Smart Send – Promising to deliver on the growth of ecommerce

The courier and freight industry is highly competitive.  The simple act of shipping parcels and packaged goods from one location to another requires immense infrastructure to facilitate this efficiently.  The high costs involved have discouraged major couriers and freight companies to servicing low volume users.

However, aggregators are increasingly grouping the demands of these users.  Smart Send is a leading freight aggregator with a high volume of freight movements nationwide.  “Over the past eight years we have built relationships with each of the major service providers such as Toll, Couriers Please, TNT and others…” said Managing Director of Smart Send, Steven Visic. “We are a trusted, reliable service provider that can secure major discounts for customers, customers that previously couldn’t efficiently use courier services”

Ecommerce – the industry changer

Ecommerce has become the fastest growing area in express parcel services as they require consistent speed and reliability.  IBISWorld identified the online shopping industry in Australia to be worth $12.4BN in 2013 increasing to $19.8BN in 2018/19.

For online retailers, the industry is the crucial last step in the sale process, with online stores relying on couriers to deliver purchases to customers. The goods sent by these markets are often small in size but high value, introducing a new set of service requirements for the industry to fulfil.

Now with the emergence of ecommerce, traditional logistics companies are having to reinvent themselves.  As this industry is inherently fragmented and price sensitive there is a requirement for smart technologies to identify the best prices for shipping in order to convert more customers.

Smart Send was the first ‘online courier’ in the Australian internet age starting in 2006 and continues to lead innovation in the online sector.  Mr Visic spoke of the company’s technological advantage, “This first mover benefit has created an ongoing advantage as we have sought to remain industry leading with the development of the new Smart Send ‘Smart API’”.

The Smart Send ‘Smart API’ solution

“Smart Send offers a unique, easy to integrate solution which provides merchants with the ability to display ‘real time’ freight quotes in their website checkouts, along with an easy automated process for the seller to book the goods with Smart Send for pickup,” continued Mr Visic.

The ‘Smart API’ allows real time quotes in websites, an automated booking process and real-time tracking.  The solution can be easily integrated to online website checkouts or shopping carts, providing Smart Send with exposure to the growing ecommerce market.

A secure long term outlook

Smart Send has cemented its place in the industry with a growing $2.4m turnover and bookings growing at a current rate of over 60% per month over the previous year’s monthly bookings.  With the Smart Send ‘Smart API’ this represents a potential paradigm shift in demand.

The ‘Smart API’ is offered free of charge to ensure the highest visibility.  By integrating itself into the booking process on website checkouts Smart Send is anticipating increased booking volumes, a higher rate of growth in shipments, as well as exposure to emerging international markets in the near future.

“We have spent the past 18 months with PwC to create a long term business plan and financial plan for this new growth strategy, and the numbers indicate this is high growth, high potential direction for us” said Mr Visic.  Smart Send’s positioning has shown to be attractive for corporates and investors with interest shown through both the PwC and Wholesale Investor networks to date.

Smart Send with its strategic solutions and alliances has created a strong brand that promises to deliver on the growth of the ecommerce industry.