UPS has launched a significant upgrade to its shipping website, www.ups.com, by making the process of creating an international shipment smarter and easier for its small and medium business (SMB) customers in 116 countries, including 36 countries in the Indian subcontinent, Middle East and Africa (ISMEA).
“With SMEs contributing over 40% of GDP in emerging economies, there is no doubt about the huge potential this sizable and fast-growing segment possesses,” said Jean-Francois Condamine, President, High Growth and Emerging Markets at UPS. “At UPS, we are committed to enabling and supporting their growth. By making the shipping process more intuitive, we want to show businesses – especially smaller ones – that selling across borders can be as straightforward as shipping at home. Our smart upgrade is designed to help businesses competing in today’s ever-growing online markets avoid surprises that can jeopardize a sale, or a customer relationship.”
Set to take effect in phases throughout 2020, it will help simplify international shipping by guiding customers through the process and by providing proactive insight into total landed costs, including duties and taxes. This will allow shippers across the region to notify their customers of any additional costs before their package ships. Shippers will benefit from a more intuitive experience when generating international shipments with helpful information related to cross-border trade and paperwork managed in a streamlined process.
“Despite the incredible growth of e-commerce sales across the globe, estimated to hit $6.5 trillion[2] by 2023, we know that many companies are hesitant to trade internationally due to the complexity of cross-border shipping,” said Nando Cesarone, president of UPS International. “Small businesses in particular cannot afford to lose business due to unforeseen duties and taxes. Most SMBs are not in a position to dedicate the time to learn or afford to pay for the expertise to ensure they are knowledgeable about international customs brokerage requirements. This new UPS solution helps enable SMBs to ship their products around the world.”
