AMI USA launches click2ship imports
The USA arm of Air Menzies International (AMI) – the world’s largest trade-only airfreight and express wholesaler - has launched an import version of its fast-growing online door-to-door Express wholesale product.
Click2ship Imports went live on 1st July following successful testing with five of AMI’s top USA customers. The new service provides all-inclusive import rates for shipments collected anywhere in the world. Rates include collection at origin, Customs clearances and delivery in the USA, but exclude duties and taxes.
This latest phase in click2ship’s USA development involved an additional investment of USD$350,000 in IT and web enhancements.
Like AMI USA’s highly-successful click2ship Exports product which was launched just 12 months ago, click2ship Imports allows online quotes, instant conversion to a booking, and subsequent online tracking. The service has an AMI-resourced, dedicated live chat facility to answer customer queries.
Customers who still prefer to obtain quotes and make bookings by telephone can do so through a dedicated toll-free number (1-800D2Dship) connecting to specialists in click2ship’s Dallas call centre, which is open from 09:00 (Eastern Time) to 18:00 (Pacific Time).
Says AMI’s Senior VP USA, Peter Weir: “The growth of click2ship has been phenomenal in the 12 months since its launch in the USA. From zero, we are already getting 2500 online quote requests per month. It’s currently only 3% of our business in the USA, but we expect the addition of imports to take it to more than 10% within the next year.”
Although click2ship was originally expected to attract primarily small packages, theaverage shipment weight is now running at 38kgs/85 lbs. Continues Weir: “We have been encouraging customers with minimums to try it, as it offers better rates than airport-to-airport services, but for a full door-to-door servicewith online track and trace. We can be very competitive up to 75kgs/170lbs, and we’re able to provide spot rates for larger shipments.”
Weir says that the service’s real popularity lies in its speed and convenience: “The ease of using click2ship online really makes the phone obsolete, although we will take telephone bookings too. Booking online gets an immediate quote, an instant booking, and total visibility of the shipment’s progress.”
Both the click2ship online chat facility and its call centre team have received verypositive feedback from AMI’s customers.
Concludes Weir: “We believe the click2ship concept is the way forward for a large part of the US market, providing better value, faster service and improved efficiency overtraditional solutions. Once again, we are innovating to keep the SME freight agent in the game.”