Flat-rate shipping firm Sendle has announced a partnership with GLS Group to handle last-mile parcel deliveries in eight Western states.
GLS offers parcel, less-than-truckload and truckload transportation solutions in Europe and the Western U.S. The agreement will enable e-commerce sellers to send goods through the Sendle shipping network for one-day and two-day delivery in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington. In addition, regional shippers will receive free pickups and shipment tracking.
“The e-commerce boom has turned shipping into the new battleground for small businesses,” said James Chin Moody, co-founder and CEO of Sendle. “With GLS, we’re taking on the longstanding UPS and FedEx duopoly and providing more shipping alternatives so small businesses can create a competitive edge at checkout.”
Sendle has designed its operations specifically for e-commerce businesses, offering local (less than 150 miles) and national rates, but unlike other providers, shippers pay flat rates based on weight. For instance, a small package weighing less than 5 pounds costs $7.30 to send locally and $8.11 to ship nationally under the Sendle Premium plan, which is designed for businesses shipping a minimum of 20 packages a month. There are also Standard (no minimum shipping quantities but slightly higher rates) and Pro plans (minimum 200 packages a month but the lowest possible rates). The fast-growing shipping provider saw record growth in 2020 and now has more than 800,000 global users, it said.
Sendle said its rates can be as much as 88% less than using traditional carriers. It has integrations with Shopify (NYSE: SHOP), eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY), Squarespace and WooCommerce.
All shipments on the Sendle network are carbon neutral. The company calculates the amount of carbon that could be generated by a package to achieve a carbon yield number. It then uses a portion of each package cost to fund sustainability projects via sustainability program South Pole.
GLS transports more than 2.5 million parcels per day across Europe and North America.
“We know small business owners are extremely busy and they need easy interaction with their carrier so they can spend more time on their business. GLS-US is the small business partner — we know we’re delivering their brand and that’s important. We are continuously expanding capabilities with the small shipper in mind,” said Millie Tarallo, chief commercial officer of GLS. “We’re excited to partner with Sendle to back small businesses with a shipping alternative that’s optimized for them.”
In June, Sendle closed a $35 million Series C investment round led by Afterpay-backed AP Ventures. Returning investors Federation, Full Circle Venture Capital and NRMA Insurance also participated in the round.
Click for more Modern Shipper articles by Brian Straight.
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