What does your company do?
At Consignor , we aim to support large enterprise companies as well as small merchants, including start-ups, in their Delivery Management, making it easier, less time consuming and cheaper for them to deliver parcels to their customers. By developing and providing smart Delivery Management software which includes all stages of shipping and delivery on just one platform, our customers get an integrated and sustainable delivery solution that will continue to perform and develop in line with their strategies. Our software holds the largest carrier library in the world, connecting our customers to exactly the carriers that match their shipping needs.
What is your USP?
At Consignor, we believe our USP to be the business as a whole, from our culture through to the latest innovations we have to offer. We constantly aim to serve all our customers with a competitive software solution which is why we invest heavily in development of the platform based on the feedback we get from our customers. Through this approach we have realised that a specific delivery challenge at one customer is most likely also a challenge at other customers and that is why we decided to turn the Consignor platform into a standard software meaning that all customers get access to the exact same solution which they can utilize to a level that suits them the best – this goes for the current version of the platform as well as all future developments. Our passion and focus is on creating a product and service that allows for a seamless transition into existing processes. Whether that is a full API integration or semi-automation or file imports, Consignor provides total flexibility for all levels of technical requirements.
“Historically, returns haven’t always been given the thought and focus they really deserve”
Gary Carlile, Consignor
How would you describe your business area’s vision?
To continue to innovate within Delivery Management, meaning we aim to learn and share knowledge with our partners, thus creating long, sustainable working relationships. Our values are important to us and certainly to our partners. We pride ourselves on being reliable, dependable, authentic, open and proactive.
What are you doing currently in the ecommerce/multichannel market?
Currently we are supporting many companies in enabling in-country and cross-border carrier products and services that enhance the end customer experience. We deliver a multi carrier platform that allows our customer’s to integrate and print all shipping labels in one system regardless of the carrier composition. Gathering all shipment data in one system enables our customers to be in control of the whole delivery process, gain comprehensive statistics and to set up specific rules for automated actions such as e-mail notification etc. We are also supporting multi-PUDO location finders for webshops, enabling true consumer choice, as well as the retailers’ own store estate for their click and collect propositions. Finally, our free smartphone based scanning tool for track & trace, Scan App, is a popular part of the platform since it allows customers as well as carriers to add status updates (GPS, image, signature, etc) to the shipments without having to invest in expensive PDA solutions.
What are you currently focusing on in terms of software development?
Historically, Consignor has been Nordic focused but recently, when we have entered new markets throughout Europe, the US, China and now the UK, we have had to be proactive in ensuring we are market ready for what is deemed as standard. So not only creating the world’s largest carrier library, but creating dynamic rules and allocation selection, return management, in conjunction with our webshop Ship Advisor plug-in, freight rate calculation and invoice control – these all provide a solid foundation for our platform. All these functionalities help to give the user a complete solution. No matter their needs and system set-up, our Delivery Management software handles their shipments from order booking to delivery (and back again, in case of returns) in one easy and seamless way.
Who are your customers?
Globally, we have more than 10,000 customers utilising our platform, with some great brands such as Lego, ReBOUND, JYSK, Aditro, DirectLink, Dansk Supermarked Group, Coop, Schneider Electric and Volvo.
Our solution is delivered as a toolbox, that can be configured to support many companies and industries. Our partners that utilise our solution spread across retailers with both bricks and mortar and webshops, distribution centres, third and fourth party logistics/supply chain companies, hospitals, transportation freight forwarders and carrier networks.
What do you see as challenges in the coming year and what are you doing to meet those challenges?
For Consignor, our biggest challenge is also our biggest opportunity. With all consumer deliveries, you can guarantee there are consumer returns, but historically, returns haven’t always been given the thought and focus they really deserve. There are retailers out there that are driving change by using their consumer return offering as an opportunity to create a seamless customer experience, by making it easy to return anything. As part of our solution, we enable returns management through pre-printed return options or real-time bookings via the web.
Customer case study – Get Inspired
Faster delivery, simpler warehouse routines and better control are just some of the many benefits that online shop Get Inspired experienced by optimising their warehouse. Norwegian online sportswear shop, Get Inspired, needed to optimise in order to handle more orders due to increased sales. New premises, warehouse inventory and Delivery Management software all played a part in this optimisation, says chief executive Sindre Landevåg.
“We moved to a new and larger warehouse and invested simultaneously in Consignor, which gathered all our shipments in one system. We also needed new inventory at the warehouse – racks, plastic boxes, picking carts, etc – which were installed after an analysis of our product range, in order to ensure efficient warehouse processes.
Get Inspired has Consignor On-premises installed at their warehouse for their shipments, which effectively gathers the entire shipping process from warehouse to end customer in one complete software system. This way, Get Inspired does not spend unnecessary time on sending parcels, as they book the shipment at their choice of carrier, transfer shipment data, print the shipping label and notify the end-customer with track and trace information on their parcel – all via Consignor.
Although Get Inspired felt obliged to optimise their warehouse in order to handle an increased volume of orders, the company has already noticed additional benefits. “The employees have gotten a simpler work day at the warehouse,” says Sindre Landevåg. “They walk shorter distances and pick and book 12 orders at a time, whereas before where we only picked one order. It is also easier to train new employees in our warehouse processes as these processes are more manageable now. This, together with Consignor On-premises, makes our logistics scalable, which is advantageous in connection with Black Friday, for example, when we hire temporary workers.
“We are now able to offer our customers a faster and more accurate delivery and we make fewer mistakes in deliveries due to the new warehouse routines and Consignor On-premises that automate the warehouse management and shipping process and makes them foreseeable.”
These are important competitive advantages and logistics should therefore be a natural part of any company’s business plans. “Logistics is a business-critical part of the operation and should be a priority as early as possible. This means that all companies that have a warehouse, regardless of size and number of employees, can gain competitive advantages by optimising the warehouse and shipping process,” concludes Sindre Landevåg.
Consignor IN BRIEF
Company founded: 1997 Oslo, Norway by Peter Tang Thomsen
Global reach: We have offices in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Romania, China and the United Kingdom, with further plans to open offices in Germany and the US in the coming years, plus look to explore other market opportunities
UK launch: We officially launched here during Q1 this year, opening our office at Braywick House West in Maidenhead in March 2016
Turnover: In 2015 we had revenues in excess of €14m
Customers: More than 10,000 customers/partners globally
Number of employees: Currently within our group we have 140 team members, with plans to grow to about 250 team member within the next four or five years
Number of partners: We hold the world’s largest carrier partner library, in excess of 400 active carriers being used today, plus we have in excess of 400 ERP/OMS/WMS partnerships
Contact details: For more information on Consignor, visit www.consignor.com or email directly to uk@consignor.com
