Key Aspects of Split Shipment for eCommerce Marketplace Management

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Split Shipment Advantages for Enterprise eCommerce

Split Shipment Fundamentals for eCommerce Marketplace Management

For split shipments, the idea is not just about enabling a classical version of split shipping where items go to different locations. They might have different origins or destinations, but it’s also about being able to do advanced things with intermodal. Someone could be using their own carrier and detailed pieces like passing along the billing information, etc.

In summary, with any enterprise eCommerce system or marketplace software, there can be a strong need for the ability to handle high fidelity shipping scenarios and automating that as much as possible. Not having that capability can be a major competitive disadvantage, especially nowadays when most businesses are expecting a lot of automation. A lot of the demographics of the buyers for certain industries are such that they are expecting more of a B2C and automated workflow to exist for all their transactions, including B2B interactions.

In general, one of the most fundamental aspects of split shipping is being able to have multiple origins and multiple destinations and to be able to discreetly determine this per item and per quantity of item within a group. So being able to send the same SKU, different quantities to different locations is very important.

split shipment fundamentals

It's also possible that with items that someone is purchasing, they may want to split ship to multiple locations within a company, and they want to ship to all of those locations, each getting one item or a certain number of items, and in a lot of cases, clients need to be able to bulk upload the splitting of the shipment information so that we can, precisely and automatically, allow each of the addresses and each of the quantities of the items to get into the system, and either renew an order to all these locations, or set up an order manually using a bulk import of the order items and their locations.

Generally speaking, though, with a split shipment, the primary concept that is the end user needs to be able to send one or more items to another location other than the primary address for the order. Whenever they're doing that, they need to see estimates for the shipping cost and the lead time, as well as any changes to the taxes or other things, like customs and duties if it's an international shipment. This should all be visually presented in a very clear way.

Ensure the items go to the right place

Verify the Addresses for Split Shipment

Whenever we’re doing split shipments, it’s also important to be able to verify the address whenever possible, and that’s why we incorporate third party APIs that can enable off-the-shelf address verification. We can work with many different address verification providers, including standard carriers like the US Postal Service address verification, and advanced address verification through companies like Melissa Data. We also work with tax providers, such as Avalara, to get address verification. The list goes on as far as different address verification software that we can work with, but this can be really important when it comes to getting accurate shipping information, so that accurate shipments go out. It’s also key that we are able to show the user these different addresses and verify that they chose the correct one instead of just what was typed in, which might be slightly off.

Customized Software to Meet Your Needs and Boost User Experience

Split Shipment Software Customizations and Adaptive UI

split shipment software customizations

In addition, with split shipping, it's also really, really helpful to have an address book so we can select from there, including for different corporate locations and in general. Being able to label and manage the addresses within the address book and have a visual indication of where these are on a map or being able to have a nickname that makes sense for that scenario; for example, they might tie in with an account name, or be a shortened name of some kind. That way, folks can see that this is the London office, and this is the New York warehouse, etc. This can help cue the user so that whenever they’re selecting an address, they do, in fact, select the right address information in the checkout process (as typically the split shipping options are part of the checkout process).

It can be incorporated further up the funnel in the cart as well, so that people can get accurate shipping estimates, but typically it is incorporated into the checkout area, and it can be challenging to deal with when there are significant number of items that need to be split out. So, we enable a myriad of different variations on the split check out options

Specifically, whenever there are dozens of items in the card that need to go to different addresses, we can present the user interface in a very specific way that matches for your business and the business specific needs. It is also possible to simply split the check out into multiple logical sets of checkouts. But generally speaking, most clients prefer to have a lot of control over the user interface when we’re going through the discovery process and working through the designs. We’ll ask you how many customers and how often there will be scenarios where there are dozens and dozens of items in the cart. This doesn’t occur very often for most folks, but some clients do have that scenario where dozens and dozens of items need to be shipped to different locations, so we just need to adapt the UI for that and make sure that the users’ experience is a really strong one.

Buyer Groups in the eMarketplace

Handle Complex Split Shipment Needs for Buyer Groups

Oftentimes with a buyer group and marketplace, there are scenarios where multiple people or organizations are purchasing an item, and so we need to be able to handle that as well so that every single one of those purchasers in this collective group are getting their items on group buying platforms.

In some cases, clients need their own shipping providers to handle the shipments, so split shipments can mean more than just splitting out the ordered items and having the shipments go to different addresses. In many cases it might mean that each of the line items or split out shipments may be using a separate carrier with a really specific count number.

With this in mind, we have the capability of incorporating this type of logic into the checkout process on the group buying platform. Therefore, if every buyer in a buying group wants to use their own shipping provider or logistics account, they can do so by providing that in their profile area for their accounts. If they don’t do that, then we can still provide them with the default shipping options. These include traditional shipping options, parcel, freight, and LTL (less-than-truckload) shipping options.

So, they would have these defaults, and then if they wanted more custom or optimized shipping options for their business needs, they could input their specific account information and select what carrier they’re going to use.

Buyer groups in eCommerce marketplace
Intermodal Shipping Capabilities are Crucial

Intermodal Split Shipment Capabilities with Clarity’s eCommerce Platform

Intermodal Split Shipment Capabilities making people happy

Additionally, it is common to have intermodal shipping in marketplace eCommerce. Split shipping is crucial for this because there may be a situation where once a container is filled, it gets shipped to, for example the United States from a different region, but then once it’s at the US Harbor, the items are split into train shipments and then further distributed and taken to each precise location via truck load.

This type of scenario can be quite complex when it comes to a typical off-the-shelf eCommerce platform. In fact, most off-the-shelf and SaaS based eCommerce platforms simply couldn’t handle that scenario. But we can with our eCommerce platform, and we recommend looking for a partner who can enable the capability of having these containers and showing the splits of those items once the container has arrived, and the multiple steps of the transportation process, as well as the associated costs.

Typically, the cost is going to be the main driving factor behind whether someone uses a container shipment or an airplane to ship it. Maybe they have a really urgent set of items that they need, and then the rest of the items can come over via container just fine. This can also apply for parcel shipments, in which they may need some items sent overnight and some items can be sent through ground transportation.

Furthermore, we work with PunchOut Catalog, cXML, and EDI to receive these bulk orders and be able to process split shipping with the aforementioned robust capabilities in an automated fashion. We also enable a very secure, robust API that can be displayed securely for a particular client, so they have their own credentials and API key to turn out orders and receive order status.

Clarity Can Help

As you can see, split shipping is really key for many different businesses. The logistical aspects of the process can make or break a company’s ability to keep customers happy and drive their business forward. Therefore, it is ideal to partner with someone who has expertise in these areas and can build a platform that directly suits your business’s needs.

We are happy to discuss these matters further with you and answer any questions you may have about split shipping or its opposite, partial shipping. We provide a free demo and no-obligation price quote, so feel free to click the button below to get in touch with one of our experts.

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