3 Minute Explainer: How to Choose Parcel Shipping Software

In this 3 Minute Explainer, we look at the critical questions to ask when evaluating parcel shipping software.

The parcel shipping industry is growing at an exponential rate. Before the pandemic sent parcel volumes skyrocketing, the volumes were already impressive. In 2019, over 103 billion parcels were shipped and delivered across the US, Canada, Brazil, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, China, Japan, Australia and India. In 2020, this rose to 131 billion. In 2021, increased demand for parcel shipping resulted in smaller carriers in the Unites States almost doubling both their package volume and revenue compared to the previous year.

The huge increase in e-commerce sales and cross-border shipping is driving much of this volume. Across a number of vertical industries, parcel shipping has become increasingly important in logistics, supply chain and sales operations. Efficiently and cost-effectively managing parcel shipping is therefore an ever more critical driver of profitability and customer satisfaction. If your organization is evaluating parcel shipping software, here are the questions you need to ask.

Do You Need Automated Routing?

There is a lot more to parcel solutions than printing shipping labels. For one thing, parcel shipping is expensive — particularly for the last mile. Therefore, containing shipping costs should be part of your evaluation of parcel shipping software. 

To optimize cost and service, staff need to research shipping rates, routes, and service levels for every shipment. For high volume parcel shippers this is impractical. 

Multi carrier parcel shipping software with automatic routing simplifies the shipping process.  Parcels are automatically assigned to the lowest cost service that will meet the delivery deadline using the software’s routing guide, along with your business rules.

Are You Shipping Cross-Border?

International and cross-border shipping is more complicated than domestic shipping. Shippers will need to prepare customs documentation, as well as verify that the shipment complies with any applicable regulations.

It is possible to do this manually or using a separate system to your parcel shipping software. The downside is that this is laborious and limits your visibility across your entire logistics operations. Integrating export management with parcel shipping software saves time, and ensures that all data related to your logistics operations is in one place.

If you are expanding into new markets, you will need parcel shipping software that offers access to carriers in these markets. Furthermore, your solution will need to be able to handle multiple currencies and languages.

Are Your Parcel Volumes Growing?

When choosing parcel shipping software, you will want a solution that meets your needs now and in the future. 

Both B2B and B2C shippers are experiencing parcel volume growth. In addition, parcel shipping is becoming increasingly competitive with other modes, including LTL. Consider how your parcel volumes have grown in the past five years, but particularly in the last 24 months. Your multi carrier shipping software needs to scale as your business grows.

Do You Need 360° Visibility?

If you are a high volume or high value parcel shipper, knowing where your parcels are is crucial. Your parcel shipping solution should allow you to track each and every parcel, with any carrier, in the same way. 

It should also offer exception management. That means, if a parcel is at risk of missing its delivery deadline, the software will notify the appropriate personnel to take action. By proactively resolving problem shipments, your company will be able to improve customer service and satisfaction.

Ideally, your parcel shipping software should also offer real-time operational insight. This allows you to see what is happening across all your shipments, monitor KPI and  proactively take action if something goes wrong. With real-time insights, shippers can access complete up-to-the-minute visibility into shipping data, and filter live data on the fly.

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Further Reading

WHY PEAK SEASON SHIPPERS NEED MULTI CARRIER SHIPPING SOFTWARE

WHY INTEGRATE EXPORT MANAGEMENT AND TRANSPORTATION

THE NECESSITY OF E-COMMERCE DELIVERY OPTIMIZATION