A new faster & resilient delivery system

Since 2014, RedWhite Apparel has relied heavily on the global postal network to delivery packages worldwide. Throughout the years, I've refined this service by working with DHL eCommerce and Singapore Post ePack to give consumers a free, tracked and reliable shipping solution.

For many years, the postal network has been a valuable partner. However, it is fragile and this fragility is not good for RedWhite's customers, long-term.

To give you an understanding of how fragile the system is, this is how it works :

  1. You place an order and select the Free ePack shipping (no longer offered as of June 2020).
  2. Your order gets routed to my warehouse
  3. The warehouse packs your order, pastes the post label on it and requests Singapore Post to collect your package
  4. 24-48 hours later, Singapore Post collects your package and processes it in their logistics hub. 
  5. Singapore Post does not own any aircraft and your package is put into an airplane container headed for the your country. They choose from a large number of available flights (both commercial & cargo) and purchase capacity within the flight's cargo hold. 
  6. The flight departs for your country and once it arrives, the container is unloaded from the airplane and sent to the nearest postal mail processing hub. Most major countries have one attached to the international airport.
  7. Your package is cleared through customs along with thousands of other mail from abroad. 
  8. Once customs clears your package, it gets handed to your local postal service for delivery to you.

There are 3 critical weaknesses in the 8 steps above :

Step 5 is the first one. During a pandemic or any crisis that grounds flights, the postal system will have no available flights to purchase cargo on. No flights = your package stays in Singapore until one becomes available.

Step 7 is the second weak spot. Customs has to deal with thousands of packages a day. If customs is understaffed or simply inefficient, your package will be delayed. During the pandemic, staff levels dropped in many governement services, causing delays.

Step 8 is the 3rd weak spot. The postal service is reliable, but it is also fragile. A pandemic causes manpower levels to drop which causes the postal service to run slow.

Speed & Resiliency is important. 

RedWhite Apparel's long term success relies on our ability to delivery product worldwide, quickly and reliably. As a customer, you shouldn't worry about your order being delayed, no matter what the global situation is (short of armageddon). 

As RedWhite Apparel continues growing, adding resiliency and speed to our delivery solution becomes very important. The postal network is no longer a viable long-term delivery solution.

From June 2020 onwards, any order placed on RedWhite Apparel will ship worldwide using FedEx. If FedEx isn't available in your country, a close alternative will be used. This would be UPS, DHL or Aramex.

These private couriers own their own fleet of aircraft, have their own customs clearance channels & their own local delivery fleet of aircraft, vans, motorcycles and trucks. Despite an ongoing pandemic, they are still delivering packages worldwide, quickly and reliably.

For Singapore customers (our warehouse is located in Singapore), we've moved away from using QExpress and will be delivering using Ninja Van Express. Customers will get SMS updates and will have a heads up before delivery.

Got a question about your order?

If you placed an order recently and chose the free ePack shipping service, do note that there will be a 6-8 week delivery period from the date your order shipped. If you need help tracking your order, please email : yuva@redwhite.cc

Include the following information about your order :

  1. Order ID
  2. Full Name

Do be assured that your future orders will not take as long as it will be delivered by FedEx.

 

1 comment

Does the postal network always make changes to better package delivery?
Tel-U

Sistem Informasi September 28, 2023

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