BOXcast by Pitney Bowes Pitney Bowes

Vijay, Pierce and Julia brag about four Pitney Bowes clients that are hitting homers with each of the core pillars of the online order experience—and how we used our secret shopping data to identify them.

Digressions include the 19th-century origins of mystery shopping, order tracking maps that really only “track” the buyer’s home address, and the many trials and tribulations of printing return labels.

In 2020 and 2021, carriers were in the driver’s seat when it came to ecommerce logistics, thanks to limited capacity and astronomical online demand. In 2022, demand has shifted and the tables have turned, giving shippers more control. Vijay and Nate Skiver — BOXcast’s first outside guest — dig into shifting market dynamics, the state of multicarrier strategy, and where we’re headed as the nature of online demand changes.

Americans are less sensitive to international shipping costs than Canadians. The Canadian definition of “three-day shipping” is more generous than that of most Americans. And the number one reason Canadian shoppers abandon carts from the U.S… is completely within retailers’ power to fix.



Vijay, Sam and Stacy dig into the latest BOXpoll data revealing consumer mindsets on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border and share actionable insights for online retailers in both countries to win more conversions from the other side. In typical BOXcast fashion, Sam’s dad makes an appearance as the voice of the people, and the expertise of our in-house brain trust completely steamrolls the 30-minute target episode length.

In part two of our blast-from-the-past holiday peak recap, Vijay, Jon and Lindsey share strategies to help improve forecasting accuracy, best practices for delay notifications and simple fixes to prevent unnecessarily delayed packages in the upcoming peak season. Also a story about why Sam’s parents’ cat is eating like il capo amid supply chain challenges.  

With peak season around the corner, we roll back the tape on 2021 peak for lessons shippers can apply this year. In part one, Vijay, Sam and Lindsey recap the good, the bad and the ugly—namely, difficulty forecasting (brought on by supply & demand uncertainty), multicarrier strategies and disruptions showing up in the most unlikely places. We discuss why products sold online will likely need to be designed smaller and the catalog’s continued relevance (but sometimes not in a good way).  

We cover the most effective ways retailers can use sustainability incentives to reduce return rates, how much consumers are willing to pay to offset the carbon footprint of their online orders and steps we’ve taken here at Pitney Bowes to take care of the planet. Also, Jon’s daughter pours cold water on his dream car (in the name of environment).



Host:

Vijay Ramachandran, VP Go-To-Market Enablement and Experience



In this episode:

Jon Kapplow, SVP Marketing & Communications

Michael McComb, SVP Sales North America

Sylvain Combet, Director - Sustainability and EHS