BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Bicycle shipping service and bike box supplier BikeFlights.com has reported the best on-time delivery performance for its bikes, wheels and gear shipments.
“Like most companies, we’ve had to respond to a variety of new business challenges during this past year; and as many of us have experienced firsthand, shipping during the COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult,” said William Alcorn, president of BikeFlights.com. “While everyone was staying home, we worked hard behind the scenes to improve our operations to ensure that we maintain the five-star service that our customers have come to expect.”
BikeFlights.com delivered customers’ shipments on time at rates of 98.8%, 96.4% and 97.3% respectively during three peak shipping periods of the pandemic in 2020. Its results were better than those of UPS, FedEx and the US Postal Service as tallied by ShipMatrix, it said.
“The pandemic brought challenges like large numbers of temporarily and permanently closed businesses, rising shipping costs and consistently record-breaking volumes of shipments,” said Alcorn. “We adapted by launching services like Preferred Handling, improving our monitoring of shipments and rolling out our new BikeFlights bike shipping boxes. We did this all while continuing to offer low shipping costs and excellent customer service to our individual consumer and business customers.”
The company also offered on-time delivery for most shipments throughout the entire year. On-time delivery percentages ranged from 96.34% to 99.07% during 2020. Soft launched in December of 2020, Preferred Handling gives more accountability for high-value bikes, wheels and gear moving through the carrier system. All BikeFlights.com shipments automatically qualify for the Preferred Handling service upgrade when customers opt for $1,000 or more of Premium Protection per box or case. Preferred Handling is available in most locations in the US, Canada and the EU.
New bike shipping boxes are also near the top of the list of BikeFlights.com’s 2020 improvements. With supply chains strained and used boxes more scarce than ever at local bike shops, BikeFlights innovative boxes are sturdy, recyclable and reusable and come in two sizes for shipping most types of bikes. They are available for purchase through BikeFlights.com’s online store and ship direct-to-consumer within one to three days to most locations within the continental US.
BikeFlights has been working closely with its carrier to upgrade its monitoring systems to improve resolutions for delayed and lost shipments. Such enhancements now give all BikeFlights.com customers access to enterprise-level solutions for keeping their shipments on track. BikeFlights.com has also hired more people to support customers and improved internal staff education to address the increasingly complex shipping challenges.
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