Courier Services Delivering Next-Level Digital Interactions
Physical distancing and confinement measures have accelerated already growing trends in online shopping. By the end of May 2020, online orders had, on average, more than doubled year-on-year in North America and were up by 50% in Europe. In turn, this massive increase triggered similar growth for the courier services market. In CEE, this shift in consumer behavior led to average growth rates in the package delivery volumes of 20%, with some months even surpassing this percentage.
This compelled the market’s main players to move in response to consumer expectations and make changes not only on the operational side but also to support bigger volumes. Instead, they moved to transform their customer support and interaction processes to deal more efficiently with the growing number of people using the services.
Delivering value right at the customer's fingertips
The partnership enabled the deployment of an FAQ chatbot on the FAN Courier website, with a secondary access route from Facebook Messenger, a popular channel for customer interactions for Romanian customers.
The disruption in both the marketplace and the workplace is a defining factor contributing to the growing demand for automation. Rising expectations from a new breed of digitally savvy customers have brought many leasing companies to the point of inflection.
- Enable faster delivery, tracking parcels, importing and tracking multiple AWBs.
- Support extended Self-AWB capabilities for complex cargo shipment scenarios.
- Offer modern, digital conversational experience.
- Automate customer support FAQ.
These challenges forced companies to accelerate their digital transformation, and as a result, Fan Courier saw an opportunity to innovate in customer support during this critical time.
The Challenge
Stuck at home, with little possibilities to get the products they needed without the help of couriers, stringently demanding consumers now needed constant information and a better way to communicate instead of waiting on the line for minutes on end to get in touch with a customer support agent. As the market leader, Fan Courier saw in this restrictive situation the opportunity to pivot and make fast changes to help it regain the trust of its consumers and position it for a later win, even as the emergency nature of the period would wear off.
The Solution
The leading courier service provider in CEE, FAN Courier, decided to implement DRUID technology and AI agent to enhance its customer service.
The AI agent, available on a 24/7 basis, offers customers up-to-date information regarding packages (tracking and expected delivery times), shipment insurances, payment methods, returns policy info, shipment registration program, domestic or international deliveries, freight, reimbursements, collect points, and many more. The AI agent capabilities were subsequently extended to cover the Self-AWB ability, making it possible to ensure faster delivery, track parcels entirely digitally, and import and track multiple AWBs in complex cargo shipment scenarios.
Learnings
Nowadays, customers’ experience with a service provider is increasingly shaped by digital interactions and the interfaces that enable them. The adoption of conversational interfaces is probably one of the most significant shifts, allowing a consumer to interact with a business seamlessly and naturally, with an extraordinarily positive impact on satisfaction levels and, subsequently, loyalty.
This transformation of businesses will lead to AI agents becoming a critical communication channel for customers over the next few years. Industry leaders are seeing the opportunity to set the stage for incorporating artificial intelligence throughout their customer-facing technologies to anticipate tomorrow’s demands. The mounting use of AI agents in customer support services has become prevalent.
And while the shipping and delivery industry may have assimilated the trend more gradually than some other industries, it is beginning to appreciate the potential they offer, and implementation rates are likely to accelerate.
