Paul TessySenior Vice President, Purolator International
This is the third in a series of timely articles I’m sharing to help U.S. and global companies seize the potential inside Canada’s booming e-commerce market.
In the first, I offered a lay of the land in what to look for in a Canadian delivery partner, coming on the heels of my talk at World Mail & Express (WMX) Americas. In the second, I detailed the rising importance of not only innovation but sustainability.
Now, I’d like to take a closer look at the importance of a broad product and coverage model in Canada, and what a “plug and play” solution truly means.
A comprehensive product offering is essential when it comes to ensuring seamless cross-border shipping – and ultimately, satisfied customers. Such a portfolio would extend through express next day, two-day express, ground, postal delivery, LTL (less than truckload) and TL (full truckload) freight, fulfilment, inventory management, technical services, returns, and more.
A broad range of services, complemented by a team of dedicated supply chain experts to help plan, build, and operate the right logistics solutions, means that diverse customer needs are met. Importantly, engaging with one provider to service all these needs creates an elegant and customized end-to-end solution.
Deploying a broad coverage model
In Canada in particular, a strong delivery partner must not only possess a deep portfolio, but must be able to deploy these solutions broadly – integrated ideally into their own coverage model, without relying on third parties.
This comes to a head at the all-important final mile. Consolidating all products inclusive of that final mile ensures a consistent delivery experience, which is a critical attribute to the brand and reputation of all companies involved.
Because the last mile has many costs and complexities – from warehouse storage to pallets and trucks to diverse customer locations – a strong delivery partner will be able to optimize this element themselves. The alternative – outsourcing final-mile efforts – means fragmented ownership of that package, risking lost items, damages, delays, and, in some cases, security issues.
- We share more on preventing loss and damages in this article
One key metric to watch for is “beyond points” – areas where there is no courier service – because shippers to Canada may not immediately recognize addresses that are more remote and hard-to-reach. This is a particular point of pride at Purolator, as our company has the fewest beyond points of any Canadian courier. We also have a noteworthy strength in PuroPost; with the added reach of Canada Post, we can service end-deliveries to 16 million residential and commercial addresses, no matter how remote they may be.
Finding that seamless partnership
Beyond broad product offerings and coverage solutions, a plug-and-play approach ensures that working with a delivery partner is as seamless as possible.
This includes network flexibility – for example, routing rest-of-world (ROW) Canadian volumes via the U.S. to leverage economies of scale. Other examples include simple IT integration, along with customs brokerage and compliance.
Broad coverage and a plug-and-play setup further mean that a delivery partner has the capability to respond quickly to critical customer needs. In these “mission critical” times, that partner must be able to do whatever is necessary to get an urgent package – often health-care supplies – to its destination in a day. Only the most seamless operations can reliably deliver on this not-uncommon situation.
To encapsulate these ideas, I’d invite readers to review a case study between Purolator and TTI, a global tool manufacturer (best known for Milwaukee Tools and Hoover). When their Canadian distribution center closed, TTI shipped all packages from Mississippi but experienced fragmented cross-border courier solutions that was limiting their growth. They turned to Purolator for our reach and last-mile capability, and this partnership has led to many benefits, most notably in cutting transit times for Canadian-bound shipments from up to two weeks to four days.
Business growth also requires a strong focus on solutions management and customer experience – the final two areas I’ll explore in the upcoming last post in this series on identifying an optimal delivery partner. As always, I’d love to hear about your own cross-border pain points, experiences, and solutions.