If you need to post a parcel, a quick way is to use an online booking service such as www.collectmyparcel.com.

The service is easy to use.

Simply enter your parcel dimensions and the delivery details and you’ll immediately get a range of quotes for a selection of different delivery specifications and courier providers.

Simply choose which courier provider is right for you… and book.

The quoting system will also indicate cut off times for collections, so if you book early enough – a courier collection driver could come knocking at your door sooner than you thought!

In addition, if you use a courier booking agent, as well as the convenience, you could also save some money.

That’s because these on-line agents are able to book collections on behalf of a huge number of customers. As a result they benefit from bulk-buy discounts meaning you could also get a more favourable price.

Once you’ve booked your courier collection simply ensure your parcel is packaged securely and labeled accurately. You don’t have to do anything else. That’s because the driver will collect your parcel from your specified address. Simple.

So if you need to ship a parcel today, why not get an instant quote?

Just tap in your details and get a quote to see prices for the delivery specification you require, you could be surprised.

What’s more, you can courier an item both nationally and internationally all from the comfort of your home or office!

So get shipping!

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One reason for posting with a courier is because you’ll benefit from electronic tracking.

This means your parcel will move through the courier network with a traceable barcode.

You see most courier networks are complex and intricate.

Once the driver collects your item, it’s transported back to the depot before being sorted to its onward destination. Often, large courier companies will have a centralised hub. Here, parcels from all over the country converge to be sorted back to a delivery depot ready to be taken to the recipient.

These networks are organised, time sensitive and enable couriers to get parcels from A to B professionally and efficiently.

If your parcel has an electronic barcode, it can be scanned at various points through the network…

This offers some significant benefits.

1. You can check in online to see where your parcel is.
2. You can use the delivery scan to check the item has been delivered on time and to spec. This is useful if you use a courier service to fulfill customer orders because you can confirm deliveries without making unnecessary phone calls to recipients, and you can be sure you’re achieving your own delivery promises.
3.You get peace of mind knowing your item isn’t entering into the network void! You’ll usually be able to see a collection track and a delivery scan, and in addition, larger courier companies may collect tracks when an item arrives at a depot, a hub or is sorted onto a vehicle.
4.If you use a courier for business, this helpful information supports your own high customer service standards.

You stay in control. You can access all this information from the comfort of your home simply by typing in your unique barcode reference.

Related posts:

1. The benefits of timed delivery products
2. Parcel tracking – How can it help businesses
3. Five reasons to get a delivery with online tracking

If you run a small business no doubt you are very busy.

Sales, customer enquiries, bookkeeping, blogging…

The one thing you never seem to have enough of is your time, and as a result time is a very precious commodity. After all, more time means more stuff gets done.

When you’re feeling time starved, things can get pretty stressful.

So if you could find some outside services to take those “non-essential” jobs off your hands, how would that feel?

If you run a small online retail business, it’s not essential for you to make the trip to the Post Office. After all, “popping out” to post your customer’s orders invariably takes longer than you expected. All you need is to hit a bit of traffic, or get caught in a queue and your stress levels start rising!

As an alternative, consider using a courier service.

Instead of you juggling the drop off – let the courier do it for you.

Just make one simple online booking and the courier will come to the address you specify, whether that’s home or your office. Just have the parcels ready and they’ll even pop them in the van for you.

Suddenly you’ve freed up some time in which to do other priority tasks. And you never know, you may even finish work early enough to have an evening off and watch your favorite TV show.

Next time you need to brave the traffic with your parcels, book a courier instead – then make advantage of the extra time it frees up and see if your stress levels fall (even just a little bit!)

Related posts:

1. How can parcel collection services reduce delivery times?
2. How to reduce your postage rates

Yodel announces it will sponsor the Tour of Britain again

Earlier last week, our courier partner Yodel, announced it would sponsor the Tour of Britain and “remain the official logistics partner and sprints sponsor of the country’s biggest professional cycle race and largest free to-watch sporting event in 2012”.

Yodel has now been involved in this event for three years, and 2012 will be the second time it has been a lead sponsor. What’s more, the tour’s sprints competition will be named “Yodel Sprints Competition” as part of the partnership deal.

The tour will attract top cyclists from around the world and is due to start on Sunday 9^th September before finishing in Surrey on Sunday 16^th September.

Participants will take part in 8 challenging stages and will cover ground in England, Scotland and Wales.

Yodel’s Chief Executive, Jonathan Smith said: “We are very proud to once again be part of the UK’s leading professional cycle race. Yodel has developed an association with cycling and is the logistics partner for a number of major bicycle retailers, including Halfords, and we are delighted to be joining them again for The Tour Series. Like The Tour, speed and teamwork is crucial to ensure an efficient delivery service, making this partnership with Yodel and The Tour of Britain a winning combination.”

We wish Yodel well with the sponsorship deal and look forward to the event itself later this year.

If you’d like to read the full story, follow this link. http://www.yodel.co.uk/about/read-all-about-us/yodel-sponsors-the-tour-of-britain.aspx

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Earlier last month, Yodel announced changes to their service offering.

The changes are in response to the growth in online shopping and will see customers being offered a greater level of flexibility.

The key changes are:

1. Yodel will operate a 6-day week – increasing to 7-days in December to reflect the increased parcel volumes around Christmas.
2. Premium charges for weekend deliveries will be removed.
3. Standard pricing will operate across the UK, including the Scottish highlands and islands.
4. Customers will be able to call Yodel’s customer services on a free number.

In addition, Yodel announced it is moving to methods that will keep customers more informed. For example, shoppers will receive SMS and email updates. These updates will include timeslot advice.

Yodel’s CEO Jonathon Smith said: “We’ve reviewed our performance, listened to consumer demand and responded. As the internet shopping market grows so do the demands on our service. With online promotions and peak periods on a weekly and seasonal basis, we are increasingly required to flex, in some cases handling up to eleven times normal parcel volume, and this is a trend that is only set to increase. In order to ensure best customer service while maintaining a scale of flexibility, which no other carrier is currently able to offer, we recognise the need to change the way we work and invest more in the aspects of our business that impact the consumer.”

If you would like to read the whole story, simply follow this link: http://www.yodel.co.uk/about/read-all-about-us/yodel-unveils-new-service-proposition.aspx

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In our fast paced society, we are always looking to get jobs done faster, more conveniently and more cheaply.  It’s not surprising. We’re facing a credit crunch and everyone is trying to do things smarter to save some money.

If you run a small business you know you need to keep customer service at the forefront of everything you do. After all, good service can help people say nice things about you on social media, and as a result this word of mouth advertising can help you get more business.

So, if you need to fulfill customer orders reliably and efficiently, a courier delivery service could be just what you need.

Firstly a courier service is convenient. Simply book your collection and the courier driver will arrive at your specified address to collect your parcels to ship. This in itself can save you a lot of hassle, especially if you have a number of parcels waiting to be sent to your customers.

A further benefit is that many couriers – including the big brands – will post your parcel using an electronic barcode. This barcode gets scanned at various points through the courier network, which means you can check in from time to time to see where it is.

What’s more, the delivery track is a really handy way to know that your parcels have arrived at their destination on time.

So if you have important customer orders to fulfill, try using a courier service and see if it makes a difference to your operation.

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On 30^th April 2012, one of our courier partners City Link announced they’ve opened a new depot in Chelmsford.

This new state of the art depot replaces the existing Chelmsford North and Chelmsford South depots and will provide City Link with a platform to expand their courier operations.

Tim Brown, who is the Sales and Marketing Director for the courier company, highlighted this. He said: “City Link is once again a company on the ascendancy and the opening of the new Depot at Chelmsford is part of our plans to expand to become a £500 million company in the next five years.”

The new depot covers a huge 72000 square foot, which is 50% larger than the size of the two existing Chelmsford depots combined.

The depot will enhance City Link’s capability to handle parcels. In addition, the new depot has room for dedicated parking for trunking vehicles as well as space for collection and delivery loading.

The depot manager Paul Dillon said: “The new Chelmsford Depot will enable City Link to offer even greater levels of service to our customers. We are delighted with the new facilities and the employees have worked extremely hard to ensure the transition was as smooth as possible. These are exciting times for City Link.  The Chelmsford region has a huge amount of untapped potential and I am looking forward to further growing our business in the region.”

We wish City Link and the Chelmsford depot staff all the best with the new site.

If you’d like to read the full story simply follow this link: http://www.city-link.co.uk/press/2012/news_290867.html

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1. Palletways opens a new depot
2. City Link wins £1.5 million JML contract
3. City Link services coming soon

What’s a courier delivery?

In short you:

1. Choose a delivery specification – Next Day, 48 hour, Timed, Saturday, Standard, International by Air, International by Road.
2. Get the best price – Either phone around, or use the quote and book service from www.collectmyparcel.com.
3. Book a courier collection – Either go direct to a big name courier like City Link, Parcelforce Worldwide, Yodel or DHL; use a booking agent or re-seller; or pick a more localised provider.
4. Package your parcel – make it nice and secure. Wrap it carefully, protect the contents and ensure nothing is going to fall out en route.
5. Wait for the collection driver – you specify where you want your parcel collected from, whether that’s at home or at work.
6. Track it via an electronic barcode – (many couriers have this option now). It’s a helpful way to stay on top of where you parcel is and confirm it’s arrived at where it’s supposed to be going.
7. Get it delivered – then at the end of the distribution route, your parcel is delivered and signed for.

The best thing about a courier delivery is it’s just so easy. You don’t even need to leave your house because the courier driver will come and collect it for you.

What’s more, it’s good value too and probably cheaper than you imagined. Simply search cheap parcel delivery and you’ll soon see you can get you parcel from A to B for a good value price.

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If you run a small on-line retail business, you probably have customer orders to fulfil.

That means you have a number of things to consider:

You have to weigh up the postage rates when setting your retail price.
You have to ensure your parcels arrive at their destination in one piece and on time.
You have to be able to respond to customer enquires about their order – which could mean you need to know where in the courier network your parcel is.

Each of these requires a reliable courier who not only offers a professional service but also is competitive on price.

A courier delivery is a good alternative to the postal service. That’s because you can book a courier collection at an address you specify, whether that’s your home or your office.

This is a very convenient option. It means you don’t have to drop everything to meet the Post Office cut-off. In addition, you could find it very handy if you get a last minute order in. You could have time to get it packaged and despatched before the courier driver arrives!

Then you’ve also got the peace of mind that with electronic tracking you’ll be able to locate your parcel within the courier network. A lot of courier companies offer this service and it means you’ll be able to update your customer. You won’t face an embarrassing “I don’t know”.

If you have customer orders to fulfil, consider choosing a courier partner to help you get it right.

Related posts:

1. Six reasons courier services make good business sense
2. Sending Parcels – Five compelling reasons to use a courier
3. Five compelling reasons to send a parcel via courier

Are you aware that the prices of 1st and 2nd class stamps are set to rise by 14p from April 30^th 2012?

If this imminent price hike is making you think about a different way to send a parcel, have a look at a courier service.

If you think courier services are expensive, then you may be interested to know that there is a way to courier a parcel a bit cheaper.

Use a courier booking agent or a re-seller

Courier booking agents and re-sellers book collections on your behalf with the big name courier companies such as City Link, Parcelforce Worldwide and Yodel. What’s more, because they buy so many collections, they get a bulk-buying discount and are able to offer you a cheaper service.

More benefits:

A cheaper price isn’t the only reason to use a booking agent. Often, these on-line companies will have their own customer service team meaning, if there’s a problem with your collection or delivery, they’ll handle it for you. That’s one less thing for you to worry about.

You stay in control

It’s your parcel so you should choose how it’s handled. Re-sellers and middlemen often have a quote and book service. This clever app enables you to get a range of quotes for different couriers and delivery specifications with just one search. The benefit is, you can instantly see which big brand courier offers you the best deal for your parcel delivery.

If you’re looking to reduce your postage rates, have a search for cheap parcel delivery and see if it pays for you to switch.

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1. Quick quote & postage rates
2. How can I find out courier postage rates?
3. Can you book a City Link Courier Collection through a booking agent?