Don’t lose (parcel) control and act fast in COVID-19 times

We are all facing never seen challenges in our businesses these days. Nevertheless, we at Seven Senders are staying calm and trying to help everyone with our expertise and solutions. Our customers receive tips and hints regularly but we wanted to open about what we are experiencing for the benefit of the entire community.

If you ship parcels across Europe, here are some simple, hands-on tips:

“Stay informed – know the right sources.” Thomas Hagemann, Co-Founder & CEO Seven Senders

The current parcel delivery situation due to COVID-19:

Our parcel logistics team is working hard every day to update and summarize the situation in Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. We give you insights on the top carriers and show things like blacklisted zip codes for delivery.

There are dozens of carriers in the EU – find the gap: 

There are >50 prime carriers in EU’s major e-commerce markets. Some are state-owned, some are privately owned, some are hit hard by COVID-19, some not. Some charge COVID surcharges on short notice, others don't. Reasons for both vary. Carriers are affected differently in each country however at least one carrier performs sufficiently in a way that e-commerce delivery can be executed at a good performance level in each country.

“If you ship >100 parcels/day to one EU country – contact us, we will try to help.” Thomas Hagemann, Co-Founder & CEO Seven Senders

A carrier switch can be a short-term game changer:

If your current parcel carrier cannot ensure deliveries to a certain country or only performs in some regions you should question your setup. If you ship >100 parcels/day to one EU country and need help to switch your carrier fast with low implementation effort (on an interims basis or as a long-term solution from now) contact us via sales.info@sevensenders.com.

“Take back control – communication is everything has never been more true.”  Thomas Hagemann, Co-Founder & CEO Seven Senders

Bring customer communication under your control: 

We all know the challenges that occur if communication of a third party interferes in your very personal Shop-to-Customer communication. Letting your customers leave to carrier websites can be a) dangerous for you as a shipper as you cannot control what is being communicated and b) it can bring massive confusion in your customer service processes and information policy during COVID-19 times.

Therefore we recommend using tools available in the market or talking to your internal IT division about how to optimise your customer communication across various digital channels for the time being. Here is a best practice example which we recommend inserting into your tracking page or in your standard email communication when delays are to be expected (see picture below). If you need help do no hesitate to contact us.

We from Seven Senders hope that all of you stay safe and healthy. Contact us here!