“Great product, excellent website, shame about the delivery,” is an all too common complaint from online customers.
Now a specialist software company has relaunched its cutting edge delivery management system which means poor delivery need never happen again.
Intelligent Shipper has been developed by London-based Intersoft and manages the delivery process smoothly and efficiently, from in-store or online purchase through shipment to customer delivery.
The launch comes as online retailers recorded a jump in business at the start of the year. As would-be shoppers shunned the chilly high street for the comfort of buying from home online retail sales rose 16 per cent year on year according to industry figures.
The figures come from e-retail sales index published by industry group IMRG and consultants Capgemini. There was also rapid growth in shopping via smartphones, up 243 per cent year on year.
Intersoft Managing Director, James Macrae believes Intelligent Shipper is the most flexible and adaptable system on the market. It takes the order, processes the shipment information, allocates a carrier, prints the label and manages the data for the shipment. It also tells the consignee how the shipment process is going and when the order will arrive.
One of the company’s flagship clients is Harrods and Intelligent Shipper manages the orders from the store’s tills and online through to the delivery.
“There are huge expectations about the quality of delivery service these days,” said Macrae, who was European general manager for DHL before establishing Intersoft 20 years ago.
He says these days, flexibility and quality of information that are paramount, not just speed.
“In fact, information can often be more important than price, speed and delivery. The delivery is increasingly inextricably linked to the brand. If something doesn’t arrive or arrives late the customer will blame the brand, not the carrier.
“That’s why having the most efficient and effective delivery management system is critical.”
“Online shopping is so ingrained in the culture now,” said Macrae. “The expectations of customers are higher than ever. Our software goes a long way in helping to meet those expectations.
“For some sellers, it is the range and adaptability of delivery options they offer their customers which accurately reflect their brand values.”
Macrae believes the UK B2C market is probably the most sophisticated in the world but says Intelligent Shipper has enormous potential to offer international solutions because it is adaptable and can be integrated with numerous systems abroad; La Poste, the US Postal Service and the Canadian Postal Service.
General Manager, James Thomas, adds: “Our key word is flexibility. We can integrate with other systems very quickly and easily. Our knowledge of the industry, 20 years of experience, is very important in the development and success of our software. It’s cloud based, efficient and cost effective. There’s simplicity of use for the end user and it offers great customer service.”
“Intelligent Shipper is suitable for small, medium and large companies meeting the varying demands of all three.” Thomas, who worked for TNT before joining Intersoft, says changing IT systems “need not be traumatic”, although he admits some companies are resistant, even frightened of change.
“We believe the key to the success of Intelligent Shipper lies in its flexibility. Increasingly the delivery business demands flexibility. A piece of software shouldn’t dictate how a business runs, it should be the other way round.”
Intelligent Shipper
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