If you have an on-line retail business, a courier could be just the trusted partner you need to deliver high levels of customer service.

Here are four scenarios to show how a courier can add value.

1. Professional customer service.

Scenario: A customer has ordered a birthday present on-line, however it has not yet arrived for Next Day delivery as expected.

Added value: If you’ve posted on a Next Day product you’ll be able to check the tracking scans and work out where in the network your parcel is. In turn this will allow you to effectively advise the customer.

2. Save money:

Scenario: Postage is costly and as a small business you’re looking for ways to reduce expenses and maximise your profits.

Added value: The courier market is competitive. With some simple research you can access a large number of products from a variety of courier companies and find the best possible price.

3.  Save time:

Scenario: Your parcels need to be sent TODAY but with so many other things to do you can ill afford the time to go to the Post Office.

Added value: A courier will collect from your premises. It will save you time and hassle leaving you to continue working while waiting for your collection.

4.  Choice:

Scenario: The urgent papers for the solicitor needs to arrive by lunchtime tomorrow, the delivery for Mr Smith is less of a priority while the package for the new customer needs to be delivered on Saturday.

Added value: Couriers offer a range of courier services. In addition to Next Day you’ll find timed deliveries, 48 hour services, Saturday deliveries and even international parcel collections.

Meaning the question is how could a courier add value to your small business?

On-line retailing has made it increasingly easy for a business to attract global customers. When browsing for products on-line you could be looking in the virtual shop window of a toy store in Texas or a specialized boutique in Paris.

What’s more because the courier market is now so competitive on both price and reliability, if you have a niche product it is possible to deliver to overseas customers by booking international parcel deliveries to countries around the world.

All this is good news for small businesses because it offers the potential to expand into new markets. Customers down under? Book a parcel delivery to Australia. Or if you need to send items “across the pond” you’ll find some very good deals for a parcel delivery to the USA.

The time factor is also being addressed. Of course there are times when a recipient needs an item super-speedy meaning buying locally, or at least nationally is a more appropriate solution. But these days the world seems to be shrinking and far off destinations are now very accessible via a cargo plane.

DHL are well known for their international courier service. Apparently they have the network capacity to handle around 7 million mail items around the world each day. What’s more they have 40 processing centres worldwide in addition to around 100 sales offices. That’s a big network!

If you’d like more information about posting internationally, check out this blog from the archive:
http://www.collectmyparcel.com/blog/how-do-i-send-a-parcel-to-america/1178/