One of the biggest frustrations for both customers and businesses alike is parcels getting trapped within the system, taking much longer than expected for your packages wrapped in beautiful custom cardboard boxes to arrive where they should go.

At worst, certain parcels can end up in the so-called ‘dead letter office’, a gigantic Belfast sorting warehouse where parcels and packages are painstakingly sorted for any possible clues as to their origin before being sent on, returned to sender or recycled.

This is never fun for anyone, as customers will often take their frustrations out on businesses, businesses will either have to refund customers, deal with poor feedback, or both, and nobody wants to navigate the dispute systems found with many sales platforms.

Whilst your company, unless its name is Royal Mail, is in control of the parcel delivery process, there are steps you can take to minimise the chances of something going wrong, and help reduce the liability on your business if it does.

To explain why, it is worth exploring the most common reasons why parcels are delayed, what aspects are in your control and what you can do to prevent or reduce the chance of it affecting you.

Why Do Address Mistakes Cause Huge Delays?

Probably the most readily apparent reason why parcels are not delivered is simply that the address is missing, misprinted or incorrect in one way or another.

This is not always the case, as postal delivery services have managed to remarkably get letters to their destination with incomplete or even nonsensical address information in the spirit of W Reginald Bray.

However, to minimise delays, make sure any address you have on file is correct, clearly printed and securely affixed to your parcel; ensuring that your design is made with a particular section for a label in mind can seriously help with this.

The key is ensuring that your parcel is designed to make it as easy as possible to clearly see where your product, parcel or gift is intended to go.

Can Documentation Issues Cause Huge Delays?

Similarly, if you are shipping internationally, ensuring that you have the right import/export documentation is key to avoiding major delays, inspections and damaged packaging and products.

Depending on where you are sending a parcel, customs authorities can sometimes keep a shipment at a port to inspect it further if they have questions or concerns, which can cause significant delays.

Having the right shipping information and ensuring you can track shipments is key here, but what can help is ensuring that your box is designed to safely store customs information, usually by having a waterproof bag or layer securely affixed to the top of the box.

Can You Avoid Parcels Being Damaged During Shipping?

Logistics firms will do what they can to ensure that your products are protected during the shipping process, but it often requires a coordinated effort between the delivery firm you are using and the packaging you are storing a package within.

Accidents, unfortunate situations, bumps and scrapes can occur and can sometimes cause damage to the surface of packaging, cause documentation to go missing or affect the legibility of labels.

Whilst you ultimately cannot stop any of these events from taking place, you can use an appropriate packaging material, often the strongest feasible cardboard you have access to, as well as secure packing methods to keep the internal products and components safe.

As well as this, have packaging designed with fragile products in mind with very clear labelling to ensure that shipping companies are aware of the potential risk of damage and the delays it can cause.

Can You Prevent The Weather Delaying Your Parcel?

You obviously cannot control the weather, and any significant freak weather event will inevitably create the risk of delays, even though postal services will endeavour to let “neither snow nor rain” stop them from delivering the post.

However, there are some ways in which clever or at least considered design will allow you to ensure that your parcel is protected from the unconventional circumstances and either remove or at least reduce potential delays.

Using hardwearing cardboard packaging with layers that aid in water resistance can stop heavy rainstorms from risking damage to your parcel, and allow it to endure some time spent on the doorstep before a customer can reach it.

As well as this, ensure that labels are printed in weather-resistant ink on weather-resistant sticker stock to avoid damage that could cause the address to become illegible.