"Handled with Care" delivery services from APC Overnight are proving a crucial link in the wine supply chain throughout the UK. Companies such as Berry Bros. & Rudd, Slurp, Tanners and The Colchester Wine Company, rely on the next day Wine Delivery Service to fulfil customer mail orders and online sales. The result is that tens of thousands of bottles are shipped each night to customers throughout the UK via the APC Overnight nationwide network.
Next day wine delivery is part of APC Overnight's Handled with Care portfolio of services offered for transporting fragile items from the vendor to the customer. This unique service uses cages and a separate sortation technique for careful, fast sorting of liquids and other fragile items. This has earned APC Overnight a reputation for safe delivery of whole boxes to single bottles of wine, all arriving with customers in first class condition.
Dr Jeremy Howard, Executive Chairman, of Slurp.co.uk an innovative web-based quality wine merchant says: "Slurp.co.uk is the fastest growing online wine shop in the UK and we have a reputation of supplying a wide range of quality wines backed by high quality service. APC Overnight supports our business approach by providing a rapid, reliable and safe next day delivery service. Our local depot - APC Scarlet Couriers - works closely with us to ensure we can turn around orders quickly and to our customers' satisfaction. APC performs well in all areas and helps ensure that we have generally happy and returning customers at the end of our wine supply chain."
The Wine Delivery Service also offers an advanced web-based booking and tracking system to streamline shipping. The NetDespatch web software system links orders instantly with local APC Overnight depots, generating shipping labels automatically and requesting fast collection. This streamlines shipping and helps wine merchants to provide rapid order fulfillment, regardless of where the wine is to be delivered.
Mark Cronshaw, The Colchester Wine Company's General Manager Sales, agrees: "With this technology we never exceed 48 hours from taking orders to shipping the consignment. Our aim, however, is to turnaround orders within a day whenever possible. It also gives us an instant view of shipments as they progress from our warehouse to the customer. This ability to track parcels is very useful when we need to respond to customer queries. In addition, the system provides us with automatic proof of deliveries via email."
Steve Lloyd, head of wine distribution for Shropshire-based Tanners' Wine Merchants comments: "The online booking and tracking is fantastic. It is also important for us to work in partnership with the local APC Station Couriers depot. We find the company to be very flexible with collection times and our customers receive first class service. The next day delivery is extremely efficient and we have received excellent feedback from our customers."