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New VP-ASP Partner Gets Merchant Refunds for Late FedEx & UPS Shipments

New VP-ASP Partner Gets Merchant Refunds for Late FedEx & UPS Shipments


Being 60 seconds late for work could result in very minimal salary deduction. Being late for a job interview even by just 60 seconds could possibly cost you your dream job. How about in the field of eCommerce, what could 60 seconds of late shipment cost online merchants -- a complaint from a customer perhaps? That’s very possible, of course. But you can actually gain something out of late shipments -- that is if you are aware that courier services like FedEx and UPS actually offer a 100% money-back guarantee.

A lot of people don’t realize that courier delivery service companies offer a money-back-guarantee policy for late shipments that are delivered 60 seconds or later from their guaranteed time commitment. About $2 billion dollars are actually left unclaimed every year -- a portion of which could be yours if you file your claim within 15 days or they are gone forever.


VP-ASP & 71lbs
Now that you have been well-informed that companies like FedEx and UPS offer a money-back-guarantee policy for late shipments, you might ask if the whole claiming process is tedious and too much of a hassle. Well, standard policies like these usually are, especially if you’re not aware of the step-by-step process. And remember, as stated earlier, you only have a 15-day window to file your claim. So you’ll be glad to know that VP-ASP Shopping Cart has recently teamed up with 71lbs, a company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the U.S., and they can help make it easy and convenient for all VP-ASP merchants to get their money back.

71lbs has spent more than two decades being on both sides of the shipping table – managing shipping and logistics for a mid-size merchant and running FedEx’s Retail & eCommerce practice. Their experience working with companies like VP-ASP has led them to build www.71lbs.com, a "set-and-forget” system that can allow VP-ASP merchants to get refunds without any further effort once they sign up. To learn more and sign up to get your refunds, please visit www.71lbs.com/vpasp.

In addition to the shipping refunds that 71lbs can support you with, there are a number of opportunities that exist for eCommerce merchants to save on shipping. A small investment of your time and knowledge can help you to further save money on your shipping needs.

Here are two shipping insights that may help you to save money on shipping and put that savings where you need it -- back into your business!

1. Understand Your Shipping Spend
When it comes to shipping, the #2 pain point reported by eCommerce merchants is understanding their shipping costs. When was the last time you looked at your FedEx or UPS invoice? Did you REALLY understand it?

Shipping invoices can be very difficult to understand, as carriers print various product codes and acronyms that are seldom used in daily business. Their invoices may carry mistakes that you end up paying.

71lbs. customers rave about how easy it is to log into the 71lbs dashboard and see a breakdown of their shipping costs by overnight, ground, international as well as in ‘other’ categories.

Another metric that savvy merchants track carefully is their shipping spend. This can vary in a number of ways. One useful ratio is how much your total shipping costs are compared to your sales. As you can imagine, this number varies for the different types of merchandise sold/shipped. But for most merchants, shipping cost is approximately 10% of their sales. This is a good benchmark to track and compare.


2. Talk to Your Shipping Carrier
Next on your list: talk to your carrier. Meet with your carrier’s account representative, ideally, once every six months. Ask to go over the last 6 or 12 months of shipping history.

The more you know about your numbers, the more you know about your business. Leverage your data to have more productive discussions with your rep. Once you are a 71lbs customer, you will have more simple data to review with your representative.

The account rep should continually be working to earn for your business, so ask what else the carrier can do for you. The more knowledgeable you are about your company’s shipping history and profile, the more your account representative can help. They will be better equipped to support your shipping operations which, in return, will help you to grow your business. For example, a 10% discount on shipments to western states might sound really enticing, but it won’t do much for your bottom line if 80% of your customers are located on the East Coast!

More than half of small businesses get no discounts from their shipping provider. You may get one just by asking. As the saying goes: You don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.

How about you, have you ever claimed a refund for late shipments or is this the first time you have heard about the money-back-guarantee policy? Please share your experience and tell us your comments below.



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