How Parcel Perform ensures successful end-to-end delivery experiences globally!

Founded eight years ago, Parcel Perform has quickly become an industry leader in logistics and data support for e-commerce brands worldwide. With its end-to-end Data and Delivery Experience Platform, the company is trusted by brands such as Nespresso, Zalando, Shopify, and Puma, among many others. Today, we had the amazing opportunity to chat with Arne Jeroschewski, the founder and CEO of Parcel Perform, to learn more about their mission and vision and how their cloud-based service is a true game-changer for e-commerce businesses globally. 

When was Parcel Perform created, and why? 

“The company started eight years ago. We were working at DHL eCommerce in Asia, so we had a lot of exposure to the e-commerce market in Asia. Everybody appreciated the work done by DHL, but also everybody mentioned, ‘Hey, we are working with multiple carriers, and we need help to manage this end-to-end,” says Arne.

“That is where the idea of Parcel Perform was born: to be the platform between merchants and carriers that makes collaborations as easy and smooth as possible. We help them deliver their customer products easily and smoothly, providing a great customer experience in a customised way, regardless of how complex their supply chain logistics might be.”

And what makes Parcel Platform different? Which one would you say is your main competitive advantage? 

“When we built the platform, we had extensive background—due to our previous experience working with DHL—to understand the complexity that merchants and carriers face. With that in mind, we built a platform with features and functionalities to mirror any supply chain setup and ensure that the customer experience is as smooth as possible and consistent across all the carriers the merchant might be working with,” says Arne.

Arne continues: “Because we always had that mindset, we created a slightly different product than some of our competitors who came from a pure customer experience perspective, and for whom the supply chain was more of a nuisance they had to deal with. Thus, we engineered Parcel Platform from a much better position as we understood all the issues that arise from supply chain logistics and how they impact the customer experience.”

Arne Jeroschewski - Founder and CEO at Parcel Perform

Could we talk a bit about that experience? Let’s say I am a customer buying from one of your clients; how and when does your solution help me have a better experience? 

“Our solution can kick in very early, as early as during the checkout process. By providing merchants with an expected delivery date, consumers will know when they can expect their products to arrive—which is one of the key factors influencing a customer to make a purchase. 

Thereafter, once they have made that decision, we will take over the customer engagement process. Parcel Perform will send customers updates about the parcels, provide a tracking page, and make sure that the customers are kept in the loop about whatever happens to their parcels in the most effective way.”

“This is fundamental for the merchant to build a positive relationship with the customers and minimise customer service actions. One of the key things we have realised during this process is that most orders go through without challenges or issues, but around 20% go wrong in some shape or form. This is what we call the ‘delivery pitfalls.”

Can you give us an example of these pitfalls? 

“Sure. For example, if the parcel is not delivered to you but to your neighbour or dropped off at the lobby, the customer will obviously need specific or different information, and a unique experience as opposed to standard delivery confirmation. Parcel Perform's data granularity comes into play here, providing your customers with a uniquely tailored experience.

“For example, you could tell your customer that the parcel was delivered to this specific neighbour, the neighbour's name, and all the info to help the consumer always know what is happening,” says Arne.

“The fact that you can provide this level of detail provides all parties involved with much better information. It allows them to understand where the problem is located and to better act upon it. This is a powerful argument to help brands and consumers have a smoother delivery process, better engagement and less customer service contacts.”

Where does the data you mention come from? Directly from the carrier? How does this work? 

“Exactly. The way we think about it is that those common pitfalls happen to all carriers. However, not all carriers provide the merchant or the consumers with the visibility to know exactly where things went wrong.”

Arne continues: “Also, that is one of the metrics to measure the level of excellence a carrier has: how honest and transparent it is about those pitfalls. You know, they will sometimes drop it off at the neighbour’s house regardless of whether they tell you or not. 

“And this is also how we counsel our customers when we tell them: hey, we are looking at the data that comes from the carrier; these pitfalls are visible, and we can address them; these other ones we have no visibility, but we can build the best possible experience with this carrier based on the information that is available with that specific carrier.”

“Of course, suppose the merchant is unhappy with the granularity they are getting from the carrier. In that case, they can choose other partners who deliver a higher level of detail and a more comprehensive data set that will allow them, with our help, to offer a more granular, more tailored experience to their customers.”

Do you also give options to the merchants about carriers? 

“We do try to facilitate the process, but in the end, there are a lot of considerations from the merchant's side when choosing a carrier or a group of carriers. First, giving the customer too many options is bad because you increase the complexity of the buying process. Complicated decisions take longer, and the conversion rate goes down.”

“That is why we recommend keeping the delivery options to something simple like slow delivery for free and fast delivery at an extra cost. You can also offer a sustainability option, but essentially, try to keep it really simple for the customer so their decision can be made in a heartbeat. 

“In fact, we have seen many times that the consumer does not even care which carrier delivers the goods, as long as delivery times and quality are right. Normally, the consumer chooses their service level, ‘I want to receive it on this day and at this cost,’ and then the merchant decides which carrier will make the delivery.”

“That is also something the merchant can easily do via our platform. Let’s say you have a parcel to deliver next Tuesday, you can check which carriers can make the delivery on time and then choose between the cheapest or the most reliable.”

How do you handle returns? Because it can become a complex operation.

“The returns process is now a vital part of the retail customer's purchase experience. And thus, we have fully integrated the returns process into forward logistics. So, in the same place you track your parcels, you can track and manage your returns, manage your returns flows, and handle your entire returns operation. 

“This provides the customer with a unique customer experience, allowing the customer to handle everything from the same place. And this makes it a more natural part of the shopping experience, which at the end of the day, I think is what the customer wants,” says Arne.

“Let’s be honest, returns happen. And I do not think that a return means that the relationship between the customer and the merchant is damaged or broken. In fact, I believe that despite a return, if this process is properly handled by the brand, this customer can easily become very loyal and make future purchases. 

“The more natural, the more integrated the returns experience is, the better. Another thing we need to keep track of, and integrate in the most natural way, are return rules. Everybody has a returns policy, and this needs to be accessible, visible, and easy for the customer to understand.”

“These rules are not written in stone; if you have a returns policy of only up to twenty days, but the return comes from a loyal customer, you might need to reconsider and think about granting the return more time. Or maybe above 100 Euros, you want to manually review it. 

“So, all these rules have a lot of business logic and business decisions that the merchant has to make. Having a complex system that enables the creation of this comprehensive set of rules is a considerable advantage Parcel Perform has against our competition.”

“We provide companies with a system to define these rules and calibrate them to fit the perfect balance between allowing your business to grow, offering a great consumer experience, but also protecting your business from fraud. So, the solution offers you all the flexibility you need.”

Logistics as part of the customer experience

To help merchants build this 360º customer experience, Parcel Perform has created a granular and multilevel approach to delivery and post-purchase solutions, offering support in the crucial steps of checkout, post-purchase, returns, and logistics. 

Parcel Perform also offers a co-pilot tool, which is an AI-driven assistant that helps merchants rethink e-commerce business management and supercharge their decisions with tailored insights powered by data and AI. 

Is your platform also connected to warehouse management systems, fulfilment centres, and order management systems? 

“We see our solution as an integral part of any merchant's technology stack nowadays. Everybody uses their own e-commerce solution, Order Management System, and warehouse integration. 

“In that sense, our solution works in combination with whatever the customer has already set up on its side. Our solution fits perfectly with any merchant's pre-existing e-commerce ecosystem.”

“In addition, what we do is pull data and push data. For example, we might push data into the merchant's system or pull data from its warehouse platform, OMS, or CRM, and so on. We work under the philosophy of helping the merchant integrate everything they are already using, with our solution. 

“Moreover, we will take on as much work as possible, so the merchant can use its IT resources for its business because we understand IT resources are scarce everywhere. So, we know that the more we can do for the merchant, the easier it will be for the merchant to work with us. 

“Overall, any process the merchant might need support in dealing with, we will be there to provide a solution or connect them to an external solution.”

Dana von der Heide - Dana von der Heide, Founder and CCO at Parcel Perform

Who is your ideal customer? 

“Our product works for companies of all sizes. As a company we have worked with large customers that have enterprise needs, as well as with small startups. Our biggest customers are very well taken care of, as we are used to working with their highly sophisticated requirements—which we have built our business model to fit.”

“For the mid-market, we have a cost-effective version, because we also want them to benefit from our product. We want to be sure that our product is as open and approachable as possible for all kinds of merchants.”

“We announced a complete set of new features that can be summarised in the E-commerce Co-Pilot, which is an AI-driven solution. We already have a vast amount of logistics data gathered from the supply chains of our merchants, as well as in customer care.

“And with this new Co-Pilot functionality, what we have done is, gather all that knowledge, process it with AI technology, and offer it as additional use cases to our merchants. This new capability empowers them to establish a more proactive management system. 

“Co-Pilot is designed to help them stay on top of their highest performance aspirations and excel at every stage of an order’s lifecycle. It can be used to set and track ambitious company-wide aspirations holistically from a single platform. 

“It can help translate unique processes into measurable aspirations, and finally, proactively act on breached aspirations with intel from real-time calculations. It is a game changer and the perfect companion for any business.”

“We believe that this solution will be fundamental for the success of any e-commerce business as it will allow merchants to stop wasting 80% of their time in finding out ‘what is going wrong’ and instead commit that time to increasing the profitability of their business,” Arne concludes.