UK Mail Packets Closure – What Are Your Alternatives?

If you’re a UK Mail customer who frequently uses their Packets service for your shipping, yesterday’s email notice that the service is coming to an end is probably something of a shock.

For many businesses, finding an alternative, putting them to the test, and being ready to continue with no service interruptions in less than two months isn’t going to be easy. That can be especially true for companies whose order management systems don’t integrate with a wide range of couriers. What systems you can integrate with is effectively an extra, hidden restriction.

Finding an Alternative

Cloud Commerce Pro boasts one of the largest lists of courier integrations of any ERP system in the UK. Whatever services you relied on UK Mail for, we’re confident we integrate with an alternative that supplies it.

Because our team work closely with our customers and their couriers, we even have the experience to help you choose your UK Mail replacement. Our sales and support teams will be happy to help you make that decision as part of coming over to Cloud Commerce Pro.

Our automated shipping booking means that once you’ve chosen an alternative, you can set up rules for the system and it will automatically book the right service for each order as they come in.

As a multi-channel system, Cloud Commerce Pro also integrates with your Amazon and eBay account and with a wide selection of major eCommerce CMSes. And if we haven’t set up full integration with yours yet? Our unique Workflows system allows us to sync with anything you might use as part of your online retail business.

Why Multiple Integrations Are Necessary

One of the reasons we do this is to help companies when part of their chain breaks down. One thing that’s often overlooked is that, while a competitive market means you have plenty of options for every service you use, making the shift can cause problems.

We often hear from new customers that their old order management system didn’t integrate with couriers, or didn’t correctly update stock levels on one channel, or failed to update their CRM – some apparently-minor issue.

But no issue is minor if you have to use a workaround dozens of times a day. At high order volume, the risk of human error becomes a certainty. Cutting out opportunities to make these mistakes is vital.

No two businesses are alike, and that means that the best way to support our clients is to allow them as much flexibility as possible.

Future Proofing Your Business

Peter Fuller, CEO of UK Mail’s parent company DHL Parcel UK, writes “The market for packets in the UK is very competitive and UK Mail has not been able to grow its market share sufficiently. We also see the prospect of continuing downward pressure on prices coupled with additional product and service development costs further threatening future margins.”

There’s plenty to take away from this. We think the most important point is that other couriers may choose to close or to drop some services soon. Other essential services for your business – your current order management service, your digital marketing agency, etc. – can change. Amazon recently reduced Seller referral rates, but prices can go up as well as down.

In a fast-moving industry, changes from a company you deal with can take you from profit to loss in almost no time.

Cloud Commerce Pro understands that it’s easy to feel locked into a bad deal just because you’d need to change several other things to switch out. Our open attitude to integration means our customers can easily shift from one bad deal to a good one, anywhere in their business’ chain.

Book your onsite consultation and we’ll be happy to help you work out the details of switching to us, choosing your couriers, and much more.