For the past few years, the conventional wisdom around retail shipping has been to rely either on in-house assets or on a single large carrier, like FedEx or UPS, to complete deliveries.
But no longer. Retailers now are beginning to shift toward a multicarrier strategy. Using networks of carriers and 3PLs, sellers are able to skirt general rate increases by major providers while reserving the ability to add and remove capacity at will.
The model has spawned an array of shipping orchestration platforms designed to unify those patchworks of providers in one technology stack, like Seattle-based Shipium, which on Thursday partnered with last-mile parcel delivery service Better Trucks to open up the firm’s delivery network to its e-commerce shipping customers.
Shipium sellers can now leverage Better Trucks’ regional networks of transportation and logistics assets, which specialize in next-day and two-day deliveries. Its facilities are located primarily in the U.S. Midwest and Southeast, with a few warehouses in the Northeast and Texas.
The last-mile provider also has integrations with several other e-commerce shipping platforms like EasyPost, ShipStation and Shippo, as well as a partnership with Fillogic, which orchestrates fulfillment out of retail and mall locations.
“There is no question that faster shipping options at a lower cost are now central to how modern operators plan out their network,” said Jason Murray, CEO of Shipium. “They need modern carriers like Better Trucks to make that strategy a reality.”
Shipium, which was cofounded by Murray and Chief Technology Officer Mac Brown in 2019, has done this before.
After securing a $27.5 million venture-backed Series A raise — the largest ever for a supply chain software startup — in April, Murray and Brown got to work bolstering the platform’s array of carrier options, which include FedEx, UPS, DHL and the U.S. Postal Service.
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With Thursday’s announcement, the shipping orchestration platform has now signed five partnerships since the beginning of the year.
It integrated with SmartKargo’s air cargo e-commerce solution at the start of the month, following that up with deals to combine its software with multimodal shipper Maergo and last-mile logistics provider Veho. At the end of the month, it announced a deal to share its logistics tech with American Eagle Outfitters’ logistics arm, Quiet Platforms.
These integrations and partnerships have allowed Shipium to expand its customers’ shipping networks. According to the firm, sellers on average go from using one national carrier to a mix of six different carriers within their first month using the service.
“Consumer expectations around delivery are unwavering,” said Andy Whiting, co-founder and CEO of Better Trucks. “But all too often their shipping technology lets them down. They need a modern solution like Shipium to improve time-to-value and diversify carriers.”
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