BrochurePlace.com benefits from enhanced shipment visibility and fast, cost-effective delivery to U.S. customers

For a growing number of businesses throughout North America, BrochurePlace.com is the spot for full-colour business cards, brochures, flyers, postcards and other printed materials. But it wasn't always this way. Like most online businesses, the company struggled with the "Achilles' heel" of online selling – getting products to customers quickly and cost-effectively.

"The Internet is a tough place to do business," says Richard Burke, vice-president and founder of BrochurePlace.com. "We needed to make it easy for customers to a) trust us, and b) order print jobs, without ever having seen us. Then we needed to get those orders to the customers quickly." BrochurePlace.com was launched in 2000 and has since grown rapidly. Its innovative Web site allows customers to order a range of printed materials and have them delivered to their door within days. There's even a special 48-hour brochure service.

As the company grew, it faced a number of challenges: a costly, time-consuming process for shipping across the border; tracking that made it difficult to answer inquiries on order status; and the reluctance of many U.S. customers to order printing jobs from a Canadian address. Fortunately, UPS's solutions solved all these problems.

A seamless southbound border
In the past, BrochurePlace.com shipped individually to customers in the United States, incurring shipping fees and customs brokerage charges on every order. "Doing this was very expensive," says Burke. "So much so that it kept us out of some industry sectors, like business cards."

To lower costs, the company contracted a transportation company that offered consolidated shipping and warehousing. "But this only made things worse," Burke complains. "Not only was it difficult to track orders, but there were ongoing incidents of delays and incorrect shipments. Nothing destroys customer trust like shipping the wrong box. It was a nightmare." That's when, in early 2003, Burke learned about UPS Trade Direct^TM Cross Border (TDCB). It couldn't have happened at a better time.

TDCB is a part of a suite of Trade Direct^TM products that are fully integrated logistics solutions. It provides freight consolidation; air, ocean and ground transportation; customs clearance; and direct delivery to addresses within the destination country, all through a single vendor. It's like having the benefits of a U.S. location -- but none of the hassles.

"Right from the beginning we were impressed with the level of attention UPS gave us. They really took the time to understand our business and were dedicated to making it better," says Burke.

Here's how TDCB works for BrochurePlace.com:

• At their Canadian facility, BrochurePlace.com staff prepare orders to be shipped to U.S. customers.
• UPS transports these individual orders as one consolidated shipment to the U.S. border.
• At the border, UPS clears the consolidated shipment through customs as a single entry, incurring just one brokerage fee.
• Once stateside, the consolidated shipment is transported to the UPS facility in Buffalo.
• UPS staff break down the consolidated shipment into individual orders, which already are labelled for delivery.
• UPS delivers orders to BrochurePlace.com customers throughout the United States.

Since implementing the solution, costs are down significantly due to consolidated shipments, consolidated customs entry, and domestic U.S. shipping rates. "It's a huge cost savings for us," says Burke. Now BrochurePlace.com can offer U.S. customers the full breadth of their online products and services, profitably.

"But the real benefit," Burke points out, "is from the perspective of our U.S. customers. They receive their shipments from a U.S. address, which eliminates any hesitation of dealing with a 'foreign' company." As a result, U.S. sales have boomed.

At-a-glance visibility into multiple shipments
Another issue the company faced was tracking shipments. Customers naturally wanted to know when to expect delivery of their orders. They would e-mail and phone. BrochurePlace. com often had to look up and type in tracking numbers one at a time, which slowed things down and decreased customer service levels.

"It was crucial that we make it as easy as possible for customers to learn the shipping status of their orders," says Burke. Now, thanks to UPS, it is.

One of the benefits of TDCB is that individual tracking numbers are generated right away -- before the consolidated shipment even reaches the border, so there's no waiting.

" These UPS solutions have helped us make the big time."

In addition, BrochurePlace.com implemented UPS's Quantum View Manage, a Web-based service that lets the company view the progress of shipments on-screen without having to input tracking numbers.

"Today, when a customer wants to know the status of an order, we can 'see' it in transit," says Burke. "If we want to see which shipments have already been delivered, we just click the 'delivered shipment' icon." Not only has Quantum View Manage saved time, it has improved customer satisfaction. "And in an online business like ours," Burke points out, "that's the key to success.

" BrochurePlace.com also has set preferences within Quantum View Manage so that customers are automatically notified by e-mail when a shipment reaches its destination. The e-mail also includes the tracking number and scheduled delivery date.

A Top 1,000 Web site
Since implementing UPS solutions, BrochurePlace.com has joined a distinguished group that includes such online success stories as Amazon.com and eBay. "We're among the top 1,000 sellers on the Internet, which are those with more than $1 million in online sales," says Burke. "These UPS solutions have helped us make the big time. And UPS has always bent over backwards to help us. We're very satisfied.