To help retailers continue to trade, international online marketplace Fruugo has developed a new courier dashboard that tracks the status of couriers across the globe – and summarised the variety of schemes launched by European governments that retailers can take advantage of in the current climate.
As part of its new developments, Fruugo has launched its Courier Network Status Dashboard to provide a single location to view the operational status of the top global couriers in over 40 countries.
The tracker shows where there are delays and/or restrictions and aims to help retailers guide their customers and continue to provide essential products in these challenging times. With the ever-changing nature of the crisis, Fruugo is continually monitoring the latest releases from governments and logistics providers to ensure its sellers stay up to date on movements.
Also part of the global marketplaces continued efforts to help retailers weather the COVID-19 storm, the online marketplace has worked with Taxmen, a specialist in tax and legal services for the e-commerce sector, to develop of a summary of VAT Breaks/Holidays across Europe.
As the current state of the economy has meant that many retailers are struggling to meet the tax obligations imposed on them by distance selling regulations of other countries, many European countries have recognised the struggle and are deferring VAT payments. These terms differ across Europe, therefore Fruugo’s summary aims to help sellers affected by VAT declarations and payments by offering an overview of the different initiatives country-by-country to see which they can take advantage of.
With many countries across the globe on lockdown, retailers are experiencing unprecedented pressure on their online operations. These new initiatives are some of the ways Fruugo – who connects retailers with over four billion customers in over 40 countries – aims to help retailers navigate through this time. Included as part of the new COVID-19 section on its Retailer Support site, the section is dedicated to sharing information on some of the pressing issues sellers are facing.
Tony Preedy, CCO at Fruugo, explains: “During this global crisis, we want to help as many businesses continue to trade as possible. We know how important it is for retailers to know and understand what is going on in the markets they trade in. Through the dedicated COVID-19 section on our Retailer Support site, which includes the development of new tools such as the Courier Network Status Dashboard and the summary of VAT Breaks/Holidays across Europe, we aim to provide our sellers with valuable sources of information and keep them well informed.”
