ipostparcels.com Case Study - Ali's Craft Studio
The Background:
Ali’s Craft Studio was born from a lifelong love of crafts and artistic creativity back in 2007 with a starting point of selling hand painted stained glass effect window clings to customers at craft fairs initially. A website soon followed (www.studiocrafts.net) and now the company’s work is adorning homes around the world! After joining Twitter, Ali’s Craft Studio was being asked for promotional window clings, key rings, magnets, etc…allowing businesses to promote themselves and their achievements efficiently yet economically. This has proved especially popular for winners of the various awards such as the much coveted Theo Paphitis’ SBS business award (of which Ali’s Craft Studio was a winner!) who quite rightly want to show this off to customers.
The Requirement:
The company’s products are usually small and easily posted however they soon found that customers were looking for larger pieces to meet their requirements – these needed to be handled and packaged carefully to ensure they arrived in perfect condition. From having very little need for parcel services, this need increased dramatically over the past couple of years and whilst the business probably still has a lower usage than some, sending these items via Royal Mail was just not an option based on pricing and reliability.
The Solution:
After doing some research online into the seemingly ever increasing number of courier and parcel delivery companies, Ali’s Craft Studio came across a discussion regarding the subject on a craft forum they are a member of. ipostparcels.com was mentioned as a good option which encouraged them to try the service on their next delivery orders. An introductory offer also helped as cost was a major factor in their decision of who to use.
Ali’s Craft Studio are now sending heavier, bulkier parcels of promotional keyrings and other items which need to arrive safely and quickly, without breaking the bank! The amount of parcels they send varies from month to month so using one of the companies where a monthly minimum is required in order to attract discounted prices is just not an option.
The Results:
As Ali’s Craft Studio’s postage and packaging is a set charge, it was important that they didn’t find themselves out of pocket on those orders which require a more secure service or parcel delivery. Customers are very cost conscious at the moment so delivery charges need to be kept low however fast turnaround is key too. ipostparcels.com’s affordable next day delivery means they can reliably inform customers of when they will receive their goods & the confirmation e-mail received post-delivery means they have the reassurance that all has arrived on time. As a sole trader, having the parcels collected from the studio without needing to spend time queuing at a post office is essential to the business – as any time out of the studio means time not creating or dealing with new enquiries.
Quote:
"I’ve been using ipostparcels for over 2 years now & looking forward to many more in future. As it’s an online service it initially proved a little tricky when I had some enquiries regarding a Saturday delivery. However when I did speak to customer services, they were helpful, efficient and quickly refunded the additional fee I had paid for delivery on the Saturday. Other than this, I have never had a problem either with collection or delivery – all have been on the days booked, can’t ask for more than that! The system is very easy to use & I have not had any issues with this at all. Some of the other couriers I looked at seemed to require a degree in nuclear physics to understand the booking process!"
"I always recommend ipostparcels.com to other businesses all the time! If you want a reliable door-to-door service with friendly staff and great prices, look no further than Parcel Pete!"