When parcels arrive damaged or are not delivered at all, this not only annoys the end customer but it also costs the online trader real money. With its Carrier Claims Management, logistics specialist FIEGE helps online traders to resolve shipping problems quickly and efficiently.
Black Friday and Christmas set new sales records every year for the online retail sector. But with the start of the peak season, not only do sales and volumes of parcels grow but delivery problems also increase. In 99.8 percent of cases, everything goes according to plan: customers receive their ordered goods on time and they are undamaged. In the case of the remaining 0.2 percent, parcels arrive damaged or are not delivered at all. What might at first sound like a trivial matter is, however, equivalent to a loss of 0.2 percent of online sales – unless the goods turn up by chance. For an online store with 100,000 orders per month and a shopping basket value of 100 Euro, that’s still 240,000 Euro of sales per year. On top of this, there are 2,400 unhappy customers, who might over time not only weaken the image of the brand or of the online store, but who may also, in the worst case, be lost as customers.
System-supported investigation and transport complaints
“Anyone who does not act systematically here and who tries to manage with Excel lists and e-mail ping-pong with the transport service providers quickly loses track of things. That is not only tedious and takes time but it also ties up staff resources in Customer Service”, explains Jan Meischein, Head of e-Commerce Solutions at logistics specialist FIEGE in Greven. “This is where we want to give our customers clear added value”, continues Meischein. With the aid of standardised and system-supported communication with transport service providers, FIEGE manages all the activities associated with a fast and efficient follow-up of transport complaints.
Costs are charged on a case-by-case basis
FIEGE has already processed almost 15,000 such claims – mainly in the fashion sector. “As a rule it takes less than ten working days to complete the investigation and to get the refund actioned by the carrier”, says Meischein. This service is valuable to all online traders – whether they are large or small – because with its service FIEGE recovers a 210 percent return per claim for online traders in relation to the processing charges incurred. Online traders benefit from rapid and lean integration within one week and a transparent and clear pricing model. This is because billing is per claim.
Improvement of the shipping process
Another important added value of FIEGE’s system-supported Carrier Claims Management is that “we make comprehensive analyses and reports available to our customers and so can identify potential for improvement in the shipping process”, explains Meischein. Reasons for increased parcel damage might be attributable to faulty transport packaging, for example. In addition, FIEGE has established that in 50 percent of complaints that were rejected by transport service providers, the end customer had contacted them too late. This is an important tip for an online trader: to be more proactive in making their end customers aware of deadlines.
The bottom line is that in the end it is a win-win situation – a satisfied end customer thanks to the rapid and efficient processing of their claim, and a satisfied brand that saves time and resources and in the end even money in the event of a successful refund from the transport service provider. More information about FIEGE Carrier Claims Management can be found here.
About FIEGE eCom
The strands of FIEGE eCom services come together at the Service and IT Campus in Münster with over 25 years of experience in eCom and a team now consisting of over 100 employees. FIEGE sees itself as an agile partner in the implementation of customised omnichannel strategies and offers online traders and brands a range of back-end services in addition to its expert logistics fulfilment solutions. From setups for newcomers to individual tailored solutions for established brands, FIEGE designs and develops order management solutions and also handles all activities for its customers in the areas of debtor management and payment services, customer service, review management and carrier claim management. FIEGE is thus an expert partner to its customers, ensuring the best possible customer experience.
For more information please contact: Ria Kühle, +49 (151) 262 132 16, Ria.Kuehle@fiege.com
