Canada Post lockout got you worried? Here's how to prepare your eCommerce store!
Tuesday, July 5, 2016Lauren Macdonald
Uh oh e-retailers! Looks like
Canada Post has just issued a
72-hour lockout notice warning Canadians that postal service may come to a halt by Friday. Here’s our top 3 suggestions for how you should prepare:
Figure out Plan B
If Canada Post is your primary shipping service, now would be a good time to start researching a back-up plan for the next couple of weeks! Many of the largest companies in Canada are already implementing contingency programs by moving their shipping volume to alternate providers such as
Purolator and
UPS. It’s important to be ahead of the game because any packages that are already on route when the strike happens will be held by Canada Post until the strike resolves.
Be aware that UPS will be charging a steep surcharge for residential deliveries, and Purolator is only taking on customers who sign-up for a 12 month contract in order to protect their delivery network. For that reason, you may wish to consider discounted small parcel and LTL freight services for Canadian merchants such as
netParcel or
FlagShip.
Reassure your customers
If your refund policy is not already clearly stated on your website, now is a better time than ever to make sure it’s posted right at the top of your website for all to see! Let your customers know that you’re aware of the strike and are using whatever options there are available to you to ensure they receive their orders as efficiently as possible.
You may also want to temporarily extend your normal return policy period so that customers know they can still return products they’re unhappy with at a later date in the event that their packages arrive to them late.
Think outside the box!
Did you know that Walmart has recently launched pilot programs to make deliveries via
Uber,
Lyft and
Deliv? Or that Amazon is planning a future delivery system called
Prime Air designed to get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less using drones?
With a Canada Post strike looming now is the time to get creative! What are some fun and unique ways that you could ship your products to customers? We’d love to hear your ideas!