Multi-carrier management systems help businesses choose the right carrier for their consignment, but they also help to eliminate manual tasks. The best systems are carrier agnostic which means that they are not charged a fee to be integrated onto the system. This is an important feature as it ensures the data that is made available is unbiased and totally independent.
Most of the features of carrier management systems are commonplace. However, some offer additional bespoke touches that might be the additional armoury you need to overcome your parcel delivery challenges.
Here is our guide to 5 bespoke features of a modern carrier management system that you need to look out for.
Fast Label Production
Whether you’re using one or multiple carriers, you should be able to process your consignments just as fast. A simple yet effective feature is standardized label formats. With this feature, you produce the same size label for all your carriers in one go. This level of control also helps you generate labels faster and boost productivity.
Returns Management
Parcel shipping is no longer just about getting the item from check-out to the front door. You need to be able to manage the returns process just as efficiently. A system with built-in returns features for customers helps to reduce costs, and seamlessly improve customer service.
Brand Control
The unboxing moment is rapidly becoming the first occasion when a customer interacts with your brand. Multi-carrier management systems tailored to fit your business can help you deliver a consistent brand experience across all touch-points. This includes branded customer-facing features such as order tracking, returns management right through to customised alerts. These are meaningful customer interactions that can help build brand trust and drive customer loyalty.
Mobile Apps
When shipping windows are getting shorter, you need to have complete clarity of your shipping processes at all times. A multi-carrier management system that is accessible via your smartphone allows you to keep track of your operation wherever you are. It’s the most effective way to help you fulfill customer delivery promises in real-time.
Performance Dashboard
Where and how you access data to help make informed decisions in real-time is a common challenge for most businesses. Whilst cloud-based carrier management system can provide the shipping data you need, the majority of these systems are desktop based. The more advanced systems include customised management dashboards and bespoke notification features via desktop and smartphones. Managers can review, respond and follow up on any aspects of the shipping process wherever they are.
The benefit of bespoke carrier management features
Empowering all your managers with the right shipping tools and data can help to improve overall customer experience and profitability. Cloud-based systems like SmartConsign can easily integrate with your systems and be operational in no time.
SmartConsign is on a mission to simplify the parcel shipping process. We continue to expand and upgrade our systems, by creating bespoke software solutions to help ease your shipping challenges.