Sydney-based delivery start-up, Shippit is changing the way Australian online retailers ship parcels to anxious customers. It launched its premium, GPS-enabled scheduled delivery service to an invitation only audience of boutique online retailers in February this year.
Since then the service has expanded rapidly, with the addition of a competitive low-cost national delivery option, the startup now counts numerous fashion and designer labels such as The Academy Brand, Urban Couture and Seletti as clients.
Having secured seed funding of $500,000 in June led by Les Szekely of Equity Venture Partners, the startup will use the funds to expand the Shippit team and support the increasing demand for its services.
Whilst not yet announced, Shippit claims to have signed on one of Australia’s iconic electrical goods and consumer electronics retailers.
Retail enabled by logistics
There has been a spate of activity in the Australian delivery landscape in recent months, however Shippit believes its difference lies in enhancing the online retail experience, where logistics is a key enabler in a high growth market.
“The online retail market is heating up and choice in delivery options is more important than ever. Our founding team has a strong grounding in retail – that gives us an intimate understanding of the frustrations faced by online retailers and their customers,” says co-founder and CEO, Rob Hango-Zada (pictured left above with co-founder William On).
Simplifying shipping for retailers
Shippit offers clients a point-and-click approach to sending anything from a silk pillowcase right up to an entire store’s worth of inventory.
The cloud-based software platform offers retailers the ability to book, track and manage a shipment from anywhere which makes it a great fit for both pure-play and omni-channel retailers.
According to Rob, “managing multiple shipping providers, dealing with inconsistent tracking information and clunky carrier portals as well as the overhead of customer enquiries during delivery can seriously disadvantage a growing retailer.”
“We’ve worked closely with our early clients and carrier partners to really simplify the entire end-to-end delivery process – which is a beautiful thing,” he stated.
It’s not all about cost
“Lowering the cost of delivery is just one part of the equation for an online retailer. A lot of business owners underestimate the impact of a bad delivery experience – it can take a serious toll on customer loyalty. The problem is that accountability sits outside of their control.”
A recent study by UK-based Metapack suggests 66 per cent of all customers that experience a bad delivery will stop buying from a given retailer altogether.
“We take a data-driven approach to delivery management that helps retailers cut the number of missed deliveries by around half – we focus on getting packages to people not places and doing that well requires a human touch,” Hango-Zada said.
