Businesses that depend on courier services

There’s a saying, “Partner the right person, and you are good to go for the rest of your journey”.

Just like their e-commerce business counterparts, many brick-and-mortar businesses today are depending on courier companies to help them deliver their packages and other items quickly and in perfect condition.  While there's nothing better than receiving fresh flowers on a special occasion, there's nothing worse than a squashed bouquet of flowers or wilted flowers that’s not even worthy of Instagram, situations that resulted in bad client relationships or when the courier company delivers wrong something.

In this post, we delve into 6 businesses whose crucial bottom lines and client relations can be made or broken by courier services for some insider secrets on enjoying your courier deliveries (or at least make the process of dealing with courier problems less frustrating).

To enjoy the best of your courier deliveries, simply follow the following tips!

1. Florist

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If you think florists are always idle just because they look empty, they simply aren’t. Truth is they are very busy, and most of them work with courier companies for regular deliveries or sell their flower creations on secondary platforms such as B2B collaborations, websites or an online portal. Which explains why working with a courier company shouldn’t be much of a surprise.  

Flowers are very tricky to handle. Not only are they fragile, they are also weather sensitive, meaning you can’t drive them around all day and still expect them to be delivered in excellent condition.

To make things worse, deliveries essentially cut down the time we can spend with it.

Want more time with those beautiful blooms? Here’s what you can do:

Hand Bouquets

Remove flowers from their wrapper and fresh bag and pour away the water. Remove any damaged petals carefully and rinse the stems in clean water. Cut 2.5cm from the end of the stems at a 45 degree angle and place them in a clear vase with some fresh water. For maximum vase life, change the water every alternate day to avoid bacteria build-up as bacteria in the water will shorten the vase life. Remember to display your flowers in a cool room, away from bright sunlight or direct heat.

Basket, Box or Trio Arrangements

Ensure that the arrangement base of your flowers is not dry on arrival. Carefully pour a little water into the centre if needed. The arrangement should remain in the basket and be watered regularly to ensure the foam base does not dry out. To avoid water spillage or scratches, do not place the basket directly onto a polished surface.

Wedding flowers

Place wedding bouquet in a vase, pot or bucket. Add the flower food sachet to the water that comes with it as instructed on the back of the sachet (if your florist provides it). Keep the bouquet in a cool area unless you want the flowers to open up more. Remove the bouquet from the water half an hour before you leave for the wedding ceremony. Remember to remove excess water from the stems with a towel.

For petals and corsages, keep them cool in the fridge or cool room until required.

For table arrangements that come with vases or pots, simply add water with flower food as instructed on the sachet (if your florist provides it) and keep the flowers cool until required. Keep an eye on the water level and top up when necessary.

2. Wines

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Received a bottle of red wine and plan to drink it soon? It will be wiser to leave it standing so that sediments can settle to the bottom. In fact, experts had said that no wine (especially the really old ones) should be opened until it’s brilliantly clear, and the sediment completely settled. This process may take a few days or weeks, but then again, if it can help the wine regain its equilibrium, why not?

Here’s what you can do if waiting is not possible:

Rotate the bottle from horizontal to vertical gradually, so that the sediment remains largely undisturbed. If there is too much sediment, simply pour the wine through an unbleached cheesecloth or a funnel with a built-in sieve.

3. Food Deliveries

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The fact that restaurants and food delivery vendors are experts at catering to individual tastes and that the internet is taking food customization to the next level, means that you should play these crucial points to your advantage whenever possible.

One way to make your food delivery experience more enjoyable is to purchase from restaurants or food establishments that allow you to customize your food order freely (think Subway sandwich, Domino’s Pizza or Maki San Sushi) or at least take away or add something to whatever you have ordered (please take away those pickles or add a sunny side up egg).

The next time you like to have more whipped cream on your iced blended Frappuccino or want less of those lettuce or substitute those prawns with something that is of equivalent price, be sure to request for it to be done. In case you are unaware, most restaurants and food delivery vendors are actually glad to oblige with your small requests (as long as you don’t go overboard with your requests). 

4. Groceries

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Grocery shopping in Singapore is as convenient as taking a short stroll to the void deck. Nevertheless, there will always be a few particular groups of people who can’t go grocery shopping often themselves for some reason.

Fortunately, there’s this thing called grocery deliveries.

Think the likes of RedMart, Honestbee, Giant, FairPrice Online, Tangy Tangerines (for in-season fruits or vegetables delivered fresh at your door step) or The Hungry Chef (a new concept of grocery shopping which involves ordering meal kits for home cooking and choose interesting recipes to be delivered to your doorstep). Simply order whatever you need online and someone will deliver it to you!

Need regular deliveries? Why not find individual grocery establishments in Singapore which offer automated monthly deliveries for non-perishable items, as well as recurring food items or pantry items.

Remember to check that all fresh groceries and perishable are fresh and in good form, and return them if they aren’t up to expectations.

5. Apparels

Image credit: https://www.shopify.com/blog/14069585-the-beginners-guide-to-ecommerce-shipping-and-fulfillment

Measuring your sizes correctly, allowing additional space (inches) and paying attention to the described materials and details of your apparel purchases can provide you with a more enjoyable experience. This thumb of rule applies to all occasions, and is especially useful if you are purchasing them from online or sending a courier to pick them up from the physical store.  

Another essential detail to look out for before clicking the purchase button – choose your courier delivery method carefully. If it only delivers during working hours and you are obviously not going to be home to receive it, always leave a memo to the seller. Alternatively, simply have them forwarded to another person’s address or choose another delivery option which allows you to track where the package is. Once the parcel is in, call the courier company and ask them if they could deliver when you are around. Nobody likes to deliver when you already told them you are not at home. Plus, couriers usually work within a particular location or zone, so most often than not, they are likely to oblige your request.

6. Electronics

Once in a while, we tend to buy electronic or electrical items which fall short of our expectations or are received in less than satisfactory condition. It may be hard to pinpoint who’s the culprit that causes it – the seller (company) or the courier company who delivers it.

Here’s a few tips electronics companies and courier companies would like you to know:

• Always keep a good record of the name of the courier company and the person who delivers the products. Some companies use several courier companies to help deliver their orders. More often than not, your courier may even call you using his or her mobile phone before attempting a delivery (now, save those numbers)! You never know when you will need these negligible details to track your order (in case of wrong delivery) or lodge a complaint. If you discover you have received the wrong item, and the courier just left a minute ago, that’s when you can try your luck at calling the courier directly to sort things out rather than calling the courier company. That is, provided you actually have the courier’s number.
  
• Check the delivered product to ensure they are in good, working condition. Lodge a report immediately or as soon as you discover something wrong.
  
• Very often, we threw away the packaging box and the invoices that come with it upon opening them. Do not throw away the box, packaging, envelope or invoices. When you have to do a ship back, those items are required to be returned as well, without which you may have a problem knowing which person and address to send back to, or ask for an exchange or refund. For all you know, there could be a return form hidden together in the stack of invoice papers which you are required to fill up before sending back the item.

This post is brought to you by Zap Delivery.