A recent new study by Freightos finds that forwarders are failing online freight sales test . While most of the ‘top 20’ freight forwarders are missing sales opportunities by failing to respond to customers’ quote requests, iContainers provides through its innovative online platform real-time freight quotes with best rates guaranteed from the top shipping companies.
In terms of the quote itself, only 45% of forwarders ultimately provided a quote. The average quote time was 90 hours. The most prompt response took 30 hours, while the slowest quote time was a full 840 hours. And only five companies followed up after providing the quote in order to attempt to secure the business.
In terms of forwarders’ responsiveness: Of the 16 forwarders that quotes were requested from, 75% of the forwarders did not automatically confirm receiving the request. Three of the sixteen forwarders never ended up responding to the initial quote, instantly losing out on the sale.
iContainers is filling the gap. It not only provides real-time freight quotes , it also includes an easy way to book and pay shipments online , all the necessary tools to manage import/export documentation , a system to track shipments and easy access to all shipments’ details , final quote and legal invoice.
In a scenario where shippers are increasingly likely to buy both goods and services online, the industry is still awakening to the huge potential for online sales. Most top forwarders are providing a slow and tedious freight pricing and quoting. And customers don’t want that.
iContainers is fully aware of the importance of this channel : with more than 150,000 online quotes, it has a dedicated team specialized in customizing rates for any business worldwide. With offices in Miami (USA), Barcelona (Spain) and Ahmedabad (India), iContainers also offers customs clearance services and inland transportation quotes. This complete range of services compelled iContainers to gain significant expertise in the freight forwarding industry, having built intense relationships with freight forwarders from China, India, Pakistan and Emirates. iContainers aggregates private freight rates for 100,000 trade routes to more than 300 destinations, including South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia.
Online travel sites have already changed the way we travel, now it is time to see how online freight sales will change the way we do business internationally. Shippers demand a quick response. The future, the present, is for companies who fulfill customers’ online quotation requests in a timely and user-friendly manner or way.
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