What is Booking?
Booking is the process of issuing a request to a shipping company to deliver a product to a given address. Companies that do not rely on third-party shipping companies are required to individually book each carrier and the suitable warehouse, along with all the intermediate processes necessary for a successful product delivery within a particular time.
Significance of Booking in an E-Commerce Shipping and Delivery
The success of an e-commerce shipping lifecycle is dictated by the correct choice of mediators who can collaborate effectively to accomplish the mentioned cycle within a specific timeframe. By making the right choices while booking for warehouses, and carriers, a seller can enjoy optimum transit times for a low shipping cost.
- Transit times: One must ensure that all the booked services can collaborate seamlessly to provide minimal transit times. Booking for services that can interlink effectively ensures low transit times.
- Pricing: While booking the services, a retailer can choose the pricing per the required services. Booking the assistance of an appropriate third-party mediator allows the seller to lower the shipping cost while maintaining the other requirements.
Prerequisites of Booking and How It Works
A seller must identify the mediators who can collaborate and accomplish a delivery. A retailer can either book each service individually or transfer the process to a shipping company.
- Booking with a shipping company: The retailer must compare the services and the subsequent pricing of different shipping companies and book a suitable company.
- Individual booking: The retailer must identify the mediators and book them accordingly. It includes warehouses, shipping carriers, and last-mile couriers.
Use Case with Booking
Two use cases with booking have been provided below.
- An e-commerce brand books a shipping company to deliver two self-tanning kits from Manila to Phuket.
- An e-commerce brand books a first-mile courier, a warehouse in Manila city, an air freight, another warehouse in Phuket, and a last-mile courier in Phuket to ship two self-tanning kits from Manila to Phuket.