Order management software integrations: the best-kept secret to diversify your shipping strategy (without the IT overload).

Localized logistics

Every town has a local vendor that is easily overlooked for lack of brand recognition, marketing, or accessibility. These smaller “Mom ‘n Pop” shops offer competitive advantages – quality, uniqueness, cost — that allow them to thrive under the radar.  Something makes them special and keeps their clients loyal.

But, when you need to ship something, where do you go?  FedEx, UPS, or USPS?  

It’s common knowledge and founded on great marketing, brand recognition, and the number of brick-and-mortar locations available.

But what’s UNCOMMON knowledge is the tier of shippers beneath those recognized names. Broadly referred to as “Regional Carriers”, these logistics firms focus on specific regions and even specific modes. 

Which do you need? Both. Let’s take a look at why this is, and how easy it is to achieve from a technical integrations standpoint.

Small, nimble and unique

Regional carriers do not operate on a national scale.  

They are built around efficiency and specific service areas. In addition, they might specialize in a type of delivery, such as local trucks or white-glove services. They offer something unique at competitive prices.

For high-growth brands, this means a single regional carrier alone won’t carry your full business.  A patchwork of alternative parcel carriers is necessary to cover every order and delivery option.  

This is where your business can meet a stumbling block. Do you have the IT resources or agile order management software (OMS) that can deploy and maintain your strategic network of shipping options?

Incredible value, if you can access it

Many of the things which national carriers provide – strong integrations, standard schemas, and online portals – simply don’t exist with regional carriers. Working with them may require that a business write its own technical integration to the carrier. The business might need to leverage older exchange tactics like secure FTP or emails. That’s a heavy lift for growing brands, considering the volume running through the veins of your business. 

  • Do you have the time to develop custom code to access a carrier that only handles 2% of your total volume?
  • Can you afford IT professionals dedicated to maintaining your integration?
  • Which exciting system projects would help customers, but will need to be cut or delayed?

You don’t have time to build (and maintain) system integrations. Your focus is on products, revenue, and exceeding customer expectations.

Order management and WMS integrations for shipping

None of this is ideal in a world where your competitors are tapping into web-enabled, paperless order management systems that can handle shipping and prep decisions at very high volumes – better – in a fraction of the time.  

While shipping integrations are not necessary in 3PL-managed operations, they present opportunities for those trying to save every penny or meet unique customer requirements.

Deposco, through technology partnerships and WMS integrations, makes it simple for our customers to access the value of a broad shipping network and integration services. We deliver familiar workflows and remove the pain of maintaining network access in-house.

Deposco simplifies technology integrations

Deposco Bright Socket integrations allow customers to access a host of quick-deploy technology solutions that enhance their warehouse and order management operations. After a brief configuration, the services will communicate with each other natively to combine the value of the service within Deposco’s process flow.

Deposco’s order management software, Bright Order considers the service-level requirements and can sift through a wide variety of rate engine responses to ensure that what is good for the business also meets your customer’s requirements.

The beauty of order management software integrations is they enable your business to focus on customer experience, knowing you’re providing the best rate, service, and support regardless of the delivery method chosen order-by-order. 

Powerful shipping options: diversify your shipping strategy

Previously, regional carriers were a localized recipe for success that was difficult to access. Their unique capabilities were offset by the difficulty in pursuing them one at a time. 

With the arrival of network aggregators available via Deposco’s Bright Sockets, you can eliminate a significant barrier to entry, making NOW the perfect time to diversify your shipping strategy.

Bright Socket software integrations

Deposco natively supports over 150+ WMS and order management software integrations through our Bright Sockets. Sockets provide quick, flexible, and powerful extensions to the WMS software platform. Explore the Socket directory today to see what’s standing ready to improve your operations and delight your customers.

Related: Tusk Logistics’ Shipping Network is Ready, Reliable, and Rate Shoppable Through Deposco – Read about the Tusk-Deposco partnership 

About Tusk Logistics

Tusk Logistics takes on the difficult work of maintaining interfaces that give you turnkey access to regional shipping carriers. Their current network provides coverage for 70% of the households in the United States. 

Imagine the work of negotiating and maintaining the connection to each carrier individually. Tusk consolidates this environment and delivers a quick API response when rate shopping on the Deposco platform.