Parcel Technology Management: Never Lose a Package Again

It is no secret that Christmas can be extremely hectic for courier companies. More and more consumers are swapping shopping on the high street for shopping online (who can blame them?), which means that forwarders certainly have their work cut out for them over the festive period. There are now more courier jobs than ever before during this time of the year, which can make it difficult to manage logistics and get a clear overview of operations.

Not only is there a sharp increase in courier jobs, but the demands of the consumer have also evolved in recent times due to advances in technology. In today’s day and age, the consumer now expects to be able to track their parcels at each stage of the delivery to ensure that it arrives on time, it does not get lost and so that they can guarantee that they will be at home to receive the package. Therefore, parcel management has become particularly important. especially over the busy Christmas period.

Lost Parcels

In 2015, a study revealed that over £250 million worth of deliveries were estimated to have been lost in the UK that year. This is an enormous fear for both the consumer and the forwarding company. A package which goes missing will most likely result in negative feedback from the customer, which can be extremely damaging on a gigantic platform like social media. Modern day consumers rely very heavily on the feedback of other customers, so just one lost parcel is likely to result in a damaged reputation and loss of business.

Additionally, you must take the time out of your operation to fix the problem of a missing package to appease the customer. Even by doing this, it is unlikely that they will use your services again if they have lost faith in your abilities. So, what can businesses do to avoid losing parcels in the first place?

Parcel Management Technology

To meet customer demands and get a clearer overview of the entire operation, parcel management technology must be implemented. This technology enables packages to be tracked by barcode (by the consumer and courier company) at each stage of the delivery. This tracking starts the moment it is picked up from the retailer, through to arrival at the designated address.

Not only does this offer a far more customer-centric approach, but it also enables forwarders to pinpoint exactly where a problem arose if a parcel does go missing. This is made possible by using a dashboard which shows all of the depots across the field. They can then contact the depot in question and fix the issue.

These technological advances have transformed the industry and there is no excuse for a lost package. By introducing parcel management technology, it gives the customer peace of mind and the luxury to track their delivery at each step. For the forwarding company, it improves internal operations and makes courier jobs easier through being able to immediately identify (and solve) issues. Consequently, it is a win-win situation and the technology is particularly useful for the increasingly hectic festive period.