Welcome to this week's journal! I'll continue sharing some fun things and events from work. If you read last week's #020 journal, you'll know we did something special, but I won't tell you about it yet! Because I'm not ready yet. This week's journal has three things to cover:
- Taikoo Store Improvements
- New Kai Store
- I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about the courier company our online store uses.
1. Swire Store: Minor Improvements
Last week, when I was helping out at the Taikoo Shing store, I noticed that the "5-minute absence" sign my colleague posted at the entrance wasn't very nice; it was just a computer-printed sheet with the message "5 minutes away." This was my fault, as I hadn't considered this issue before. The paper was also wrinkled, and the biggest problem was that it didn't provide customers with a timeout or return time . So, when I got back to the office, I immediately created this "laminated card" in Word for my colleague to use when leaving. They can use a whiteboard marker to write how long they've been away and what time they've left, giving both colleagues and customers a score. This Tuesday, when I went back to Taikoo Shing to help out, I found the old paper was gone, replaced by this "laminated card." It's actually a very simple thing, but I think it's worth remembering because if a large company's boss never goes to the front lines to see what problems or areas for improvement are, the company can't do well. I will remember this forever.
2. New Kai Store
Yes, we're currently preparing for our second store. I won't reveal the location, but we can say that renovations are about to begin! The design drawings and concepts are already finalized, and this week we also arranged for our renovation contractor to come to the site for further measurements to discuss the design, lighting, walls, flooring, etc. It won't be very big, just a bit larger than our current store in Taikoo Shing, but it's great to have another place where customers can touch, see, and try our products. We'll have more updates on this in the future.
3. Express delivery company
I've actually wanted to talk about delivery for a long time, but I know it would be boring to write about, and nobody on Facebook/IG would want to see this. I know no one reads my weekly journal, so I'm just writing whatever I want. I'll write about the difficulties we face in finding suitable delivery services, hoping to give everyone a better understanding of our work. Have an inside look at our business. This is what I wanted to give everyone. I'm just an ordinary person, and sometimes I don't know what I have left for this world, so I decided to write these things down, hoping that one day someone will find them useful. That's why I write this weekly journal.
Come back again.
We have always relied on external courier companies for delivery. We have tried many different companies, including the post office, some small local logistics companies, some large courier logistics startups, and the two most well-known courier companies, K and S.
During my trial period with different courier and logistics companies, I had many painful experiences. For example, the customer hadn't received the delivery even after half a month, and I didn't know where the delivery had gone. In the end, it was found in their own courier company's warehouse. Or the tracking status didn't update for a whole week. When it finally updated, it meant the delivery had already been completed. Or I would wake up the customer at 7 a.m. to say that the delivery was being made. At midnight, I would call the customer to say that the package was left at the door. The courier told the customer that it would be delivered today, but then left the customer waiting at home all day. I can't go into detail about these terrible things here because they are another story. If you are interested, I can tell you about them later.
In summary, we tried many local shipping companies, with varying backgrounds, but none of them worked out. Only two companies performed better: K and S, which are currently the two courier companies responsible for delivering packages to our website.
The following will provide a detailed analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the two companies we are using.
Company S
Let's talk about Courier Service (S&S) first. S&S is probably the most well-known logistics company in Hong Kong, with the largest and most extensive delivery network in the city. They have many advantages: minimal errors in their operations, the most mature delivery system, and the most responsible. Anyone who has used their tracking system knows that you can even see the courier's name. Whether speaking to customers or to us, they are the company with the best service.
So why don't we only use courier service S? The biggest reason is their package collection limits. S has a maximum capacity for accepting packages; they can't accept too many at once, especially large and old products like pillows. When S couriers come to our factory to collect packages, they only use a small handcart, and once it's full, they can't accept any more. But our products are so large that they fill up very easily. Another reason is that S requires us to ship as early as possible in the morning, which is quite inconvenient for a small company like ours. Because we ship every working day, we don't have enough manpower and space. Sometimes we're still preparing orders in the morning, and when there are a lot of orders, we really have to work until late afternoon to be able to ship. S's package collection time limit makes it unusable for us. One solution is to cut off orders early each day, prepare orders for the previous day or two, and leave them for the next day's receipt. However, orders placed at certain times (such as the night before or early morning) will be shipped more slowly, and customers may have to wait more than 24 hours for their orders to be shipped. In addition, the limit on the number of shipments remains unresolved.
Company K
K Courier is the company we currently use besides S Courier. Compared to S Courier, K Courier has almost no limit on the number of packages it can accept, allowing us to collect many packages at once; it also accepts packages during the day and night, and its local delivery speed is very close to S Courier's, making it arguably the most suitable company for us. The large volume of packages it can accept and its fast delivery are likely why many companies and businesses use K Courier for deliveries, rather than why more people are familiar with S Courier. However, K Courier also has its problems: although its service quality and professionalism are superior to other local courier companies, it has a higher rate of lost packages compared to S Courier, and the quality of its couriers may not be as high as S Courier's. That being said, delivery is generally problem-free, as it is a leading company in the local delivery industry. Therefore, we also use K Courier now to alleviate the problem of S Courier not being able to accept too many packages.
Reality is never perfect. K Company does sometimes miss deliveries, and we've received complaints from customers about the poor attitude of their delivery personnel. Therefore, we're actively looking for and trying different courier companies. Some courier services are actually quite good, but it takes 4-5 business days from dispatch to delivery. If it spans the weekend, it can take a whole week. Plus, they sometimes miss deliveries, so customers might not receive their packages for weeks. I think many people wouldn't accept that. Because smaller courier companies often have inconsistent tracking , there can be several days without updates , and when there is an update , it's always "delivered today" ... Local delivery within Hong Kong doesn't offer many options, but we will continue to work on this aspect to improve the overall experience.
The image shows that Company S and Company K have different methods for receiving packages. Company K can transport "pallets" of goods by truck, and can send many packages at once, basically without any limit. In contrast, Company S can only use a small company handcart to receive packages, which is tiring for the courier and limits the number of packages that can be received per day.
(Thanks to my colleague Ben for helping write the section on choosing and the pros and cons of courier companies. I know you're watching closely; I'm the only one who reads your weekly journal.)
That's all for this week! See you next week!
#020 A pleasant week + looking forward to new experiences next week! (16/10/2022)
#022 Re Pillow Co. X Karen (30/10/2022)