Elevate + EasyPost take Shipping Operations to New Heights
- Business: Omnichannel Warehouse Operations
- Website: elevate.dev
- EasyPost APIs Used: Tracking API
A positive customer experience is the key to securing repeat business and gaining new customers. Given today's ecommerce landscape, the shipping process has a tremendous impact on customer experience. However, a late or missing package can leave a bad taste in a customer's mouth and prevent them from shopping with you in the future.
To avoid this, shippers, especially global shippers, face numerous variables. Estimating shipping costs and delivery times, and logging customer service interactions are just a few of the tasks that a company must effectively execute to enhance the experience for their customer. The key to managing this is real-time, accurate data.
In need of greater visibility
A global luxury jewelry company, and EasyPost customer, came to the customer service team at EasyPost with a dilemma. The jeweler's customers loved the quality and versatility of its products. Still, company leadership wanted to bring the customer service related to ecommerce shipping and delivery to the same level. In order to provide the best experience possible, the company needed greater actionable visibility into its operations, especially between shipment and delivery.
Ecommerce companies across retail are constantly receiving data from their logistics partners concerning their shipping and delivery operations, and this situation was no different. The issue was not accessing their data; it was interpreting it.
Like all ecommerce companies, the retailer faced another challenge - data is not regulated, which means shipping data from different carriers, warehouses, and shippers do not look the same. Plus, as a multi-billion dollar global shipper, the company was not only receiving data from partners within the U.S. but from around the world.
Due to the combination of high data volume and speed of ecommerce, the jeweler could not translate their data into actionable insights fast enough. Frequently, by the time the data was relayed to the company, the situation had already changed. This made it challenging to stay current with the status of shipping operations and nearly impossible to provide satisfactory customer service.
The partnership between EasyPost and Elevate allows users to understand how carrier delivery performance impacts the overall fulfillment experience for their customers.
JOSH MAYER
Co-Founder and CEO at Elevate
The solution
To EasyPost, the solution was simple: set the jeweler up with Elevate, one of EasyPost's best-in-class shipping technology partners. By consolidating data from every part of a company's shipping operation into an easy-to-understand, visual representation, Elevate offers comprehensive analytics services to help companies understand their data sooner.
The partnership between EasyPost and Elevate, which began in April 2021, was a no-brainer. Through its powerful Tracking API solution, EasyPost gathers massive amounts of real-time shipping data. Through its Parcel Visibility Module, Elevate translates data quickly and efficiently. Thus, by combining these unique functions, the EasyPost + Elevate partnership provides:
- Holistic supply chain visibility
- Making it easier for companies to keep up with every part of their operation and make them informed
- Proactive decisions concerning their businesses
In April 2021, the jeweler agreed to a 3-market trial period in the U.S., Canada, and Germany leading up to its peak Mother's Day shopping season. Even with decades of experience and expensive preparation, this high-volume period was normally difficult for the jeweler to navigate. The additional strain of COVID-19 meant that shipping volume would be even higher. So, the EasyPost and Elevate team knew they needed to deliver.
EasyPost integrated Elevate's Parcel Visibility Module into the jeweler's shipping databases in one week.
Enhanced customer experience
From day one, Elevate provided a comprehensive breakdown of granular data giving the jeweler the clarity it needed to improve the customer experience during a crucial shopping period. The data allowed the jeweler to identify parcel-specific delivery times and track packages with incredible accuracy. It also gave them the ability to make proactive decisions surrounding customer support.
For instance, if it became apparent that a package would not arrive in time for Mother's Day, customer service could now proactively reach out to the customer to inform them of the delay and, if necessary, offer a discount. Because of this, customers were able to adjust their Mother's Day plans, instead of being blindsided and frustrated with the jeweler.
This data also allowed the jeweler to respond to issues faster. If there was a sudden spike in calls to customer service in a particular region, the company was able to assess, identify and resolve problems sooner. This was a new level of proactivity that is only possible when companies can understand their data.
Improved costs
Elevate solutions offered the jeweler a more accurate view of its expenses, including international shipping costs, an added benefit of the greater data visibility. However, after integrating, the Parcel Visibility Module quickly revealed costly inefficiencies for the jeweler.
The company's team noticed that when shipping between the U.S. and Canada, some parcels' shipping costs were significantly higher and ultimately found that discrepancies between weight (grams versus ounces) were the culprit. In other words, carriers would sometimes weigh a parcel in grams and other times in ounces and then charge substantially different shipping fees. Once they received these analytics from Elevate, the team could correct the issue with the carriers for future shipments, saving approximately $1 million per month.
Global data visibility
After a successful Mother's Day trial, the jeweler was thrilled with the Elevate system and elected to expand the integration globally. So now, wherever customers are shopping worldwide, the company can trust that its customer service and shipping teams are equipped with actionable data to make informed, proactive decisions.
Ecommerce shows no signs of slowing down. The companies that survive will be those that can provide excellent customer service and keep up with their customers' shipping expectations. Elevate's ability to translate data that EasyPost supplies make it possible for companies like this global luxury jeweler to have a holistic view of their operations. Using EasyPost + Elevate, companies make more informed, proactive decisions, enhancing customer service and eliminating unnecessary costs.
Spend less on shipping today
EasyPost's multi-carrier Shipping API includes:
- USPS Merchant Discount Pricing on ALL accounts
- Instant access to USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, and 100+ carriers
- Tracking, rating, address verification, and insurance features
- FREE EasyPost testing with no upfront costs
- Client libraries for .NET, Java, Ruby, Python, Node, PHP, and Go
