Revolutionizing Wine Delivery: Wineshipping's Journey and Success with AfterShip Tracking

Delivering alcoholic beverages is more complex than it seems. Not only do you have to ensure that orders arrive safely and on time, but you also have to be mindful of all the laws and regulations that come with it. It's not just about delivery, it's about delivering with care, precision, and a whole lot of responsibility. Wineshipping, a tech-enabled 3PL specializing in wine deliveries, faced these challenges head-on with the help of AfterShip.

Pawel Smolarkiewicz, Wineshipping's Chief Experience and Innovation Officer, knew that in order to stay competitive, they had to go beyond just shipping wine and focus on delivering exceptional customer service. In the process, they achieved some noteworthy benchmarks including:

• 80% reduction in WISMO for wineries
• 10% improvement in first delivery attempt success rate
• 10x ROI

The Challenge: Shipment Visibility

Visibility throughout the wine shipping journey is key to ensuring a successful delivery. This is because wine deliveries require over the age of 21 to be available to receive the package, so without a clear tracking system, there can be many failed delivery attempts and returned packages. High rates of shipment exceptions and returns not only lead to huge losses but also result in unsatisfied customers, which can harm the reputation of the business.

Wineshipping operates as a temperature-controlled carrier in the first leg of the logistics process and collaborates with other carriers like FedEx and UPS for last-mile deliveries. This added complexity makes it difficult for legacy tracking solutions to align with their specific requirements.

The Solution: AfterShip Tracking

Wineshipping was on the hunt for a shipment tracking solution that was not just quick and dependable, but also had a strong history of success, offered a robust API, and came with the ability to customize as needed. Their aim? To build a thorough end-to-end tracking system covering all stages of the shipping journey, from the first leg to the last mile. They had some chats with AfterShip and came away feeling positive. They believed AfterShip could meet their needs and go above and beyond.

Why were they so confident? Well, AfterShip Tracking has handled billions of pieces of tracking data and offers an open API that's super reliable. Plus, it has great customization options, letting them build flexible notification workflows based on the tracking statuses they set. For example, they use cool trucks for long hauls and pop in ice packs to keep wine chilled during transit before passing the shipment onto last-mile carriers like UPS or FedEx. In this case, they can even have a special status for 'inserting ice packs at the transit center.'

What’s more, AfterShip Tracking's detailed analytics can help them keep an eye on carrier performance and get their last-mile carrier strategy just right. They can also use AfterShip Tracking's parent-child org structure to offer their clients—all 1,500 wineries—a personalized tracking and notification system.

The Outcomes

AfterShip empowered Wineshipping with an agile solution through its tech—one that helped this tech-enabled 3PL give its clients the best customer experience. We saw this in 4 areas:

1. End-To-End Shipment Visibility

Wineshipping improved the shopper experience by redirecting them to the winery's tracking page instead of the carrier's. Now, they stay within the familiar ecosystem and enjoy a streamlined and user-friendly journey. It's a simple solution that makes tracking more intuitive and efficient.

Partnering with AfterShip has also helped to reduce WISMO calls by providing winery customers with enhanced visibility through our tracking system. Wineries have reported up to an 80% decrease in WISMO calls, resulting in a better customer experience and increased trust in the retailer. Efficient order tracking brings peace of mind to customers and solidifies wineries' reputation as reliable and customer-centric businesses.

2. Carrier SLA Compliance and Optimized Logistics Management

With AfterShip, Wineshipping can access shipping performance reports to make data-driven decisions. Dashboards like shipment analytics, transit time, and on-time performance help Wineshipping hold carriers accountable, track efficiency, and provide insight into failed deliveries. Karin Strykowski, Client Experience Strategy Manager at Wineshipping, says this data helps the team understand returns and plan accordingly.

Analyzing carrier performance has also led to fascinating discoveries. For instance, Wineshipping found that carrier performance varies nationwide due to a myriad of reasons including location, carrier-specific policies, wide-ranging service level agreements, and network complexity among competitors handling the last mile. Insights into carrier performance help them choose carriers and ensure excellent delivery. Data-driven decisions streamline operations and enhance customer satisfaction.

“Analytics has saved our account managers a lot of time, also empowered them to be smarter, and helped our clients to be more successful.”

Pawel Smolarkiewicz, CXO at Wineshipping

3. Optimized Business Strategy

Executives use analytic tools to gain insights into client interactions, evaluating performance in key areas such as shipments, service quality, and consumer markets. Data-driven decision-making helps identify strengths and weaknesses, leading to effective strategies and alignment with client needs.

AfterShip developed a company console view specifically for Wineshipping, that allows them to see all wineries’ data in an aggregated view. While building out the company console, AfterShip and Wineshipping used a parent-child structure that has been vital for quality assurance and continuous improvement. This structure allows Wineshipping to use AfterShip to conduct business reviews with each winery to ensure top performance. Within this system, Wineshipping has visibility of shipment reviews, can investigate 1 or 2-star ratings, and collaborate with wineries to address issues and improve. This proactive feedback approach enhances service quality and strengthens winery relationships.

4. Disruption of the DTC Space

Wineshipping aims to disrupt the DTC wine industry by offering premium services that enhance its business model and bring more value to clients. They facilitate industry growth by eliminating pricing obstacles, enhancing customer satisfaction, and expanding the market.

Their unique approach includes charging wineries based on bundled rates that encapsulate storage, transportation, packaging, and technology access, making it a comprehensive solution for wineries seeking to expand their reach.

To accomplish this, Pawel and the Wineshipping team made a strategic decision to extend AfterShip's premium features to as many clients as possible. One key aspect of this is the use of AfterShip analytics. Wineshipping uses these analytics to educate clients, emphasizing that predictability for the consumer is more important than speed.

Moreover, with Wineshipping’s Premium Tracking, wineries can send automated tracking notifications to shoppers. This not only keeps the customer informed but also directs them to a branded tracking page, enhancing the overall customer experience and building brand identity. Splash Wines used this exact method and saw that their branded tracking pages drove 2x more referral program registrations.

Through their innovative approach, Wineshipping is not just servicing the industry; they're transforming it.

Conclusion

Innovative strategies, powerful technology and the right strategic partner completely transformed Wineshipping. With analytics and premium tracking, they achieved excellent results:

• 80% decrease in WISMO inquiries
• 10% improvement in first delivery attempt rate
• 30% reduction in returns
• Tenfold in return on investment

While impressive, Pawel seeks further improvements to enhance client experience. AfterShip's tracking solution has not only boosted Wineshipping's competitiveness but also revolutionized the DTC wine industry, setting new standards in customer experience and logistics. With their ongoing partnership, Wineshipping is set for more growth and success.