything.

Own Ecommerce Stores

On the opposite side of the coin are owned e-commerce stores. If you have the pockets to invest both on the technology and human resources to build and maintain your own online store, it means that you won't have to worry about marketplace restrictions, fees, or rules, along with granting to the ability to go all out on branding and customer recall. Naturally, creating and maintaining your own website/online store does take a lot of time and money.

Listed below are the most popular ecommerce platforms that can be used to set up an online store:

Shopify

Shopify is an ecommerce platform that makes it simple to create an online store without requiring any prior knowledge of coding or a large budget. The Shopify platform powers over a million businesses and is known for attractive website designs, and useful marketing tools.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a platform to create an eCommerce store easily for the people using wordpress. WordPress websites are small, quick to develop, and easy to maintain. WooCommerce, which has a 30% market share, is one of the most popular eCommerce store builders.

Magento

Magento is a popular eCommerce website building platform that can store thousands of products and handle high traffic with ease. Its modular structure enables for extensive front-end and back-end customisation.

Prestashop

You don't have to worry with a lot of technical concerns or complicated code when you use PrestaShop. It's free, light, and simple to use. Furthermore, it provides language assistance, allowing you to sell your goods or services on a global scale.

Opencart

One of the key advantages of OpenCart is the ease with which it can be customized. Websites built using OpenCart are exceptionally lightweight. It supports approximately 14000 extensions that may be brought in to improve the online store's functionality.

Shipping for your eCommerce website

One of the major challenges that eCommerce sellers or retailers face is the shipping of their products. There are a lot of aspects which need to be considered while choosing the shipping method for your business.

There is a lot of documentation to be given along with a substantial initial setup fee as a prerequisite, if you want to have your own courier contract with carriers like FedEx, BlueDart, Delhivery, etc. At the same time even if you are willing to pay the initial cost there might be issues later with Pin-code availability with your selected carrier provider. Your carrier provider might not have a hyperlocal delivery option or might not have accessibility to the rural parts of the country.

It is far more beneficial to your business to have accessibility to multiple carrier providers so that you can tap their distribution network in order to get your product delivered to any corner of the country.

eCourierz provides your business with flexibility of choosing from 24+ courier partners serving in more than 27000 pin codes across the country, the best part of eCourierz is that it allows you to integrate all the above-mentioned sales channels and dispatch your shipments with absolute ease and transparency.

Interested? Hop on with us by creating your account here.

Shipping for eCommerce Sellers - Importance & Challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 12:34:00 +0000

Ecommerce fulfilment is a distinct logistical area within the ecommerce industry. Data-driven and well-integrated into the end-to-end flow, this is a highly specialized business.

There was a past when the retailers used to directly source goods from suppliers and manufacturers. The products are distributed through eCommerce fulfilment distribution centers. Logistics includes lot of things like inventory management, warehousing, billing, packaging, labelling, shipping, COD, payment, product return & exchange, and many others.

Logistics is indispensable for the ecommerce industry. To be more specific, it’s better to claim that good logistic service is mandatory for the ecommerce operation. Ecommerce success depends on the logistics.

Some of the Challenges faced by eCommerce Logistics

Fulfilment of the last mile delivery

Reducing Transportation Costs

Improving Supply Chain Visibility

Enhancing Customer Experience

Cash on delivery Service

Managing Returns and exchanges

What makes logistics an asset for a scalable ecommerce industry? Plenty brownie points are in possession of a good logistic service.

By delivering your product, the outbound logistic helps to draw the full circle of your ecommerce. Either you manufacture the product or arrange it from somewhere, display it through digital storefront, play some marketing tricks to engage your audience, get visitors to your website, who browse through the products and purchase.

Logistics takes the responsibility from there. It will collect the purchased product from the warehouse and head to the preferred destination of your customers with just one goal i.e to deliver the products on-time. Without logistics, it’s impossible to reach out to the customers, a thriving force of every ecommerce business.

Often it kicks starts the ecommerce journey:

It's not only about delivering your products to your consumers' doorsteps when it comes to logistics. Inbound logistics aid in the collection of materials or the assembly of essential commodities for the production of a product. Quick delivery of the raw materials is highly important here as it helps to start the operation. Now consider the cut-throat competition and you will understand how important is good logistic for any ecommerce business.

2. Collect love, trust and grow confidence:

The success of ecommerce is determined by the number of clients. The true challenge is making them happy. Once if they're satisfied, your brand engagement efforts and concerns fade away as your satisfied customers take on the task of promoting your products and services. Have you heard of "word-of-mouth" advertising? That is something that a good logistic service will take care of for you.

With on-time delivery, it will help you to meet your promises and earn the trust of customers. Whereas any glitch in service will throw you in grave danger. Once the customers start making bad remarks about your delivery service, you face the challenge of earning them back which sometimes is impossible.

Bottom line, happy customers are the asset of your online business. A sound and robust logistic service along with the quality product can give you scores of happy customers and a much-required boost to your business.

3. Grow as you go the extra mile:

The magic of ecommerce is that there is no boundary of its expansion. A strong logistic service makes it feasible. And remember expansion is not always correlated with extending your region or going from local to cross-border. Today’s ecommerce grows as they reduce the time of delivering the product. Better logistic service makes it viable.

An awesome logistic service connects all the dots of a successful ecommerce venture. No wonder why it’s called the cog of the ecommerce wheel. Choose a better logistic service today, start your operation early, reach out to more customers and outplace your competitors.

Final Words: eCourierz is the Perfect Shipping partner that meets all your Shipping needs at affordable prices. Get Multi location Pickup, Multiple Carrier options, Vast reach, Real-time tracking, Smart integrations of sales channels, business automation & much more.

How does your Parcel get lost?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 09:55:00 +0000

Less common, but still can happen. Millions of parcels are delivered across the world every day. Although many of the parcels are delivered successfully, there are some occasions where packages do go missing. Let's understand why a package might go missing.

Logistics industry has experienced a drastic shift ever after the adoption of advanced technology especially the automation.

The tech enables logistics has simplified the life of shippers predominantly the e-commerce sellers. The advanced tracking system which enables the shippers to know the exact location of the shipment to ensure a safe delivery of the products to the customer.

But even amidst these, mistakes may happen and your package might get lost in the transit. The reasons may be many, below are few of the possibilities due to which the parcel might get lost.

Why do shipments go missing or lost?

Scenario 1:

Generally, the common and recurring reason for a parcel to get astray is due to damaged shipping label. Sometimes during unloading the shipment from the vehicle or due to mishandling of the package the shipping label might get torn. Since the shipping label has to be scanned at each stop in its journey and the torn shipping label cannot be scanned, will be sent back to the shipper if the delivery address is unavailable else marked lost and placed in the warehouse with rest of the lost packages until someone asks for it.

Scenario 2:

Courier companies have hub in every city where all the packages are grouped according to their destination. Since this is a place where all the shipments are stored and moved, the chances of the package getting missed amidst many other packages due to overlooking or negligence is high.

Scenario 3:

Another scenario is, during the manual pickup of the shipment if the shipper doesn’t provide the shipping label the pickup person sticks AWB form on the package which might peel off if not glued properly or when the shipment encounters bad weather conditions like rain. In such a case the package will be returned to the shipper.

Hence it is advisable to cover the shipping label with a transparent plastic cover and stick it onto the courier box with a tape so that it doesn't tear or get damaged during the transit.

Still Missing?

The package undergoes change of hands, warehouse, and vehicles while its journey to the destination, thus leading to the high probability of shipment to get lost. In such a situation contact your courier service provider and get to know the status update of the shipment. If you have booked through a third party logistics like eCourierz, we will coordinate with the logistics company on behalf of you.

Once the customer complaints the carrier about the shipment which is not delivered even after the delivery date, the carrier begins searching for the shipment starting from the last scanned place. Since in most of the cases shipping labels are damaged, certain documents such as AWB number, image of the shipment, invoice, packing list etc might be asked to submit which will be helpful to search the shipment. The search process takes time, and after the thorough investigation, if the shipment is still not found then it is declared as lost.

Once it is confirmed that the product is lost, you can raise the claim. If you have taken additional insurance then you can claim the insurance within 10 days or the time specified by the insurance company.

To reduce the losses arising out of lost packages it is advised to purchase shipping insurance. It is an arrangement with a company who agrees to provide compensation for damage or loss of goods in transit in return for the payment of a specified premium.

Courier companies in most of the cases provide on time delivery of the shipment. Mistakes happen! So be prepared with the probabilities to avoid loss of shipment. Keep an eye on the movement of the shipment and get updates on the shipment so that you can act immediately in such a situation.

Final Words: eCourierz, a preferred logistics aggregator in India, making e-commerce shipping effortless with multi-carrier shipping features. Talk to our experts for more information.

Guide to Hidden Shipping Fees and How to avoid them?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 08:23:00 +0000

Guide to Hidden Shipping Fees and How to avoid them?

If you've ever transported goods internationally, you may have received some unexpected surprises from your courier partner upon getting your monthly invoice: fuel surcharges, DDP handling costs and delivery surcharge for isolated locations. Nobody enjoys getting startled by hidden fees or additional surcharges, so we've put together this guide to help you understand where these expenses come from and what to expect from future shipments.

Express Couriers and Postal Couriers – What’s the difference?

When it comes to pricing you will see a significant difference between express and postal courier service. The pricing for postal couriers is simple: you will be responsible for the majority of the shipping charges. However, the pace of their services is slow, and the quality of their services is low. Express couriers, on the other hand, provide quick and dependable services, but their cost is significantly more complicated and dependent on a variety of criteria.

Express Courier costs can be divided into three parts:

Parcel Handling charges
Shipping Charges
Tax & Duty Deductions

Parcel Handling Charges

These fees are determined by the things you wish to send, their container, weight, and dimensions. Couriers prefer conventional and easy-to-handle parcels; if yours doesn't meet their requirements, you may be charged more.

Shipping Dangerous Goods: Listen up if you're shipping goods which contains alcohol, lithium-ion batteries, or liquids, etc. In the shipping industry these items are deemed "dangerous." You should expect a surcharge for this service because couriers must handle these types of items with extreme caution. The charge is usually a percentage of the shipping charges or the item's value.

Oversized or heavy items: If your parcel exceeds a courier’s standard dimension or weight, surcharges can apply.

Unusual Packaging: Additional costs may be charged depending on the material and shape of the containers. You might expect to pay more expenses if your container is constructed of wood or metal, or if it is cylindrical.

Shipping Charges

Fuel surcharge: The fuel surcharge is the most common additional charge with express couriers. This varies weekly or monthly depending on the country and is calculated as a percentage of the shipping costs.

“Remote area” or “Extended area” surcharge: If your pick up or delivery address is located outside of the courier's normal collection route, you may be charged. Additionally, if the address is in a residential complex, additional costs may apply to some couriers.

Failed deliveries: Mistakes happen, and unfortunately express couriers can charge you for this.

Tax & Duty Deductions

As you may be aware, depending on the value of the item and country restrictions, shipping overseas may need payment of taxes and customs by either the sender or the recipient. There are two types of shipments: DDU, which stands for “Deliver Duty Unpaid”, and DDP, “Deliver Duty Paid”. You can know more about these by checking: Difference Between DDP and DDU

How can you avoid hidden fees for your shipments?

We hope that now that you're aware of the hidden costs and extra charges that can occur when shipping overseas, you'll be able to budget for them appropriately. Talk to our Shipping Experts at eCourierz. We make sure that you get the complete information of most of the potential surcharges and Tax & Duties, so you will never be caught off-guard again.

What is HSN code? Understanding its Significance

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 11:28:00 +0000

HSN stands for Harmonised System of Nomenclature. HSN code is used worldwide to identify different categories and types of products. Usually HSN code is 6 digits long but in India there are additional 2 digits are used to add deeper details. This code was introduced in 1988 by World Custom Organisations for classification of goods both Domestic and International.

How to find your HSN code?

You can easily find your HSN code At GST portal just follow these simple steps:

Visit: https://www.gst.gov.in/

Go to – Services – User Services – Search HSN Code

You will need to enter Chapter, Name or code, in case if you don’t have these details you can download the HSN excel sheet and search there.

HSN Code in India

In India, HSN codes are used to regulate trade and make it easy to check and compute the GST rate that is payable on every item. Using the HSN code, anyone may obtain the GST rate for their products, making trading faster and easier. It is also required to utilise the correct HSN numbers when completing GST returns in order for payments to be confirmed.

Who needs HSN Code?

Businesses with turnover less than 1.5 crores do not need to use HSN code. All the business with turnover more than 1.5 crores needs to adopt HSN codes for their commodities.

Understanding the code and how does it work

HSN code contains 21 sections which are divided into 99 chapters which contains 1244 sub sections. HSN codes apply to custom and GST. HS codes are prescribed in Customs Tariff as heading (4 digits HS), sub-heading (6 digits HS), and tariff items (8 digits). These documents can be found on the Central Board of Indirect Tax and Customs (CBIC) website.

This is how the Indian HSN code breaks up:

Chapter – 2 digits

Heading – 2 digits

Sub-Heading – 2 digits

India Sub Classification – 2 digits

Importance of HSN Code

HSN is widely used all over the world. Distinct goods have different HSN codes. HSN codes eliminate the need to upload product information, making GST returns quicker to file. It is very vital that you are well aware of this code to avoid confusion and keep your shipping experience smooth.

Ultimate Guide for Understanding Indian Custom Duties and Taxes

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 06:30:00 +0000

Shipping internationally comes up with many challenges and pre-calculations for successful deliveries but the biggest factors that require proper understanding are custom duties and taxes.

To assist you comprehend shipping duties we have created this ultimate guide to clarify methods, and provide best practices for handling these practice so you can prepare your Business to meet Custom regulations.

What are Custom duties and taxes?

Custom duties and taxes are tariffs imposed on goods imported from other countries into our nation and on goods exported to other countries from India. These tariffs are mainly imposed to control the flow of banned commodities across the international borders. Undoubtedly, It is one of the biggest source of Central Fiscal Revenue and charging taxes legitimately is one of the most important task of Custom authorities.

Why Custom duties matter in International Shipping?

In India Custom duty is well defined under Act of Customs, 1962 and each and every matter related to Custom regulations fall under CBEC (Central board of Exercise and Customs).

Government impose tax on international shipments for the following reasons:

Restrict the flow of prohibited goods in and out of the country

Raise revenue through legitimate tariffs

Protect the countries jobs, environment, residents and economy, etc.

Protect domestic companies and maintain healthy competition across the globe

How to prepare for Custom Duties and Taxes?

The cost of Indian customs tax varies depending on the commodities involved, where they are coming from, and what they are made of.

To calculate customs tax rates, you'll need the HSN code, which is used in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, an internationally agreed-upon system of identifying product kinds.

Then, find the specific Indian customs taxes involved by reference to the Tariff Schedule or the Indian Customs Tariff as laid out in the Customs Act (1962) and Customs Tariff act (1975)

Types of Custom Duty and Taxes in India

Type	Rate	When Applicable
Basic Customs Duty (BCD)	Decided according to the HSN code of the product and its origin. It can be from 0% to 100%	The actual fee paid will depend on where goods are coming from, what they are, and what they’re made of.
Countervailing Duty (CVD)	0 to 12% depending on product	Countervailing duty is applied on products which received benefits like tax breaks or or subsidies in the country where they were manufactured
Special Additional Duty (SAD)	4% where applied	This is to make sure that domestic manufacturing is not at a disadvantage. SAD is calculated on the total of the assessable value of the goods, plus other taxes that must be paid such as BCD and CVD.
Social Welfare Surcharge (SWS)	10% where applied	The Social Welfare Surcharge was introduced in 2018 to support government social welfare projects. This fee replaces the Education Cesses which were previously used.
Safeguard Duty	By Notification	If imports are damaging local producers, they may become subject to Safeguard Duty.
Anti-Dumping Duty	By Notification	Dumping is an unfair international trade practise that involves selling goods in a foreign market for less than their production cost or market value. This would be extremely damaging to local industry and is therefore countered by Anti-dumping Duties where necessary.
Compensation Cess	Applied according to product type, for things such as cigarettes and pollution-causing products such as coal and automobiles.	Compensation Cess was created to compensate manufacturing heavy states which would lose revenue when the new IGST was brought in nationally in 2017.
Integrated Goods and Services Tax	5%, 12%, 18%, 28%	The Integrated Goods & Services Tax (IGST) came into being in 2017. It brought together various other existing taxes under one umbrella.
Customs Handling Fee	1%	On top of any other taxes payable, there is a 1% customs handling fee to pay.

How Custom duty is calculated in India?

The amount of customs tax you must pay may be fixed or based on the value of the specific merchandise. An ad valorem basis calculation is what this is. Ad valorem computations are governed by the rules outlined in Rule 3(i) of the Customs Valuation Rules, 2007. If your individual products are not covered by this regulation, the value is computed according to the hierarchy outlined below.

Method	When Applicable
Comparative Value	Value can be decided based on comparison with similar items, under Rule 4
Comparative Value	Value can be decided based on comparison with similar items, under Rule 5
Deductive Method	Rule 7 allows for valuation based on the sale price of the items at their point of origin
Comparative Value	Rule 8 decides the value based on the raw material and production costs of the product, as well as expected profit at the point of origin.
Fallback Method	Rule 9 allows for a fallback method, based on the above rules but with more flexibility

Every country has a tax threshold, which is the amount above which a person must start paying taxes on an item. Because customs duty may not apply to every international shipment, it is best to examine the tax thresholds for each country to which you intend to ship.

How the Custom Process works?

The Custom Clearance process starts as soon as your shipment arrives in customs. To better understand how taxes and duties affect the custom clearance process check these:

The first step starts with proper inspection of the shipment by the custom officer and making sure the shipment has all the mandatory documents attached to it.

The value and category of your goods on your commercial invoice will be scrutinised by the customs officer. They can also review your website or crowd funding campaign to ensure that the item worth matches what is on the business invoice – so please be truthful with your documents! This will determine whether or not customs and taxes are applicable to your shipment.

If the package arrives with duties paid, it signifies the sender took care of the payment, allowing the shipment to be freed for distribution. If the shipment comes with unpaid duties, the recipient must handle it. Customs will hold the delivery, and the courier's independent broker will contact the recipient directly for payment.

The shipment is released and delivered once the custom officer ensures that the tariffs and taxes are paid.

How Ecourierz is better way to Ship abroad?

If you want to start shipping abroad and expand your business you could be better off with eCourierz. With eCourierz you get shipping rates of all carrier providers at a go whether it is domestic and international without any hidden fees and charges.

Our services gives you accessibility to do business in 200 plus countries and our International Business experts make sure your shipping process goes seamless and you are assisted well enough in worldwide shipping.

7 Most Common Reasons for Shipment Delivery Delays

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 08:13:00 +0000

One of the biggest challenges in ecommerce shipping is that business owners must be ready to provide delivery services to their customers on time. How to avoid shipping delays is an important question.

Operating an e-commerce store is not as easy as it sounds. No matter how many goods you ship in a day, any small obstacle in the fulfillment process can put your business on the toss.

Customers are always anxious to know about the whereabouts of the products which they ordered. Any variation in the delivery date will lead to frustrating customers writing a bad review on your website and social media, which can ruin your business eminence. It is imperative for any e-seller to avoid delivery setbacks as it may inhibit the growth of the company.

However, here are the most common reasons you need to know which causes the delay.

What are the causes of delay in shipment delivery?

Customs Delay:

Some of the sellers undervalue their product while declaring in the customs to avoid heavy customs duties while shipping internationally. But when customs officers investigate the product and recognize it as an undervalued product, they re-evaluate it and fix the fine amount and confiscate the parcel. The shipper has to pay the fine only after which the parcel will be delivered to the customer which in turn consumes a lot of time. If you’re going to ship orders internationally, it’s vital that you understand the requirements and what paperwork is needed to avoid these delays.

2. ODA Locations:

Certain geographical areas are considered as out-of-delivery areas where the courier companies do not directly provide their service, in turn, use a third party to deliver it. If your receiver is located in an ODA location, the package will be given to another vendor who may not have the provision of scanning the parcel, hence you will not know the precise status of your parcel and its time of delivery. This might take time in delivery and updating in the tracking status.

3. Documentation Errors:

Before sending any parcel, the label has to be appended on top of the parcel which consists of details. Such as

Source

Destination address

Phone number

If the destination address is incomplete, misspelt, wrong or missing phone number or sometimes if the label gets torn due to mishandling, likelihood of delay in shipment delivery is high.

4. Weather Conditions:

Even though if you have sent the shipment immediately after the order was placed, it may not reach the customer on time due to bad weather conditions such as heavy Rain, Flood, Heavy snow and natural calamities etc.

5. Missing Shipment:

Due to the enormous orders, on rare occasions, parcels might go missing in the warehouse and it will definitely take ample of time to search for the missing product in the huge warehouse amongst thousands of parcels.

Apart from this, if the delivery person makes a maximum of three attempts of delivery and if the consignee is not available to receive it all the time, the parcel will be returned to the shipper. We cannot shun certain reasons which are out of our hands but can definitely avoid some of them to an extent.

6. Traffic Issues:

Finding a city without any traffic is impossible. People are experiencing delays during their transit due to traffic issues like construction, road blocks, detours.

In this case delivery agents can take advantage of route optimization software that can pinpoint the fastest route possible and update it in real-time to avoid shipments delay.

7. Package Redirection Delay:

Customers are often held for change in address. A change in the information entered into the system will lead to a different delivery time and may cause delay. Make sure that you enter the right address in the first attempt to avoid Package Redirection delay.

Some of the common measures to avoid delivery delays are:

Inventory Planning:

Festive seasons are the time when a majority of the customers shop online.

Preparing for the top-selling products in advance during this season will save you from the delivery delay to some extent.

2. Proper paperwork:

Shipments get held in the customs when there are inappropriate or mismatched documents submitted in the customs which may result in confiscation of your shipment which will not be moved until the penalty is fulfilled by the shipper. Hence make sure you don't manipulate the documents which may result in delayed delivery.

3. Get in touch with the service provider:

If you find that your shipment is on hold due to customs or if the delivery date has been extended in the tracking status, then contact your courier service provider and get to know the status of your parcel so that you can keep your customers updated on it.

4. Avoid Manual Errors:

Writing correctly spelled address with complete information of the destination location will avoid complication during delivery of the shipment. Clearly, the printed label will help the delivery person to deliver it to the exact address and avoid missing the courier.

The delivery delay may seem like a trivial issue but this can have a striking influence on your business. Notifying your customers beforehand of the delay that may occur is a good way of keeping your customers prepared for the delay so that they don't panic or does not lose trust in your brand.

5. Prepare for holidays:

Most of the courier companies do not work during public holidays.

To avoid delivery delays, dispatch your orders before the public holidays commence.

6. Enlist a Fulfillment Service:

The Most viable way of avoiding delivery delays is to Enlisting the services of a fulfillment company.

A fulfillment service is a third-party company who specialize in order processing and delivery of your order.

On behalf of your ecommerce businesses, they handle

Warehousing

Packaging

Delivery of orders

Final Words: Upscale your business with eCourierz multi-carrier shipping platform to deliver your ecommerce orders. We offer you a simple yet comprehensive solution to streamline your shipping activities all at one place. Signup and start shipping.

Guidelines to Start International Shipping for your Business

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 07:49:00 +0000

If you want to expand your ecommerce business, expanding beyond your borders could be a great next step - but you'll need to figure out how to ship internationally first.

Shipping worldwide for your Small and Medium Business

Having a successful eCommerce business in domestic market proves that you are doing well in your niche. But your niche can be spread all over the country.

Fortunately, there are numerous parcel delivery services that can assist you in getting your product into (almost) every country on the earth - depending on what you're selling, of course.

There are several factors that are needed to be considered before starting to serve your international customers:

Check Customs and International Shipping Regulations

The best way to find out what is allowed and what is not is to visit the official customs website for your destination country. Most governments make it quite clear what is and is not permitted.

There are different restrictions in different countries so you need to carefully asses all the restrictions in your target countries.

2. Asses extra cost for shipping internationally

If this is your first time shipping overseas, or you just send it sometimes, the major delivery firms have calculators that can assist you figure out the ‘landed cost' of a product. There are several Costs that you need to check - Taxes, fees, duties, tariffs, there’s a lot of words here that basically mean ‘extra costs’.

3. Adequate packaging for international shipping

One of the most important things you can do to minimise the possibility of extra expenditures or delays is to pack your products correctly. There are several packaging supplies available to help you achieve this quickly and elegantly.

Follow these 5 steps to secure adequate packaging for international shipping:

Quality Packaging

Avoid empty spaces

Consider the weight

Seal properly

Clear label

4. Find the right courier partner for your eCommerce business

You need to find the right courier partner for your shipping needs. Make certain that you pick the most cost-effective shipping choice for you without sacrificing delivery time or dependability.

eCourierz allows you to find best shipping rates for your business for both domestic and international. You can compare and book with best carrier partner also you can calculate rates on rate calculator along with several other analytics tools and personalized dashboard.

5. Automation and considering third party fulfilment

If international parcel delivery is becoming too difficult for you, consider enlisting the assistance of other provider. Third-party fulfilment providers can take the tedium out of overseas shipping.

Your life will be made a lot easier if you automate your overseas shipping process. More and more couriers are providing completely integrated and automated technologies to aid in the fulfilment and delivery process.

You also need to consider these before starting international shipping:

Does my product contains dangerous elements -

Even if your product is not openly restricted, certain aspects of it may be prohibited or deemed unsafe.

Take lithium batteries, for example. A single battery will not harm you, but most are constructed of flammable materials.

Is my product valid for importing to other countries -

There are two sorts of import limits that countries face.

Restricted items are things that must meet certain criteria before they may clear customs and enter the country.

Prohibited items are those that cannot be introduced into the country in any way.

Taking insurance for your shipment -

It's understandable to be concerned about overseas shipping if you're sending anything valuable or fragile. You don't want your consumer to receive a faulty product, but you also don't want to be out of pocket if they do.

International shipment sure comes with some complications and risks but if done properly can lead to benefitting your business in large scale.

eCourierz helps you in Shipping worldwide by providing you access to ship to 220+ countries, our Business Experts help you in creating strategy for international shipping and secure various benefits like CSB -5 to help your business grow.

Pickup Manifest and its Importance

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 08:33:00 +0000

In Logistics industry, every shipping document has its own significance. Among all other documents, a Pickup or courier manifest is also one of the highly essential document.

A Pickup or Courier manifest is a key documentation that is used as proof of confirmation that your parcel have been picked up by the courier partner. It streamlines the pickup process to a great extent. It is critical to make a manifest because it is required to group your shipments together.

Why is a Manifest required?

Manifest can be used to make a compensation claim owing to the loss or damage of shipments by Carrier partners.

2. Manifest is the initial process in your shipping after making invoice which helps in final checking of necessary details used for successful shipment.

3. Manifest is crucial for clubbing your multiple shipments.

4. Manifests are required when requesting pickup-related help or escalation.

5. Not just that, in case your shipment is untraceable after the pickup, this manifest plays a very important role in locating/tracing your package.

How can you create a Pickup Manifest?

A shipping label can be used as pickup manifest for your shipment. You can also use Excel sheet to easily create a Manifest in case of multiple shipments, listing all of your shipments &their details to be picked up by a particular courier partner.

This is the sample Label template by eCourierz that can be used as Pickup Manifest:

The Pickup Manifest must include the below information:

Date of pickup

Time

Order ID

Tracking number

Total count of parcel(s) packed

Seller's signature

Courier person's signature

Contact number of the courier person

Pickup manifest is a Proof of Collection or handover, of your shipments. Hence it is of utmost importance that every seller has to ensure having a pickup manifest.

It's worth noting that a pickup manifest should not be submitted to a pickup agent along with other shipping paperwork. This document is exclusively for your reference and should be retained by the seller as a proof of collection.

eCourierz Business experts make sure that, being an ecommerce seller, you are fluent in all such shipping eCourierz details. helps in smooth sailing of your shipping process with access to multiple advanced tools and expertise.

How Technology helps in increasing Shipping Accuracy?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 08:38:00 +0000

Ecommerce businesses are flourishing like never before, this time with a boom in technology and due to this sudden blow of covid-19, more people have moved from traditional retail shopping to ordering and receiving their order at home. With increase in business opportunities comes greater challenges too like increase in customer expectations, rapid competition in the market etc.

Adapting is highly necessary in these times to cope up with rapid changing trends in this industry. Automation can help eCommerce businesses to assess and upgrade their business model to reduce both Cost and time.

Best Practices to Reduce your Shipping Cost:

Ship with best rates

Rates differ significantly among different carriers depending upon weight of shipment, delivery distance, dimensions, etc. Carrier specific charges also differ according to demand and supply, calculating and keeping track of such rates is very difficult and time consuming for eCommerce sellers.

ECommerce sellers should get a hold of a third party logistics shipping solution from where they can easily access rates of different shipping carriers at the same time and select according to their ease of convenience.

2. Reduce Returns with Shipping Accuracy

Returns are huge problems for every business prevailing whether they are retail or Ecommerce sellers, having access to multiple shipping carriers and their integrated tracking systems, sellers can reduce chances of returns.

With the help of automation and technology, sellers can avoid returns by communicating pin to pin information of their orders to buyers. Immediate actions can be taken when shipments are not delivered by either reattempting the delivery to the customer again or by retrieving the shipment carefully back to sellers warehouse.

3. Bulk Shipping

With increase in scale of business number of orders also increases and manual processing of these orders will result in piling up and late deliveries. Bulk shipping allows you to book shipments automatically in large numbers. This not only saves time but also helps in timely delivery of the orders.

eCourierz allows eCommerce sellers to bulk ship their orders easily with advanced tools and technology easily.

4. Business Integration

Business integration is a feature that allows eCommerce sellers to easily integrate their Sales Channel with their shipping platform. This allows them in easy data processing, faster shipments and reducing duration of shipping and labour intensive cost.

5. Access to Automation

Apart from increase in efficiency and effectiveness of your business there are several areas where both cost and time can be saved by automation. Advanced analytical tools help you in assessing your business performance as well as predicting future course of action to grow.

Find the Right Technology for your Ecommerce Business

It is best practice to consider these three Shipping Factors and how can they be improved:

Shipping Options - What are the best carrier providers that are available and can fulfill your unique Business needs?

Shipping Time - Are you able to deliver goods on the desired time? How can you ship faster?

Shipping Partner - Does your shipping partner helps your business to upscale? Do you access to best technology and cheapest rates?

eCourierz allows ecommerce sellers to easily onboard on automation process with expert assistance and advanced technology. With ease of access to more 24 plus carrier partners and access to 27000 + pin codes you can level up your eCommerce shipping with no additional cost. Our automation tools increases visibility in Order management.

Master The Art of Packaging with these 4 Simple Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 14:19:00 +0000

What is Packaging?

Packaging is the first introduction of the product to your customers. Product packaging not only ensures safety of your product but it’s a huge opportunity to increase your business sales as well and hold a lasting brand positioning for your customers. Packaging influences the purchase decision of the customers and if you are not focusing enough on that you may miss ample business opportunities and sales.

Product packaging plays a crucial role in Sales growth as well as crafting marketing strategies. Thanks to new opportunities packaging has shifted from mere cover to Being the first step to trigger impulse buying.

How Packaging affects the Customers Purchase Decision?

Packaging to lot extent influences people to buy product - package colour, material, design all affects the customer to pick your product from shelves to buy and take it home. Many eCommerce sellers consider Branded Packaging, which creates a memorable unboxing experience to the buyers.

Some Businesses modify their product packaging to increase sales while other may do it reduce cost, before choosing perfect packaging for your product you should consider following points:

Target Audience

Before choosing the adequate packaging, you should know about your target customers their preferences, expectations and choices. For example: A customer may expect an easy to open soft packaging or a reusable packaging box.

The decision must come with customer expectations as well as relevance to your product.

2. Adequate Branding

Your packaging should reflect your brand as well so that it’s easily recognizable and reflect your brand personality. For example: McDonalds packaging consist of their iconic red and yellow colour branding.

3. Product Relevance

The packaging should be relevant to your product and should reflect the product type. The packaging should allow your product to stand apart in the shelves with tones of other competitors.

4. Eco-Friendly

Sustainable packaging not only helps in saving environment but also affects the potential customers. The environment conscious customers may be willing to spend more on the products that are less toxic to nature. This can be advertised to your advantage

External and Internal Packaging for Shipping

External Packaging:

This packaging is the first thing that a customer sees when he/she receives the product. This includes flyer bags and corrugated boxes. They both come in different shapes and sizes.

Internal Packaging:

Internal packaging is mostly a stuffing between the external packaging and the product. This includes bubble wrap, cardboard boxes, soft balls, etc. These are used to keep the products safe.

Important factors to be considered for eCommerce Sellers:

Weight: The weight of Shipment is considered along with the packaging so the seller must select the packaging that can keep the product safe.

Value of Shipment: The value of product should be kept in mind for the packaging as it is important to keep the products secure.

Product Type: It is also essential to consider the type of the product in order to have a suitable packaging.

Final Word: Each product you sell has to be packaged carefully. Product branding has become highly prominent today, cos of the ever-growing ecommerce industry. Packaging defines your brand identity. Apart from creating an aesthetic appeal that can attract customers, packaging is also an essential tool in increasing the sale of your products. It's important that products arrive neatly wrapped and packed. It has the potential to improve both your customer's experience and your profit margins.

6 Major Challenges of every eCommerce seller during the Covid period

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 May 2021 07:02:00 +0000

The Covid-19 pandemic has put a lot of strain on e-Commerce Enterprises to meet the rising demand with a limited workforce, restricted operations, and rigorous safety procedures.

Keeping up with the Government's ambiguous instructions and alerts, as well as suffering one of the worst pandemic in the history of mankind, has compelled e-Commerce brands to upgrade in specific ways.

Top Challenges faced by eCommerce companies due to COVID:

Limited Movement and Restricted Operations:

Due to the COVID-19 shutdown and curfew in force, one of the biggest hurdles that online marketplaces are facing is access to all delivery points.

Some of the zones and locations may have restrictions, limiting movement in the era of a pandemic and disrupting Logistics operations.

Delivery of essential products and services is possible only outside of containment zones. Many Carrier services have stopped their operations in certain areas which is having adverse effects on eCommerce supply chain.

2. Dearth of Manpower:

Due to the pandemic, e-commerce brands are experiencing several issues due to less availability of manpower and an increase in demand. With the introduction of remote working and work from home, operations have partly resumed, but there has been a major increase in late deliveries as well as increased queries from the customer’s end as a repercussion.

3.Warehousing and Inventory Management:

One of the most significant operations in e-commerce is the managing of inventory and providing proper warehousing facility for the goods till the order is confirmed.

There has been an increase in demand of consumers as a result of the pandemic, leading to drastic surge in the necessity for shipping operations, which further leads to the requirement of manpower and proper storage facilities.

4. Inconvenient Payment Process:

Even the most dedicated retail buyers were forced to move to purchasing things online due to spike in Covid-19 cases and shutting down of retail outlets. Many people in rural and semi-urban areas are not very proficient in online payments, still many e-Commerce marketplaces have ruled out the Cash on Delivery or Pay on Delivery feature to safeguard their consumers as well as delivery agents from being exposed to the virus.

5. Ensuring Safety and security:

There are several precautions that are needed to be followed by eCommerce companies while reaching out to customers especially during delivery of their products, these precautions needs to be taken care of along with certain upgrade in operations leading to increase in time and cost for the business.

6. Enhanced Assortment:

Due to pandemic there is rise in altogether different set of users and catering to their needs is to be urgently taken care of. For example - With the remote working culture springing up, there is subtle increase in demands for home appliances, furniture’s, system upgrades, etc as well as there is high demand for groceries and essentials which needs to be delivered in the shortest possible time.

How eCommerce companies can overcome these challenges?

Ensure safety by properly sanitizing your products before and after packaging. Take all the safety measures required for shipping and delivering your products to the customer.

Encourage and educate your customer to pay online to have minimum physical contact.

Try storing your inventory in shipping fulfilment centres or look for alternatives for storage of your products to cope up with manpower hurdles and ensuring timely deliveries.

Alternatively, e-Commerce sellers can reach out to shipping aggregators like eCourierz in order to gain access to different carrier services, allowing them to expand their outreach even during the pandemic and ensuring delivery across the country.

The merchants need not rely on a single carrier to have their products delivered to the end consumer. With eCourierz, the sellers can avail prepaid and COD option as well as ship Bulk, Volumetric shipments effortlessly. Not just that, but the sellers can also conveniently book international shipments with the leading partners. You can avail a safe doorstep pick up and delivery with eCourierz, ensuring that you don’t have to leave your place for shipping your product during this pandemic. Stay home, Ship with eCourierz.

How to Create CSB-V Shipments?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 May 2021 10:42:00 +0000

Once your business starts growing and you decide to lock your eye into the international market there are number of provisions that are needed to be taken care for shipping successfully. There are many laws that govern the export of goods from India, that you might be unaware of during this phase. Knowing these laws and criteria is essential for anyone starting an international e-Commerce business.

International trade has offered Indian SME's with an incredible opportunity to explore & tap the international market and take their business to a wider range of customers. However, when it comes to foreign trade, the primary issue, most of the sellers face is the Customs Clearance and other paperwork that's required for shipping.

Customs Clearance

One of the biggest concerns that shipper face is of Custom clearance. Clearing the product from customs is a very big hindrance if you do not have enough expertise and knowledge in International shipping.

If you want to take advantage of the global market, you should be aware of the CSB-V of all the other things, which not only facilitates easy customs clearance but also offers tax benefits.

What is CSB-V?

CSB-V stands for Custom Shipping Bill 5. It is an amendment done by Custom Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) to CSB 2. According to new notification issued by CBIC in Aug 2018, commercial shipments which are worth less than INR 5,00,000 can be sent through courier mode with the help of CSB-V shipping bill. Furthermore, shippers will now be able to obtain GST returns, which was previously not possible with CSB 2.

Key Benefits of CSB 5 :-

Quick and effortless custom clearance –

CSB-V ensures uninterrupted, hassle free custom experience for the shippers exporting their goods and electronic data transfer helps in custom clearance in a day or two.

GST Compliance –

Shippers can avail GST returns now by providing your Shipment details to shipping department. CSB V mandates provision of GST details, IEC & HSN code.

Less Paperwork –

CSB-V can be availed by minimum paperwork using Shipping AWB and Invoice; this will eventually result in saving lot of time for shippers.

MEIS Claim –

MEIS stands for Merchandise export from India Scheme, Shipments going under CSB-V can avail this claim if they fall under these eligible categories: -

Shipments of value under INR 5,00,000 and involving transaction under foreign exchange.
If the product falls in any of these 6 categories – Handicraft, Handloom, Books/Periodicals, Leather Footwear, Toys, Customized fashion garments

Mandatory documents to ship CSB shipments –

GST
IEC
HSN code
AD code

How to create CSB 5 Shipments using eCourierz?

If you have not signed up, visit our website and register by clicking on sign up button without any initial set up fee

Recharge your wallet for Rs999 and get extra shipping credit of Rs 201

Compare and check courier services for your desired location to book a CSB V shipment on your eCourierz dashboard

Book your pickup with a preferable courier service by filling up all the necessary details

Our Shipping experts will collect all information of your shipment Data will be transmitted to airport terminal for custom clearance on CSB V mode by eCourierz

Shipment will be picked up from your door by pickup agent of courier service

Shipment will be custom cleared and delivered to destination

Shipping bill details will be shared with you after successful delivery, using which you can avail GST returns

eCourierz allows you to ship to 220+ countries with ease, our shipping experts make sure to assist you in international shipments for better understanding and business opportunities.

Here is a sample DHL label generated as per CSB-V standard.

Final word: eCourierz is one of the best online logistics partners in India providing ecommerce businesses with multi carrier shipping solution to help scale up your business on both domestic and international level. For more information on creating CSB-V shipments please contact our support team.

Your Complete Guide To Choosing The Right Shipping Partner

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 12:15:00 +0000

Gone are the days when shipping used to be a tedious task. Launching your e-commerce business needs a lot of forbearance and planning. The most crucial part is deciding on the best Shipping partner for your logistics. You surely are excited to get set go with the new launch but have inadequate knowledge about shipping carriers and logistics, need not worry cause after reading this you will obtain knowledge that is pivotal to getting started with shipping your orders.

In order to become successful in your new business, your shipping strategies have to be reliable and this further can bestow trust in customers. For creating delightful customer experience, eCourierz acts as a shipping solution for your ecommerce business offering plethora of services at a go. At just one click of a button you can choose from among wide range of carrier choices at best rates and the choice lies with you as to how many carriers you want to go ahead with. There are several factors which have to be kept in mind before choosing a shipping carrier and in this article; you will get a chance to be versed about it.

Now let’s get into the factors that have to be kept in mind while choosing a shipping carrier.

1. PRICING

Customers these days are willing to pay a higher price just for getting their product delivered within a day or two. The most crucial thing here becomes to analyze whether your prospective customers are ready to pay you little higher or not. On the basis of this you can decide carrier options that are into delivering the package faster.

2. TIME OF DELIVERY

What if you want to give your customers best customers experience by adding an option of fast delivery? Your business should be equipped with all the shipping options whether it is delivering in 4 to 5 days or 14 to 15.

Not only that but delivering the package within a required time no matter how many orders come up is again of foremost importance. When a customer wants his package to be delivered fast and gets it, then the brand image is enhanced. Speed is important for online buyers.

3. SHIPPING SOFTWARE USED

Shipping software is useful since they help to simplify your supply chain and provides appropriate tools to analyze your business.

eCourierz help you to do smarter and simplified enterprise shipping. The modern smartly designed app makes it easy to manage ship and track on personalized dashboard thereby saving time from switching apps for tracking.

This optimization can help you to streamline your shipping experience and gain customer loyalty. Starting from sending shipments at best rates to tracking and sending delivery confirmation are all available a decision away.

4. SHIPPING TYPES

You can always choose carriers who not only deliver domestically but also internationally. These days connectivity has also reached to far flung areas across the globe and you never know you might also have potential customers residing at far flung areas. eCourierz provides accessibility to more than 27000 pin codes across nation and provisions to ship 200+ countries internationally.

5. INDEMNITY

All the shipping carriers do not provide insurance protection for almost all the packages. But yes you need to understand the average total of every order placed with the merchant over a specified time period and the extent of your carrier’s insurance coverage. You might have to add extra capital in case your package exceeds the limit covered by your carrier.

6. TRACKING SOLUTION

In order to keep up with the customer expectations providing them with “track your order” option is very important in e-commerce industry. This helps to lessen the number of calls received from customers thereby keeping them updated throughout the journey. To a great extent, this can help build great customer experience thereby making shipping a plain sailing experience.

7. API PLUGINS AND INTEGRATIONS

As the business grows the need for automation also grows with that, your shipping solution must be advanced enough to provide you with API integrations and plugins of all short. With these you can take a step forward in Business Automation and save time.

8. SHIPPING RATE CALCULATOR

Instant checking of rates can be very useful for shippers; eCourierz provides you with the simple rate calculator from which you check the rates of shipments at a go.

You can keep your dilemmas at bay and surf through features of eCourierz for faster and reliable e-commerce shipping.

How eCourierz can be a shipping partner for your ecommerce business?

Choosing a best shipping partner for your ecommerce business is of paramount importance and is a key part of shipping strategy. Choosing one shipping carrier might not be helpful in every situation so choosing multiple carriers as per your business needs can help serve your purpose.

eCourierz is a smart yet simplified shipping solution for SMEs providing advanced and innovative multi- carrier library to shippers and helping them in reducing cost and time by Business automation. Acting as a complete ecommerce delivery solutions eCourierz allows you to grow and upscale your business easily

Want to have your own Shipping Solution for free? Board in with us by simply clicking here

Important and Commonly Used Logistics terms you should know.

noreply@blogger.com (eCourierz.com) — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 08:39:00 +0000

Knowing key logistics terms is extremely important when you start shipping activities for your ecommerce business.

Supply Chain or Logistics is a system where manufactured products are dispatched and delivered to the consumers, the last person in the supply chain, with various modes of transportation. This involves multiple activities from order procuring, processing, storage and fulfillment. To build an efficient business, its eminent that you familiarize yourself with the following terms :

AWB - Air way Bill

Document used for the proper identity of the goods or parcel which is exported or transported through airway mode. It consist of a 11 digit code which helps the consignor and the consignee or the agent can easily track out and check the status of the goods parceled.

MAWB

MAWB is Master airway bill issued by main carrier of goods on receipt of goods from a freight forwarder to deliver at destination as per agreed terms.

HAWB

HAWB means House airway bill issued by a Shipping Carrier or forwarder on receipt of goods from shipper agreeing to deliver goods at destination.

COD

Cash on Delivery is a method of payment which is commonly used in eCommerce industry that helps the customer to make the payment at the time of receiving the goods/ product.

PREPAID

2 Scenarios -

Freight charges with regards to a consignment is paid in advance.

Product value amount is paid in advance to the seller.

PICKUP Manifest

A printed Document that contains all the details of your shipment along with the tracking number to be used to take acknowledgment from the courier person that the pick up is completed for so and so orders. Courier person has to sign the copy adding the date of the pick up on the document. Manifest should be with the shipper and used for future reference.

ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival

The approximate time a truck, train or a shipment is expected to arrive at a location.

Chargeable Weight

The shipment weight used in determining freight charges. The chargeable weight may be the dimensional weight or the gross weight of the shipment, whichever is higher amongst these will be billed and is known as chargeable weight.

POD - Proof Of Delivery

Document to confirm the fact that the consignee has received the shipment sent by the shipper. This document contains delivery date, signature or seal and consignee name and other details.

RTO (Return To Origin) RTS- Return to shipper

Return to Origin or Return to Shipper: It is also called Reverse Logistics. It is the situation where the package is undelivered due to various reasons like non availability of receiver, rejection of package, default in payment etc. and will be ultimately returned to the origin or shipper.

ODA/ OPA- Out of Delivery Area/ Out of Pickup Area / Remote Area Surcharge (RAS)

Area/Pincode which has been marked as serviceable under terms & conditions due to the limited resources available to deliver the parcel at that location. Additional charges will be applicable for arranging delivery / pick up from these locations.

Demurrage

The carrier charges and fees applied when rail freight cars and ships are retained beyond a specified loading or unloading time.

Embargo

A prohibition upon exports or imports, either with specific products or specific countries.

Harmonized Commodity Description & Coding System (Harmonized Code)

An international classification system that assigns identification numbers to specific products. The coding system ensures that all parties in int'l. trade use a consistent classification for the purposes of documentation, statistical control, and duty assessment.

Air Mode & Surface Mode

These are the various modes of transportation in terms of shipment of goods.

If the shipment is carried through Air which helps for faster delivery can be called as Air Mode. And if the shipment is transported by means of Road and Rail mode can be treated as Surface Mode.

Exception

The exception of your shipment appears in tracking if your shipment is undelivered to consignee due to various reasons.

Prohibited List of Items

There are various goods or items which are prohibited or restricted for import or export as per the IATA guidelines. It includes drugs, cash, jewelry, explosives, hazardous goods etc.

Dangerous Goods

Articles or substances capable of posing a significant risk to health, safety, or property, and that ordinarily require special attention when transported.

Packing List

A packing list is a document that includes details about the contents of a package. The packing list is intended to let transport agencies, government authorities, and customers know the contents of the package. These details help each of these parties handle the package accordingly.

Commercial Invoice

The commercial invoice is a legal document between the supplier and the customer that clearly describes the sold goods and the value of the goods. The commercial invoice is one of the main documents used by customs in determining customs duties also.

BANK AD CODE Registration for Commercial Exports

An Authorized Dealer Code (AD Code) is a 14-digit numerical code provided by a bank with which your business has a current account. You will need to register an AD Code at every port from where your goods are cleared by customs. A registered AD Code is essential for customs clearance. If you do not have one, you will not be able to generate your shipping bill number, which is compulsory for customs clearance.

IE CODE & IE CERTIFICATE

Import Export (IE) Code is a registration required for importing or exporting goods and services from India. IE Code is issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India. Its also known as Import Export Certificate.

3PL – Third Party Logistics

Logistics services which are outsourced to a company or a third party agency who take care of shipping activities of a business.

Customs

The official department that administers, inspects the goods and collects the applicable taxes and duties levied by government on exported or imported goods.

Customs Duty

Customs duty is a tax that people pay for importing and exporting goods.

Import & Exports

Imports in an international trade, are foreign goods and services bought by residents of a country. Residents include citizens, businesses, and the government.

Exports are the goods which are shipped or sold outside the country.

Certificates and Declarations commonly used while shipping

FDA - Food and Drug Administration, is a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is separated into divisions that oversee a majority of the organization's obligations involving food, drugs, cosmetics, animal food, dietary supplements, medical devices, biological goods, and blood products.

FSSAI - Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. FSSAI is also responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.

Lithium Battery Declaration - is a declaration required for shipping Lithium Battery.

Quarantine Certificate - The purpose and scope of setting up of Quarantine Certification is to prevent the ingress of dangerous exotic diseases into the country through imported live plants, livestock and products.

Leather and Wildlife Clearance - is required from concerned authority to ship wild life products in a normal scenario since it is a prohibited goods to export.

Fumigation Certificate - sometimes referred to as a pest-control certificate, is a document that serves as confirmation that any wooden packing materials (ie, pallets) used in a cargo shipment have been fumigated. They contain details such as treatment purpose, fumigants used, and temperature range.

MSDS certificate - Material Safety Data Sheet, is a document that contains information on the potential health effects of exposure to chemicals, or other potentially dangerous substances, and on safe working procedures when handling chemical products.

NON DG Certificate - Non Dangerous Goods Certificate is a declaration from the shipper that the concerned package is not consist of any potentially hazardous or dangerous in nature.

eCourierz helps you to achieve operational excellence, improves efficiency & reduces your costs, by providing door-to-door services with discounted rates, free sales channel integrations, bulk orders, multi piece shipments, COD and much more.

The Best Logistics Solution for eCommerce Business and SMEs | eCourierz

noreply@blogger.com (eCourierz.com) — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 12:43:00 +0000

Handling an e-commerce business needs a lot of endurance and persistence. It does not just sound challenging, but is also quite a complex task till the product reaches the end customers intact. If you are newly starting an e-commerce business or want to grow your existing business, you will confront some significant issues starting from finding a right product to finding a right customer to purchase your product. Which also involves finding a right Shipping partner / agency to handle end-to-end logistics of your business.

That's where eCourierz plays an important role for any e-commerce business. It actually provides simplified logistics solution to your shipping problems and also fills any little gap to ensure your customer satisfaction.

But what makes eCourierz so special?

The values we provide are par above from our competitors. We constantly take feedbacks from our customers and instill them in our service to enhance the logistic experience. With our Ecommerce delivery solutions, we simplify things for the sellers and provide them with the opportunity to shift their focus on their business more than operations.

eCourierz is the Best Logistics Solution for eCommerce business and SMEs that help domestic and cross border ecommerce sellers in India. By focusing on innovation, eCourierz has launched advanced, scalable, and automated logistics solutions by allowing the sellers to save time and money and giving them access to a variety of logistics services via our simple yet powerful cloud-based tech engine for your eCommerce business.

Key Features of eCourierz.

Multi Carrier Library - eCourierz provides plenty of carrier choices, where sellers can choose the best carrier option as per their convenience by comparing the prices and delivery options that best suits their product. It not only saves cost and lot of time but also increases the flexibility of shipping with choice.
International Shipping - Taking your business global, gets easier with eCourierz. You can ship to 220+ countries at cheapest rates with numerous international shipping options and Smooth Custom Clearance of ecommerce shipments with CSB-V.
Bulk Order & Multi Piece Shipments - eCourierz facilitate bulk order and multi piece shipments. We provide logistics solutions for SMEs along with dashboards that help in getting real time data of your shipped products and get proper report of your business.
Tracking of your Shipments - Track your items with just a click from anywhere in the world. Sellers can take necessary actions and follow up for their shipped products and ensure there are no barriers for smooth delivery.
Free Registration - eCourierz comes with free registration service so that seller doesn't need to buy any subscription plan and can make use of the tech features offered on our platform for free of cost without paying for any fee to use our portal and ship their product anytime they want.
No-Minimum order - Ship one or one million products as per your choice comfortably with eCourierz, since there is no compulsion on the minimum number of orders you book on our platform. Prepaid or COD, seller can ship to 26000 + pincodes.
Simple API Integration & E-commerce plug-in - Now choose the best API integration channel from various options provided by eCourierz. Integrate eCourierz with various marketplaces like Amazon, magento, shopify, woocommerce platforms and many more.
Efficient Customer Service - We have a dedicated and experienced customer service department that helps the seller in every step of their e-commerce shipping to support / help them to grow by solving their shipping issues.
Amazon FBA & MFN (Merchant Fulfillment Network) - Want to sell your product globally but don't know how? Selling products globally needs lots of permission and need lots of paperwork, but with eCourierz, take advantage of Amazon FBA Shipping Service & MFN (Merchant Fulfillment Network) services where you just need to list your product and store your products at their fulfillment centers and rest will be taken care by them.
EZCOD Service - With EZCOD service, get your COD remittance in 2 working days. Also, get COD reconciliation where you will get an idea of the full report of your COD remittance.

Often we have seen dilemmas in the eyes of ecommerce sellers when they have to choose the best Logistics solution for their business. That’s why we came up with a fair comparison between the two e-Commerce shipping solution provider - eCourierz and Shiprocket.

Rating – Customers are the best critics and they speak for themselves, Sellers feedback matters to us a lot and we try our best to improve with every recommendation.

	eCourierz	Shiprocket
Trust Pilot Rating	⭐⭐⭐⭐ 3.9	⭐⭐⭐ 2.8
Google Play Store App Rating	⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.2	⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0
Smart App Reviews	⭐⭐⭐⭐ 3.8	⭐⭐⭐ 2.5

Plans - eCourierz has a uniform plan and caters to all kind of sellers. Offers services to both small and big enterprises like SMEs, B2B, D2C and B2C businesses as well.

Subscription Fees

eCourierz

Shiprocket

No Subscription Plans

Our platform is Free to use.

Basic - 1000

Advanced – 2000

Pro – 3000

Shipping Cost - Lets understand the compared shipping rates of both platforms zone wise. Have a look at the table -

Within City

Within State

Metro to Metro

Rest of India

North East & J&K

eCourierz

Shiprocket

Charges depend on the subscription plan

Features – eCourierz provides eCommerce sellers with plethora of services, from simplified Dashboard to Fast COD Remittance, here is one to one comparison of our features with Shiprocket.

	eCourierz	Shiprocket
Courier Partners	24+	17+
International Shipping	Yes	Only with Higher Subscription Plans
Handling International Documentation	Yes	Only with Higher Subscription Plans
EzCSB-V Bookings(For International Shipping)	Yes	No
COD Charges	1 %	2 -3%
COD Remittance Cycle	Within 2 Days	Fast
Bulk Order Upload	Yes	Yes
Multi Piece Shipping	Yes	No
Mobile App	Yes	Yes
Sales Channel Integration	Yes	Only with Higher Subscription Plans
Access to API	Yes	Only with Higher Subscription Plans
Shipping Rate Calculator	Real time Rate Calculation	Yes
Setup Assistance	Always	No
Integration with Amazon	Yes	Yes
Customer Support	Yes	Only with Higher Subscription Plans
Pin code serviceability	27000+	27000+
Import Option	Yes	No
Email & SMS notification	Yes	Yes
Bulk / Heavy load Shipping	Yes	No
What’sapp Chat support	Yes	No

Choosing the right kind of Logistics partner for eCommerce marketplace can make a lot of difference to your business and now when you have got the fair comparison take the decision wisely.

At eCourierz we make sure to provide sellers with every opportunity to grow their business by making their shipping activities simplified, for more information visit us at: eCourierz.

Can Courier Service Be Used To Send Luggage?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 29 Feb 2020 09:52:00 +0000

Affordable rates and lesser journey time have made travel way easier. Whether it is official or personal, people keep traveling from cities to cities or countries for a better opportunity, vacation, official trip, higher studies etc. Reasons may be many, but one of the main pain points of traveling to other cities/countries is the luggage. You might be traveling by air, bus or rail, but you can carry only a limited amount of luggage with you.

Let’s assume that you are moving to another city by air for your own reasons and you have a pile of luggage to carry with you & another plane to change. If your baggage weight exceeds the weight limit set by the airlines, then extra fees will be charged by the airlines which might sometime be way higher than the amount which you paid for the air tickets. In order to change another flight, imagine the time spent in waiting for the luggage to arrive.

These hefty fees can be avoided by sending your luggage through a reliable courier service. All you need to do is to pack all your stuff safely with packaging materials and schedule a pickup. The courier service provider will pick up the luggage from your place and safely move it your destination.

Some of the noteworthy advantages of sending luggage through courier are:

No matter what size your luggage is, it can be couriered effortlessly.
Easy online booking and economical rates.
Enjoy your journey as the luggage will be picked and dropped to your doorsteps.
Lesser transit time depending on the destination location.
You don’t have to worry about the luggage getting missed or damaged as you can insure it.
Track your luggage sitting anywhere.
Majority of the destinations worldwide are covered.
Customer support to answer all your queries.
Some courier services offer a free packing facility for your baggage.
Option to choose from the delivery type: Overnight, next day or normal delivery.

Sending luggage through courier can be advantageous while you are traveling to a destination which you are not familiar with, as you don’t have to break your head in shifting your luggage from the airport to your home. Since there is no weight limit on the luggage sent through courier, heavyweight items such as the bicycle, fridge, washing machine, TV, furniture etc., can be easily shipped. The only thing to do while shipping heavy items is to dismantle it to the smallest possible size and pack it intact.

Handling excess baggage is a common stumbling block which all travelers face. Sending luggage through courier is the best alternative for sending luggage and will definitely save you from the long line of baggage checking, the time taken to search for your luggage in the airport along with saving your money. eCourierz can help you in shipping your luggage to any destination in India. Send your luggage through courier to put aside all your worries on the luggage. Enjoy your journey and walk straight to your home from the airport as your luggage will be safely sent to your doorsteps.

How to avoid Failed Deliveries during Festive season? An insight for Ecommerce sellers.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 07:58:00 +0000

Did you know that one of 20 online orders never make it to its determined location? This is an extremely worrying statistic for retailers and for their customers. Failed deliveries are a nightmare for any seller across the globe. Failed delivery is one of the most common problems in the supply chain and last mile delivery operations.

The extent of deliveries at this time of the year will give all retailers a huge pressure to process and deliver every order on time. Clearly communicating about deadlines is an highly important starting point in terms of managing expectation, but it is also crucial that retailers deliver on their promises to make those deliveries prior to the festive.

Failed deliveries may cost a fortune, not just because of increased operational cost but also because its one of the first reasons for disappointed customers who decides to not to go with that company again and can become someone who can damage the brand's reputation badly. There is always an extra cost for every failed delivery attempt and it adds to the total logistic operation. The extra cost consists of multiple expenses of warehousing and others. And if the package is not delivered after multiple attempts, the further cost is incurred in the return process to the provider.

Talking about the statistics - Failed deliveries may cost around $1.2 billion per year.This figure alone indicates the importance for retailers to get their delivery processes right and provides their customers with a seamless delivery experience. During this season, every year, the expectation is so much higher and the consequence is much more impactful in terms of brand loyalty.

Let’s have a look at how the failed deliveries impact on various categories of people.

It’s a costly affair for retailers

65% of retailers have shared that failed or late deliveries are a considerable cost to their ecommerce business. Not just financial costs that make up the consequences of a failed delivery, but also the damage to their reputation that can occur. We all are well aware that negative experiences are widely shared on social media more than good reviews. Brands become easy targets of customers on social media.

It’s a disappointment for end customers.

Buyers need more. They need orders faster. They need it cheaper. All of us have been there. Whether the package is late or doesn’t turn up at all, it’s a huge cause of frustration for buyers and they are most likely to think twice about using your brand again. A survey suggests 62% of consumers have experienced a late or failed delivery. However, what many consumers don’t realise is, this is due to the fact that they enter incorrect address information perhaps because they are in a hurry, not concentrating properly or just make a simple typo error.

Failed Deliveries - five common scenarios:

1. Failed delivery 1^st time that requires re-attempt.

2. Failed delivery 1^st time Solved When Customer Collects package

3. Late Delivery

4. Lost Order with Replacement

5. Undelivered Order

Clear and transparent customer communications are vital to making delivery smarter and reducing the chances of failure. A key factor in failed first delivery is the lack of information about alternative delivery options if the first option proves impossible. But this information is often not passed at the point of order. By collecting this data, the seller can furnish the carrier with better information to help for successful delivery.

A great shopping experience is everything for the digitally empowered customer and the future of delivery relies upon successful customer experiences. Breaking down barriers and providing a frictionless delivery experience plays a vital part of the customer experience.

So how do we avoid Failed Deliveries?

Overpromising is your consumer. – This is the hot and trending way of retaining customers. Huge discounts, Special offers are all well and good, but if you get the delivery wrong, the customer experience is ruined. Your capacity for order fulfillment needs to be well prepared to meet the parcel delivery demands. You need to be more than confident that your delivery management platform, as well as your warehouse operations, partners and carriers are as reliable and efficient as possible. You need to ensure you have the staffing and inventory to support heavy demands. If everything isn’t in place to meet the increase in demand, it can put fulfilment in jeopardy. Shoppers prefer for their orders to arrive when they expect rather than be promised Next Day Delivery only for the package to not materialize.

Many retailers are putting potentially needless pressure on their carrier network by offering the same- or next-day delivery to customers when they don’t necessarily require it. In doing so they artificially raise expectations of what is possible, increasing the chances that those expectations won’t be met. By rationalizing the delivery promise to what is realistic, and communicating this effectively to customers, there is a far greater chance of providing a more satisfactory experience. Set delivery expectations more realistically.

Speed is not everything.– Every year, it seems a lot like everyone is on the race literally to deliver the packages before the delivery date. Rapid delivery is all the more essential for consumers. Not every retailer can match this kind of speed, but it is most important for brands to be clear on this and to deliver on what can be achieved rather than promise a next day delivery that arrives late. Retailers should also aim to create direct and meaningful connections with customers offering consistent and trustworthy post-purchase tracking communications. With high levels of orders in a short space of time, it will be those who are utilizing automation like AI and chatbots to increase efficiency and productivity to cope best with the pressures of Christmas orders and ensure a smooth experience from ordering to delivery.

By establishing the true customer need, rather than assuming that speed trumps all, retailers could reduce the number of options they offer and focus on providing a more reliable, transparent and ultimately better quality of service.

Pick-up options.- Lastly, empowering the consumer by providing them with as many delivery options as possible can make a huge difference to the experience. The convenience of being able to select a new address post-order, or to pick up from a designated collection point can be just as beneficial for the busy holiday shopper, if not more so than a next day delivery that arrives at an empty house. The Click and Collect option of buying online and picking up in-store is gaining popularity and is a great alternative to next day delivery, offering speed and convenience to the customer who can access their goods the day after ordering. It offers peace of mind and a great way to build brand loyalty. Customers will lay the blame at the retailer and not the carrier or the weather or any other factor. On the other hand, if you can deliver on your promise you could gain a trusting and loyal customer base for all year round.

Final Word:

Takeaways for retailers- The two most important takeaways for online sellers this holiday season.

1.Communicate Christmas delivery deadlines and keep customers informed with post-purchase customer communication.

2.Provide flexibility on delivery and pick-up options to provide the most convenience to shoppers.

Retailers that have a solid approach to both will have a significant advantage over their competitors.

Let this and every festive eCommerce deliveries are delivered on the first attempt!!

How Indian E-commerce Sellers Can Go Global?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 08:43:00 +0000

As the digital macrocosm has been evolving in recent years, there has been a huge platform for the businesses in India to reach a large part of the audience. With the development of showcasing online web presence as well as different portals of courier services, it has become easier for the Indian E-commerce sellers to sell their products, all across India. There have been different online courier services whose association with the E-commerce business has revolutionized the entire proceedings of the B2C marketplace.

But there could be an opportunity for the local brands to go global. There are different options and opportunities for Indian E-commerce sellers to make their way to the global e-commerce business market. If you are wondering how to grow your business and gain global recognition, here are some of the ways that you will be able to opt for to reach the global business market.

1) Identify Your International Market.

You don’t need to trade with every single country on earth, there may be good reasons to limit things. Ask yourself whether your product or service will appeal to people in particular countries. If you are selling products of your choice then, investigate the cost, speed, and reliability of shipping services to all countries and regions. Ensure that your profit margin after all taxes and fees is high enough to compensate for changes.

2) Websites For E-commerce Business To Sell Online Internationally.

Online visibility is very important for any business and one of the most cost-effective ways to sell across borders is to use your website, either for eCommerce or as an informational and lead generation site. If you have a business and don’t have a website, you are presumably losing many great opportunities for your business as a website is considered as the foundation of your business. Consumers prefer to research product information before they make a purchase online or in the store as the website gives the buyer a clear idea of what your brand is about and what types of products or services you offer and it will help them make smarter purchasing decisions. As the backbone of your online presence, every type of communication, piece of content, or advertisement that you put online will drive the shopper back to your website. Your website should work globally and conduct shipping worldwide.

3) Online Platform To Sell Globally.

Everyone wants to try their hands in International Market but selling globally is not everyone’s cup of tea. To sell internationally, you have to understand the international market for which you need to conduct market research like which is the best selling product, what is market demand, what is the product review, how well can you sell it globally, etc. And it’s going to be a tough nut to crack. In the era of the eCommerce industry, everything seems to be possible. Anyone can sell their product worldwide easily online only with the help of a website. We all are familiar with eCommerce websites or platforms like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart, Shopclues, etc who have their very own brand and market recognition globally. Getting in association with such platforms will prove to be a beneficial aspect of making your brand flourish. These websites have got a place in the international marketplace where you will be able to fetch the right demand for your product as well as can reach your international customers easily. Here, Your business website will play a major role. You can link to these e-commerce giants using your website.

4) Choosing The Smarter E-commerce Shipping Company.

To build customer foundation, you first need to satisfy the customer’s need. When it comes to eCommerce business, major customer requirement is on-time product delivery. Hence, If you are making your way to the international market, you need to not only keep the best products to sell but also deliver in the most convenient way possible to the customers outside the country. How will you be able to do that? Companies or International shipping providers like eCourierz have marked their presence in channeling to the global market with the impeccable shipment and cross-border delivery services. You are entitled to receive the one-stop solution to all your International shipment and eCommerce delivery needs. eCourierz has associated with top-notch courier brands like FedEx, Aramex, Ecom Express, DHL, BlueDart and more international logistics providers to present you with the best solution. You will get the smart shipping platform where you are presented with flexible carrier options to choose your convenient shipping partner, get access to the free demo, gain easy to use dashboard. where you can proceed with the delivery of the products to the international customers, on-time and without any hassle. Not only this, you will be able to find a way to streamline your operations as well as find ways to expand your business to a global level.

5) Warehouses To Store Your Product In International Market (Amazon FBA or MFN).

It becomes a tough job when you are selling your product in the international market. Selling online internationally becomes a complex structure when you are to send your product from India to other countries. You have to go through loads of official processes and proceedings before reaching it to the doorstep of the international customer. This includes shipping from one country to the other, custom duty, levied taxes and so much more. Rather than getting into such a complex structure, there is a simplified way of international shipping without any hassle. And that is, associating with the right partner or companies for warehouses to store your product. Having a warehouse in a different country will free you from the hassle of the process that you have to go through while shipping from India. There are options like Amazon FBA or MFN(Merchant Fulfillment Network) where you will find the apt solution and the best overseas warehouse to store your products, can save your time and money, ensure fast product delivery, and greater customer satisfaction. It also helps reduce errors and damage in the order fulfillment process. Plus, it prevents your goods from getting lost or stolen during handling. With eCourierz, you will be able to communicate with the expert professionals involved in Amazon FBA & Merchant Fulfilment Network (MFN) shipments. This will further widen the horizon to getting involved in the global e-commerce business market.

6) Offer Multiple Payment Options.

It is not just presenting your business to the international market but also acquiring the attention of the targeted audience to order good/products from you. This could only be done by presenting them with multiple options when it comes to the payment of the product.

People should not be restricted to a single choice when it comes to payment. The moment you give them the various options for payment, it becomes easier for them to order the product from you. How would you be able to do that? It is just that you have to implement the feature of multiple payment options. This could include payment through debit card, credit cards, cash on delivery as well as through online payment portals.

Final Words -

If you are willing to find global growth through your e-commerce business, finding the right way to expand your business in the international market is highly necessary. Companies like eCourierz present you with enhanced features and options for international shipping and global growth and recognition of your e-commerce business.

How To Approach Your Service Provider For Any Queries?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 09:48:00 +0000

As a customer you may have issues related to the delivery of your package, shipment pickup, documentation or tracking the shipment and so much more. Or As a Non-customer, you may have issues on understanding the business or seeking the details of the company. Rather than just not doing anything or taking wrong steps to reach your service provider, you need to get in touch with the concerned shipping partner to garner the solution to your queries.

Do’s :

1) Use the website of the company to associate with the service provider.

With the advent of the digital world, you will be able to acquire most of the business presence over the online platform. So if you want to associate with the shipping service provider, delve in to hunt for their official site over the internet. Go through their website and seek the details of their proceedings and functioning. Every company has their very own website which consists of email address, FAQs, chat options as well as calling numbers. You can acquire the details of the same through their website. If you are having any query related to your package or parcel or product, you can directly initiate communication with the professionals via their official email id. Most of the service providers have their toll-free number. You can easily fetch the contact to speak with the professionals and get the solution to your questions. There is always the option for chatting with the customer care executive on the website as well. Hence, You may discuss your queries with your service provider on chat. If you are having any personal queries related to the return of the package or any frequently asked questions, there are companies who do have the answers to the FAQs. You can easily go through the same before contacting the professionals, if in case you are having the common queries.

2) Use the phone number or email address provided to you to contact your service provider.

Every shipping company provides its customer a communication channel to communicate for any service-related issue. So, If you are a customer you must be provided with the communication channel like email address and phone number to reach out to your service provider. Nowadays the maximum company gives a direct phone number to their customers to reach them in case of any queries. So, make the best use of this when you want to associate with them.

3) Give priority to email over the phone while contacting your shipping service provider.

Majority of companies are removing the phone number from their website. The explanation for this is organization gets loads of undesirable call when they give open access to a telephone number. Hence, if you don’t find your service provider number on the website or if they have not provided you any contact number to connect with them, at that point you should try to drop an email first. First priority will be email. Email is considered as a professional communication channel, which has transparency of information and also considered as a sort of proof(for example: proof that you have paid for service or product). As a customer, you don't need to stress much on contact number part because companies do provide phone numbers to their customers but, try to contact via phone just when you have not received any response on email quickly or when you are looking for prompt assistance from the service provider.

4) Suitable time to reach your service provider.

As we know, Some company works 24/7, while different works between explicit hours. Accordingly, Every company has updated its business information along with the working hours on their website. So, make sure you are reaching out to your service provider within the working hours of the company. If in case, you are raising any queries post working hours or on holidays, then please don’t expect any reply promptly from your service provider.

Sometimes a customer wants a solution to their problem in midnight and they will try to call or drop an email and expects a reply from the service provider immediately. If they don’t get a reply immediately, the customer will start writing a negative review, start complaining, abusing the company. In short, they will try all the hack to ruin the company name.

Don’ts :

Do not use social media to discuss your queries.

Social media is not a platform to discuss your queries when you are already a customer. When you are visiting any business website for the first time and you are not ready to comprehend the business completely then you may write your inquiries on social networking sites. Also, you should visit companies social media pages to accumulate more information on product/services, to view the feedback given by people. You can also follow that particular company to know updates about business, newly launch services, offers, etc.

Final Saying: Regardless of the type of queries you have, every service provider has its help desk available for its consumers or website visitors. All you have to do is get in touch with the right professionals or write a proper email stating the problem to garner the solution to your problems or queries without any hassle.

Mistakes Receiver Do While Receiving A Parcel

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 05:45:00 +0000

There are certain common mistakes which every person (who is entitled to receive the parcel) do. Being the receiver, you have to ensure that you are following a certain common procedure to receive the parcel that is entitled to you and if not, avoid committing the mistake which could cost you much more than you have imagined it to be.

Here are some of the mistakes receiver do when parcel arrives to their doorstep -

1. Not checking the information on package / Keeping the wrong parcel

This happens quite a number of times. There are chances of misdelivery if you don’t check the information on package properly before signing the POD. There is no harm in reviewing the name and address that you have incorporated for the delivery of the parcel. There are at times when you might end up receiving the wrong item that you didn't order for. Also, it is illegal to keep someone else's courier. Not only you are committing the biggest mistake but also creating a problem for the person who is supposed to receive the parcel, the sender as well as the courier company.

Review the name and address mentioned on the parcel before receiving it. If you keep the wrong parcel, it is your responsibility to get in touch with the courier company to return the parcel or request to return to sender. While returning to the sender, mention on the envelope of the parcel in bold, "Return to sender" followed by "wrong address". This will further help all the other people in the chain to recognize the issue and deliver it back to the sender.

2. Accepting damaged product

One of the most common and biggest mistakes receivers do is, while receiving the parcel they do not review through the packaging or the item inside the package. There are at times when you might end up with the damaged product or receive the unsealed item that you didn't order for. If you do not check the condition of the parcel and when you try to contact the shipping partner or the courier service without mentioning them the issues beforehand, they might not tend to collect it back.

3. Not signing Proof Of Delivery

The proof of delivery is what recipient sign when receiving a parcel in good condition. It can be a paper or in electronic form. A lot of people sign the pod before inspecting the package and many just ignore the importance of the POD. This is a huge mistake. By signing it, the recipient confirms that the delivery has been completed successfully, without any problem. The pod usually contains the time and date of delivery, the name of the recipient and his/her signature.

4. Receiver refused delivery

People while placing the order, they choose COD as a payment option and later they decide to cancel the order but few e-commerce sites don’t give an option to cancel the order once the order is dispatched. In that case, the receiver refuses to receive the parcel which is the biggest mistake. Doing so, you are wasting resources of the courier company for no reason. In case, if you have changed your mind about the product which you have ordered, just wait for delivery, receive the parcel, then place a return request on e-commerce site.

5. Absence of receiver when the delivery is scheduled

There are at times, where due to your absence, a delivery person fails to deliver your parcel. In that case, they will conduct a second attempt, post getting in touch with you. Also, the maximum delivery attempt made by the shipping service provider is 3. If during that time, you are not physically present, there are higher chances of your parcel to be sent back or courier company may refuse delivery. In that case,you will have to visit the courier office to get your parcel before they initiate the parcel for Return.

Losing money or visiting the courier office is not only a time-consuming process but also quite an expensive procedure to get your parcel. To avoid such issues, it is always better to garner the information regarding the parcel delivery or opt someone trustworthy to receive the parcel on your behalf.

Bottom Line: Before committing the biggest mistakes, it is always better to be a little careful to avoid any hassle or stress while acknowledging the parcel. Always check your parcel, the name, and address before accepting it. Don’t forget to sign the proof of delivery, Please be available at your place when your delivery is scheduled.

Difference Between The Incoterms: DDP Vs DDU

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 11:24:00 +0000

The way domestic shipping works is completely different from that of International shipping, as it involves a lot more complicated steps to carry out while shipping.

If you are either importing or exporting goods to another country, then you will have to adhere to certain set of rules and regulation that are imposed on the goods moving across the borders by the international chamber of commerce called as international commercial terms or Incoterms.

One such most commonly used Incoterms is DDP (Delivery Duty Paid) and DDU (Delivery Duty Unpaid). DDP and DDU can be either advantageous or disadvantageous to you. Hence, you need to understand how both the Incoterms work and then choose the best that suits your company.

Below are few of the instances which gives you a clear idea on which Incoterm to choose while doing international shipping:

DDP is the acronym of delivery duty paid. According to this, the seller is obliged to make the delivery of the product till the customer’s destination. Here the seller takes the risk and the amount corresponding to the shipping and the customs duties. Where as in DDU (Delivery Duty unpaid) the customer takes the risk of customs clearance, transportation and the shipping charges.

In DDP mode, the customer is at a lower risk compared to the seller as the liability of the entire shipment along with the custom clearance is under the seller and not the customer. On the contrary, in DDU mode, the risk level of customer is high compared to that of the seller.

Since the customer is unaware of the customs duties and taxes which would be charged on the shipment, the chances of the consignee rejecting the package are high, if the custom duties imposed on the package are higher than the cost of the package. This situation that does not intend to happen in DDP case.

If you are an Amazon.com seller and are using fulfillment services by Amazon, then you will have to send your products to the FBA only through DDP mode. This is because Amazon.com does not entertain paying duty and taxes, hence the shipment will be returned to you, if sent through DDU mode.

Few of the sellers add the custom duties along with the shipping charges in DDP mode. Where as DDU can be advantageous to those consignees who are well aware of the customs clearances, as this can avoid paying high shipping charges.

If the package is being shipped through DDU mode and if the consignee makes a delay in paying the customs duties and taxes, then an extra storage fine will be imposed along with the duties and taxes.

DDP mode avoids the parcel rejection by the customers when the shipment is in the customs for clearance, as this can incur double duty charges and shipping cost to the shipper, if the shipper has to bring the shipment back to the origin.

These are the outline of the pros and cons of the DDP and DDU mode of shipping. On the basis of this insight, you can decide upon how does it work for you and choose the best option which suits your business. It is advised to have the shipping terms mentioned clearly on the website or product page or any other sales touch points, so that the consignee is clear on the payment which he would be doing.

How to deal with ODA/OPA locations?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 06:33:00 +0000

The logistics industry has seen tremendous growth for over a decade. It could be the adoption of technology to make the transportation better or the quality service which has increased the productivity of the supply chain. The advancement of the logistics industry has turned into a boon for the e-commerce businesses which wholly depend on logistic companies to deliver their products and services to the customers.

Even though the logistics industry has heeded a drastic improvement in its services, yet it has a lot of loopholes in the system. The dominant ones being the Out Of Pickup and Delivery Area. So let’s understand more on this in detail:

Remote Area for Pick up - Also known as Out of pickup area. Here, the courier service provider doesn’t render the convenience of door pick up of the parcel to its customer. Therefore the shipper has to drop off the parcel to the nearest courier office in order to further connect the parcel and get it delivered.

Remote Area for Delivery – Also known as Out of delivery area. Here, the courier company does not render the convenience of parcel delivery service to certain Pincodes. In such cases, most of the courier companies arrange for a third party agent who can deliver the product to your doorstep. Thus, an additional shipping cost will be charged apart from the regular shipping fees for ODA locations. Occasionally, a few of the courier companies do not provide services to ODA locations through a third party agent. In such cases, the parcel will not be dispatched to the doorstep of the consignee. However, the consignee has to collect the parcel on their own from the nearest courier office.

A Pincode is considered as an ODA/OPA location if it coincides with any of the below criteria:

1. If the Pincode you want to ship the parcel is a remote area.

2. If the location is challenging to reach and the courier company has to put extra effort to make the delivery.

3. If there is not much shipping volume in that area.

4. There might not be any hub or warehouse in the location due to lesser shipping activity.

Due to the above reasons, even if your package is shipped through a 3rd party agent, there could be a lag in the delivery of the product. Hence, sending a parcel to ODA Pincode not only involves higher shipping cost, but also involves longer transit time. The term ODA and OPA may vary with courier companies you opt, but the meaning of the term remains the same.

A situation may arise, especially if you're situated in an OPA location, where you have to drop off the parcel at the courier office. Hence, it is important to understand what exactly is a parcel drop off?

We sometimes may want to ship a parcel to a destination, but would not be available to surrender the parcel to the pickup person when they arrive for the pickup due to busy schedule or any other reasons. As the pickup of the parcel can be attempted at any point between the specified time span of the courier company, you may not be available when the pickup person comes to your doorstep.

In such cases, you can drop off the parcel at the nearest courier office instead of waiting for the entire day. If you are situated in a location where the courier company does not provide their service, then you may have no other option other than dropping off your parcel to the courier office.

All you need to do is to properly pack the parcel and affix the shipping label which was generated while booking the courier online onto the parcel. Once your parcel is ready, go to your nearest courier drop off location and hand over the package along with the shipping documents.

Dropping off the courier has its own pros and cons and some of them are:

1. You need not have to wait for the pickup person to collect your parcel.

2. Drop off the parcel whenever it is convenient for you, as the office will be open for a flexible timing depending on the courier company you choose.

3. Only a few courier companies provide drop off option.

4. Drop off is not as simple as door pickup as you need to stand in the queue and wait until an employee attends you if you drop off the parcel.

5. You must wrap the parcel properly with packaging material and stick the shipping label onto it else the parcel will be rejected and you will have to repack the parcel.

In order to avoid the additional shipping charges and heavy fees of delivery for ODA locations, it is advisable to check with your courier partner on the ODA/OPA list so that you are aware of the shipping fee which you will be paying.

A How-To Guide for Sourcing Goods on Alibaba

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 08:00:00 +0000

It is imperative to have a strong USP for any business, especially if it falls into a domain where there is a lot of competition. Since there are tons and tons of companies selling the same products as you are at a competitive price, you must either compromise on profit margin or should sell products which are new in the market in order to survive in the competition. Fortunately, there is a way where you can introduce new products to the market and also sell it with greater margin. This can be done through importing goods from countries like China through portals like Alibaba.

Alibaba is a great B2B market place which bridges the gap between the supplier/wholesaler with the entrepreneurs. Here you can find many suppliers of different parts of the world, with the highest being the Chinese suppliers. This is a perfect place for those who want to buy bulk products of premium quality at a cheaper rate.

Even with the world’s largest supplier directory, Alibaba is not completely free from the scammers. There are some cons of using Alibaba as well, the major being the fraud suppliers and middlemen. These suppliers may get the payment from you and deliver a low-quality product or sometimes not deliver at all. Which makes it necessary for any businessman to choose reliable suppliers who can sell you high-quality products else you may lose all your money.

Step by step procedure to source the products from Alibaba:

Using the Alibaba website is as easy as any other e-commerce site. It has straight forward feature’s on the website, most of which are self-explanatory. Category option lets you select from different categories of the products. Sourcing Solution option allows you to search for suppliers who are top rated, by their region and also to request for quotation and instant quotes. Service & membership option gives more information on the Trade and Membership Services.

Step 1: Create An Account

Before using the website to book order, you need to first create an account. You can create a free account by signing up on the website by providing appropriate details.

Step 2: Sourcing the Product

Alibaba allows its customer to search based on the products and suppliers. Once you have created an account, you can start searching for the products by entering the product name in the search bar. Let’s say you want to search for Pendrive. You can mention the keyword Pendrive in the search box and click on search.

Step 3: Filtering the Suppliers

Once the search results for the Pendrive is displayed, you can further filter the result by entering the Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) and selecting the supplier type.

You can find three types of supplier:

1. Trade Assurance: It is a free service that is offered by Alibaba where the buyer’s orders are protected and it reduces the risk by providing money back if the supplier is unsuccessful in meeting the order contract along with shipping delays, low quality product delivery etc..

2. Verified Supplier: These are the high level suppliers on Alibaba who have enrolled to premium membership. These suppliers will be given with the video and images of the factory, report of the inspection of the factory etc... All these assessment documents are given to the supplier by an eminent third party.

3. Gold Supplier: These are the suppliers with premium membership of Alibaba, who are eligible to promote their products for greater exposure of their products.

Step 4: Checking the Details on the Product Page

Once you filter your search, select the product listed by the supplier who is verified. In the product details page, you need to check on the different aspects which give you some idea on the supplier and the quality of the product.

1. Firstly, check the unit price for the product. In this example, the unit price of the Pendrive ranges between $1-10 per piece. This implies that the price of the Pendrive is between this price range, which may vary depending on the number of pieces which you will be ordering.

2. MOQ: It is the minimum number of orders which the buyer can place in order to purchase the product. Here, in this example the MOQ is 50 pieces.

3. Go through all the images displayed by the supplier and read the description of the product to have a clear idea on what the product looks like.

4. FOB Reference Price: FOB is the acronym of Free On Board where the supplier’s responsibility ends when the product is got into the port. Rest all the liabilities i.e shipping fee, customs duties and taxes etc.. Will be looked after by the buyer.

5. Check which all payment options does the supplier support. The terms of risk vary with the payment method, where Bank transfer and Western Union have a high risk level, whereas PayPal, Letter of Credit and Escrow have fairly low risk level. Though PayPal is not so familiar among the Chinese suppliers, it is the safest way of money transfer as it provides buyer protection. Letter of credit involves a lot of paperwork and has limitations on the minimum amount value of transactions. In Escrow payment option, your payment will be held in the Escrow and only when you confirm the delivery of the product and its quality, the money will be transferred to the supplier. Ensure that you choose the correct payment options for your business so that you don’t end up making a loss.

6. Get to know the history of sales of the supplier by checking the year of establishment, the number of sales on Alibaba and transaction level.

7. Verify the reviews given by the other buyers and the comments which they have given about the product and the supplier. These are the genuine comments given by the customers who have used their services and products, hence you can rely upon on it before taking any decision. Also, check the response rate of the supplier as it gives you an idea of how interactive is the supplier.

8. It is necessary to understand more on the Product details, Company profile and the Transaction history of the company for better understanding of the supplier. This can be got by scrolling down the product details page where you get detailed information on each of these. You may also refer the FAQ, which may solve a few of the questions in your mind.

Step 5: Contacting the Supplier
Alibaba consist of many suppliers who can provide you with cheaper quotes. Hence, you can use these techniques to shortlist a few of the suppliers and once you have a list of suppliers who qualify your requirements its time to contact them.

You can contact the supplier in three ways:

1. Contact through email

2. Chat with the supplier

3. Call the supplier-Click on the company name and you will be redirected to the company page where you get the contact details.

It is imperative to ask the supplier a few of the questions while requesting the quote as this will be helpful and gives you the confidence to place the order with the supplier. Some of the most important points to be covered are as below:

1.Even though the minimum order quantity of the product which the supplier is providing is mentioned on the product detail page, still take an initiative to ask for whatever MOQ you are expecting, so that later you don’t repent for it.

2.It is always better to get the samples and check the quality of the product before placing the order. So, feel free to ask for the samples of the product. Few of the suppliers give it at discounted prices and a few don’t and some give it free of cost. Hence get to know more about it while you contact the supplier.

3.As we have seen in the product pricing page, the price of the product is in the range and does not give you clarity on the exact value. Hence ask for the exact value of the product which the supplier will be providing you.

4.Lastly, check out the exact time required to fulfill the order and the terms of payment.

Once you get the quote from different suppliers, analyze and choose the quote which suits your business and try to negotiate price and go ahead to order the product. You need to ensure that you maintain utmost precautions while selecting the supplier as:

1.There are few fake sellers in Alibaba who sell the products at a cheaper rate and demand money prior to the delivery of the products. If you find any such activities, then skip such suppliers as there are a number of other suppliers in Alibaba who can provide better rates and quality products.

2. Even though there are a good number of photos on the product page, still it's better to ask the supplier for a few photos of the factory and other details regarding the business which you might feel is important.

Sourcing from Alibaba might look riskier, but with proper guidance and understanding the knack of doing it, one can easily source the products. This helps you to establish a stronger business, as you can resell the products in your local market and generate good revenue & greater profit margin.

Amazon FBA Vs MFN: Which is better for my business?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 06:14:00 +0000

It's always safe to have an extra hand to reduce the burden of product fulfillment procedure, but at what cost? Is something to be worried about. If you are an Amazon seller, you would have faced a situation where you had to choose between Amazon FBA and MFN Shipping. As a seller, you have to take the right decision for your company as this directly influences your company’s revenue generation. For those sellers who are new and listening to these words for the first time, here is a brief explanation on what exactly Amazon FBA and MFN is.

Amazon FBA( Fulfillment by Amazon): If you are an Amazon seller and if you have opted to use Amazon FBA services, then Amazon will look after the entire process of product delivery on behalf of you i.e. once the customer books an order, Amazon picks the parcel, packs it and ships it to the customers and also handle returns & customer support. On the flipside, in MFN (Merchant Fulfillment Network): the entire process of fulfillment i.e from packing till delivery of the package is maintained by the seller.

Now that you have the insight of the two different fulfillment services, it is time to analyze which of the two suits your business. Below are a few of the details which will help you to take the right decision for your business.

1. Enrolling to Amazon FBA will by default make you the prime seller and thus you will be eligible for providing your services to prime customers as well. Since most of the customers who purchase products from Amazon prefer buying from Prime sellers(as the sellers are verified by the Amazon and provide standard services of Amazon and provide quicker delivery of the product) than the MFN sellers who provide their own services, it is better to opt for Amazon FBA if you are focused on generating more revenue.

2. If you are a small startup and want to cut down the expenses, then you can go for MFN. Since in MFN you will be handling the entire process of fulfillment i.e, from packaging till delivery of the product, you can reduce the price on packing by choosing medium quality packaging material, opting reasonable shipping mode of transportation, reducing the extra seller fees, additional warehouse charges etc.. On the flipside, if you are opting Amazon FBA, then the entire process is done by Amazon with significant fees which can be a little expensive for the startups.

3. If your business is a well established one and has been successful in attaining transcendence revenue in the Amazon, has a hand full of customers and can survive even if have to sell products at a lesser margin, then Amazon FBA is suitable for such business. Whereas if you are not so developed company and have a lesser count of customers, then MFN is apt for your businesses.

4. Statistics say that the number of purchases made by a prime customer is more than that of the other Amazon customers, hence if you enroll for Amazon FBA you will be eligible for higher product listing thus increasing the probability of prime customers buying your products.

5. Few companies irrespective of their size want to grow their brand name among the customers. For such aspirant companies, MFN is the best as you can customize the packaging with your company logo and name and giving a personal touch by contacting the customers and solving their queries from the in-house customer support team. But this is not possible in Amazon FBA as all the packages go out for delivery only with Amazon’s customized packaging thus leaving least trail about your company in the minds of the customers.

6. If you enroll to fulfillment by Amazon then the possibility of your products being eligible for space on buy box is high. For those who are unaware of the Buy Box, it is the bar on the right corner of the product details page where the customers can add the product to the cart, which has the highest probability of sales on Amazon. But this is not applicable to sellers who are not a part of FBA.

7. If the products which you have stored in the Amazon warehouse is sluggish, then you will have to pay extra fees depending on the duration of the storage. Longer the duration, higher will be the fees, hence it is feasible to use Amazon FBA only if the products which you sell has high demand else you will lose more money than you make. Whereas in MFN the seller has the entire control over the inventory.

8. If you have a lot of customers and if you are doing the entire process of fulfillment all by yourself, then it’s worth going for Amazon FBA as you can invest the same time in acquiring new customers and finding new strategies to improve your sales.

9. If you have good connections of logistics companies and have very good knowledge of the customs clearance and the procedures involved in the international shipping then you can save money on shipping by choosing MFN. The only hindrance here is that you must be able to handle situations on your own when your parcel gets stuck in the customs or any other hurdle in the delivery of the product.

10. Even if you are a small company, you can provide world-class service to your customers through Amazon's exceptional delivery services and customer support. Whereas in MFN you will have to provide your own services which might not be up to the mark due to inexperience.

As a seller, you need to make a wise decision while choosing between Amazon FBA & MFN. Both the fulfillment services come with its own set of pros and cons which makes it necessary for the sellers to take the right decision. But at the end of the day, whichever fulfillment services you choose must bring good profit margin and elevate your business.