New Options for Outbound Package Shipments and Returns (1013)

By Reported Donna Loyle

The following new products and services can help catalogers reduce costs and improve the efficiency of their outbound-shipping initiatives and their returns services. This is not meant to be an exhaustive accounting of the newest and most innovative solutions; rather, the products and services listed here represent a general roundup of what’s now available on the market and how they can benefit your catalog operation.

FOR OUTBOUND SHIPMENTS

Sturdy and Snug Fulfillment Packaging

Tru-Tech’s Cold Fusion packaging process forms a snug fit around a product, thus reducing the amount of air that is shipped. It uses a top and bottom web of patented materials that dynamically fuse together around the merchandise, locking it into place so the item doesn’t slide around, as it might in a box. Items can be packaged in-line, and each package can be custom-sized to the item being shipped.

The tough packaging resists punctures, tears, scuffing and water, and it’s printable. Tru-Tech is approved for use by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), and has been tested and proven using ASTM D4169 and ISTA 3 package-testing standards.

Contact: (877) 998-8324, or e-mail: info@tru-tech.com

Get Automatic Zone Calculations

BCC Software’s new Package Services solution enables automatic zone calculations for Parcel Post shipments (weighing up to 70 pounds) headed to any U.S. entry point. Packages can be sorted by zone, thus enabling savings in the costs associated with distributing high volumes of Parcel Post mailpieces.

Package Services (which also can be used for bound printed matter) is a premium option that works with BCC Software’s flagship Mail Manager 2010.

Cost: $2,000 for current Mail Manager 2010 users.

Contact:(800) 453-3130, or visit: www.bccsoftware.com

Validate the Actual Delivery Point

Melissa Data’s brand-new Delivery Point Validation (DPV) software can confirm if an individual mailing address actually exists, right down to the apartment or suite number. DPV also can detect if an address to which you’re about to ship is a commercial mailbox service such as Mail Boxes Etc.

DPV goes beyond the standard CASS-certification process by verifying if an address actually is served by the USPS. Previously, addresses could be verified only to a street range and not a specific delivery location.

DPV is an add-on to Melissa Data’s MAILERS+4, postal-automation software that is CASS-, PAVE Gold- and POSTNET-certified by the USPS.

Cost for DPV add-on: $690; for Standard version of MAILERS+4: $790.

Contact: (800) 800-6245, or visit: www.melissadata.com

One Source for Overseas Shipments

Spring is the result of a new joint-venture between Royal Mail, TPG and Singapore Mail. The company bills itself as the world’s largest cross-border mail distribution provider. It’s a one-stop channel for catalogs and shipments going to several overseas locations, including the U.K., Latin America and 13 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Shipments going to the U.K., for example, don’t pay more than domestic services,” says Joy Lacho Eaton, Spring’s director of business solutions.

The company has offices in New York City, and can consolidate shipments originating in the United States and destined for overseas locales, thus saving merchants shipping costs. Spring also takes care of customs brokerage.

Contact: (800) 345-5577, or visit: www.springglobalmail.com

Ideal For Small Items Shipped First-Class

Calumet Carton’s ConfirMailer is designed for use by merchants shipping small, lightweight items such as CDs, DVDs, contact lenses, medicines and nutritional products.

The cartons meet the Postal Service’s existing and proposed criteria for low First-Class postage with confirmation services. A qualified First-Class parcel must weigh no more than 13 ounces. And if the package is less than 0.75 inches thick, it must be in a box and have an address side with sufficient surface area to fully display shipping address, return address, postage, markings, endorsements and any special services.

Calumet officials say Confir-Mailer fits this exacting criteria. Savings are up to $2 per piece, says Calumet.

Calumet’s packaging also is compatible with Window Book’s Postal Package Partner software.

The boxes are made of strong but lightweight 0.02 clay-coated news back, and contain 65-percent to 70-percent post-consumer waste. The boxes knock down flat to maximize storage space.

Cost: 25 to 30 cents each for the smaller packages; about 50 cents for larger sizes.

Contact: (888) 889-7242, or visit: www.postagesaver.net

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FOR RETURNS

FedEx Consolidated Return Service

FedEx’s new return shipping solution, launched last month, links merchants directly to FedEx. Catalogers get data about a returned item from the moment it’s dropped off in the FedEx network, up to the point of final delivery.

The service offers a real-time visibility that helps merchants more accurately anticipate the delivery of returned items, Bram Johnson, corporate vice president of strategic development, told Catalog Success.

Here’s how it works: A customer drops off the returned item at any FedEx World Service Center or FedEx Authorized Ship Center. (The item need not be packaged.) The customer uses a pre-authorized return-item number supplied by the cataloger.

At the FedEx Center, the number is entered into a Web-based application that verifies the return and allows it to be consolidated into a polybag tote with other returned items.

The bag is then shipped by FedEx Ground to a processing center where it’s broken down into retailer-specific bags, sorted by final destination, then reconsolidated for shipment to disposition destinations, whether for resale, repair or auction, depending on the cataloger’s request.

Cost: calculated by weight and travel distance.

Additionally, Kewill is certified by FedEx to provide integration support to merchants using this service.

Contact: (800) GO FEDEX, or visit: www.fedex.com/us/

SmartLabels From Newgistics

The SmartLabel returns management service from Newgistics embeds customer and order information in the return label.

Here’s how it works: To return an item, a customer applies the pre-paid, pre-addressed and bar-coded SmartLabel to the return package and drops it off anywhere within the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) system. Newgistics intercepts the package from the USPS, transmits return data via the bar code to the merchant, and aggregates and palletizes shipments back to the merchant’s requested location.

Contact: (877) 860-5997 or visit: www.newgistics.com

For more shipping and returns solutions click on “Supplier Search.”