Tag: Canada

ShipGooder takes shipping to the next dimension

Posted by | Mar 26, 2008 | |

It’s an old question with an interesting twist: Which costs more to ship – a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers? The answer: It depends on the size of the box.

Couriers use package dimensions to determine the “dimensional weight” of a shipment. Large packages cost couriers more to ship than smaller packages. Couriers charge this higher cost to their shipping customers. For example, if a square box measures 24 inches on each side, the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx UPS and DHL count the weight of the box as 72 pounds, even if the box and its contents weigh only 25 pounds.

ShipGooder.com, the market leader for providing courier rate searches across multiple carriers, today announced the launch of a new dimensional weight feature. In addition, ShipGooder.com announced a new function to allow visitors to specify a residential destination for their shipments.

Visitors to ShipGooder.com simply enter their shipping origin and destination zip codes, along with the dimensions and weight of their shipment. Package dimensions can be input when visitors click on the “advanced options” link on the homepage. ShipGooder automatically determines the dimensional weight of the package to calculate the ultimate shipping weight that couriers will charge. Current rates from the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, UPS and DHL are instantly displayed in a simple table along with rates from local and regional carriers.

Once the rates are displayed, ShipGooder’s AJAX technology allows visitors to change any shipping parameter, such as the package weight or destination zip code to see updates to the rates in real-time. Additionally, the free website does not require visitors to register any personal information, and does not clutter its pages with distracting ads.

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DHL targets Canadian SMEs through retail partnership

Posted by | Mar 25, 2008 | |

DHL Express Canada launched a partnership with Grand & Toy, Canada’s biggest supplier of office products and complete business solutions, to offer courier services to small- and medium enterprises and thus helping them streamline their daily operations.

The new partnership is part of DHL’s strategy to expand its presence in the Canadian market by opening street level retail stores through which to serve new and existing customers. The agreement also includes the launch of new design and print centres to assist small businesses with their graphic design and printing needs.

The Design & Print Centres allow business owners to print everything from business cards to promotional materials. They can select a design from a menu of options, or add an existing logo, image or word mark to their materials. All orders will be professionally printed, and can be delivered to any location within seven business days.

DHL customers who miss their scheduled pick-up times during business hours can now drop off packages at any Grand & Toy store as some locations remain open after 5 p.m. They can also profit from DHL’s overnight, ground and international delivery services while Grand & Toy account holders are given preferred rates.

The new courier, design and print services are accessible to both account and walk-in customers through any Grand & Toy store. Trained in-store associates are on hand to guide small business customers with the new services, allowing them to deal with their time sensitive shipping, marketing and other office needs from one convenient location.

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Canada Post seeks new ways to protect carriers from dog, bear and human attack

Posted by | Mar 17, 2008 | |

Canada Post is looking for a new weapon to protect its carriers from dogs, bears and the occasional violent human.

The Crown corporation is asking manufacturers to come forward with alternatives to the small pepper-spray cans that posties now carry, which can be ineffective in a strong wind or when dogs move too quickly.

“We’re looking for the latest technology or products that are out there to protect our employees,” corporation spokesman John Caines said from Ottawa.

About 300 Canada Post workers are bitten on the job every year, Caines said. Most bites are minor. Some, however, are debilitating.

“I had a gash along my leg – about five inches long and an inch wide – and I had to get a skin graft,” said Gary Garbutt, a retired postal worker who still clearly remembers a 1986 pit bull attack in Winnipeg’s tony Charleswood neighbourhood that left him in hospital for 10 days.

“He got me on the inside of my wrist, too, and made a gash there of about two inches (before the owner called him off).”

Pepper spray might not have made much difference in Garbutt’s case, he said, because the dog was on him before he knew it.

“I turned around, he was eight feet away. He was on my leg before I had a chance to do anything,” Garbutt said.

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Canada Post Hosts 'LIFT,' 5th Annual Direct Summit for Retailers

Posted by | Mar 7, 2008 | |

Canada Post announced today the conference dates for the Direct Summit, a conference dedicated to the advancement of the Multi-Channel Retail Industry in Canada. Summit delegates will meet April 21-23 at the Pantages Hotel and Spa in Toronto.

“The main theme for this year’s conference centers on the customer experience and increasing the lift in consumer response through direct marketing,” said Laurene Cihosky, SVP of Direct Marketing for Canada Post. “Retailers at the Summit have a tremendous opportunity to network and talk about what works.”

The Direct Summit will include speakers from Google Inc., LL Bean, JC Williams Group and Future Shop, winner of the Retail Council of Canada’s 2007 Multi-Channel Retailer of the Year award. More than 130 retailers attended the Summit last year.

The keynote speaker is Jeanne Bliss, managing partner at CustomerBliss and author of Chief Customer Officer; Getting Past Lip Service to Passionate Action. For 25 years, Jeanne Bliss reported to the Presidents of direct retailer Lands’ End, Allstate, Mazda, Microsoft and Coldwell Banker Corporation as their Chief Customer Officer. Bliss is considered a leader in changing the culture and DNA of companies and making them more effective.

The Direct Summit is unique because of the peer-to-peer interaction. Senior delegates will learn strategies their peers are employing to capitalize on Canada’s strong dollar, and identify co-marketing partnerships to attract and convert new market segments. Add to that, a “Catalogue Critique Clinic” which will provide expert advice from executives at St. Joseph Content/Pi Media, who will review a number of current North American catalogues, identifying what works in each and what can be improved.

According to eMarketer, the Canadian direct retail industry will have increased by 45 percent by the end of 2007. Senior Analyst, Jeffrey Grau, will present eMarketer’s new forecast about online retail sales in Canada and will discuss which factors will drive market growth in 2008 and beyond. Jeff will also draw from a rich set of survey data from eMarketer’s latest report on Canada’s growing “etailing” industry and U.S. multi-channel retailing trends to present lessons for Canadian online retail marketers.

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Dump the junk mail (Canada)

Posted by | Mar 7, 2008 | |

Albertans opt out of receiving unaddressed ad mail at a rate of more than twice the national average, according to Canada Post. Canada-wide, only six per cent of households ask the postal service not to deliver unaddressed ad mail. Fourteen per cent, or 206,000 Alberta households, ask Canada Post to stop.

Grassroots efforts in the province may have boosted our spurning of junk mail. One such effort is the Dump the Junk campaign, launched by the Clean Calgary Association about a year ago. Since the campaign’s start, the non-profit environmental organization has sold more than 5,000 “no junk mail” stickers at USD 2 a pop. These stickers help stop unaddressed ad mail. The campaign also provides information on how to stop addressed ad mail by removing yourself from marketing contact lists.

Lindsay Luhnau, who helped launch the Dump the Junk campaign, says if enough people exercise their consumer choice, there will be a net reduction in the volume of ad mail produced and, ultimately, fewer trees will be cut down.

John Caines, a spokesperson for Canada Post, says the postal service’s advanced databases allow marketers to see how many people have opted out of receiving ad mail, which not only helps the environment, but also saves companies money by preventing them from printing more flyers than needed.

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