Automation has become part of our daily lives – probably in more ways than you think. From thermostat-controlled boilers to robot vacuum cleaners, automation is used to complete simple or repetitive tasks.
In the shipping industry, automating tasks can be beneficial to streamline the delivery process because you can fulfil orders faster. As your business grows, automating simple tasks gives you time to focus on more critical responsibilities. It can also improve the accuracy and consistency of your deliveries.
Thankfully, at Interparcel, we’ve created several parcel delivery automations to make sending a parcel easier. Below are our top recommendations:
1. Branded Tracking
Customers want a transparent and consistent buying journey after the sale. One way to do this is by providing an easy way for buyers to track a package. The Interparcel Branded Tracking portal saves you the hassle of responding to individual customer delivery queries, giving your customers the ability to keep tabs on their parcel journey.
With a Branded Tracking portal, you create a unique URL and customise the page with your logo, brand colours and theme. There’s even a space for you to upload a promotional banner which can be used to advertise exclusive voucher codes and encourage repeat purchases. The portal is free and quick to set up - we only ask you that you send at least 5 shipments a month to keep it active.
When placing an order through our website, you can also opt your customer in to receive email or SMS delivery updates. These updates will automatically trigger at different stages of the delivery process.
2. Live Shipping Rates
If you sell on Shopify or WooCommerce, you can enable live quoting to provide your shoppers with up-to-date courier delivery costs at checkout. Displaying real-time delivery rates means the shopper can see exactly what they’re paying for shipping. It means you don’t have to worry about manually updating your costs.
3. Print Manager
Want to save time printing your shipping labels immediately after booking a delivery? Downloading the free Interparcel Print Manager enables direct label and invoice printing from your account. So, instead of manually downloading PDFs and printing each one individually, you can print in the click of a button!
4. Rule Manager
Rule Manager is one of the best ways of automating repetitive shipping tasks. For example, if you deliver parcels under 5kg with the same courier provider or always add enhanced transit cover to packages worth over £100, you can create a shipping rule.
You can create a rule in three easy steps:
1. Navigate to Rule Manager via Shipping Tools
2. Click the ‘Add a New Rule’ button and name the rule
3. Select your rule ‘Conditions’ and ‘Actions’ and save!
5. Shipping Manager
Do you want to manage all your eCommerce integration orders, CSV orders, and manual orders in one place?
The Interparcel Shipping Manager improves efficiency by letting you manage all your orders in one single-view platform. You can easily integrate with multiple eCommerce platforms following our step-by-step instructions. Once connected, you can fetch orders from numerous platforms and fulfil all your deliveries. The Shipping Manager also flags any missing information and validates addresses.
6. Parcel Presets
If your shipments regularly use the same-sized parcel boxes, you can add a parcel present to your Interparcel account. You can include a name, weight, dimensions, value and contents. When you next create a shipment in Shipping Manager, choose from your list of parcel pre-sets to auto-fill parcel information, speeding up the booking process.
As you can see, there are many ways to automate specific tasks in your shipping process to save time. If you want to scale your business effectively, equip your business with our shipping tools to save time on administrative tasks.
All these tools help you spend less time on shipping, and the best part – they are all free to use. Get started by creating a (you guessed it!) free Interparcel account.
For help or advise, please contact our customer service team via telephone, email or live chat.
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