Those who usually send parcels and those who are experienced in the parcel shipping business know perfectly well what we are talking about when we refer to triangular shipping. For everyone else, the following question may arise: what does triangular parcel shipping mean? Quite simply, triangular parcel shipment is that particular practice which allows conceal the real sender of the parcel in question.
More specifically, triangular shipping is a special service offered by all online shipping platforms that allows those interested to order a shipment, but from an address that is not their own and to yet another address, which usually coincides with that of the customer. It goes without saying, therefore, that this service is very useful and, consequently, much used by the various online business activities and the various e-commerceIn fact, these realities very often need their own suppliers to ship the purchased product to the customer and in this sense triangular shipment is the only possible way to do this. But from what does this need arise? Probably, this need arises from the fact that online businesses or e-commerce businesses do not have the product chosen by the customer in their own warehouse, or it arises from the fact that, very often, it happens that online businesses or e-commerce businesses do not have their own warehouse and therefore rely on suppliers.
Despite the fact that the actual expedition is organised and completed by a third individual, which, as we shall see, coincides with the figure of the supplier, on the shipping label the sender's data will coincide with the data of the online business or e-commerce: in this way, the real origin will remain unknown to the recipient and the real sender - as we said a few lines ago - will remain hidden.
Now that we have explained what triangular shipment consists of, let us find out together how to send parcels in triangulation: we will then explain what the operation of this particular type of shipment and will list the various advantages.
Sending parcels by triangulation: how it works
In order to explain the process of triangular dispatch in a simple manner, one must begin by defining the roles of the three individuals involved in this practice, which are as follows.
- The first individual is the initiator of the triangular shipment, which coincides with the’online business or with the’e-commerce within which products are ordered and purchased.
- But who is in charge of ordering and purchasing the products? The second individual, who coincides with the customer and, therefore, with the addressee of the expedition.
- And finally, who is in charge of the actual shipment? The third individual in this triangulation, which usually coincides with the supplier.
In practice, therefore, the order placed within the online shop or e-commerce business by the customer is addressed to the supplier, who will package the parcel, affixing a label on its surface with the data of the online shop or e-commerce business; finally, the supplier will choose the express courier to whom to entrust the shipment (which may be, for example, the BRT courier), who will deliver the parcel to the addressee, i.e. the customer.
The data label, which - let us remember - is the data of the online business or e-commerce, serves precisely to conceal the actual sender, so that the recipient will never be aware of this intermediate step. The end result, therefore, is a faster shipping, within which both time and costs are optimised.
Sending parcels by triangulation: what are the advantages
As we have seen, and especially for those not familiar with this sector and this specific type of parcel shipments (which may also concern the international shipments), triangular parcel delivery seems to be a rather complex and cumbersome procedure. So why take advantage of this particular and difficult practice? The answer is very simple: triangular freight forwarding, in addition to various difficulties, also has many and varied advantages.
All these advantages can be summed up in one term, which coincides with the saving. By savings, however, we do not only mean the financial savings, which are nevertheless present, since triangular shipping saves on shipping costs: through triangular shipping, in fact, as we have seen, it is possible to avoid an extra shipment and this obviously allows saving money.
But what are the other areas where triangular shipping saves money? Let's find out together.
- Triangulation shipping allows saving time. Just think, for example, of all the times when an online business or an e-commerce company does not have a product in its warehouse: without triangular shipping, these businesses would have to wait for the supplier to ship the goods to them and, only then, could the goods actually be shipped to the final recipient, i.e. the customer. We know very well, however, that from the customer's point of view, waiting time is a very important aspect in defining their purchasing experience and, therefore, implementing triangular shipping will not only save time, but will also result in greater customer satisfaction.
- Finally, triangular dispatch also allows you to saving on logistics. Online businesses and ecommerce companies that make use of this shipping, in fact, have the possibility of first of all saving on the running costs of a possible warehouse (simply by not having one); in addition, these businesses also save on their workload, packaging costs, shipping costs and much more.
In other words, triangular shipping is a very useful practice for online businesses and ecommerce companies, since it saves them money in many different aspects and, consequently, also allows them to increase their sales, earnings and final turnover.
