In a major development, the shipping giant Maersk has announced that the COVID19 pandemic has resulted in record use of their of the app as shippers go for online mode of operations and container tracking, says a press release available on their website.
What is it?
Record demand for online business transactions has increased the Maersk shipments app usage by nearly 90% in 2020.
“As the pandemic hit and more people began working from home, customers are seeing the convenience of going online to manage their logistics business using the Maersk mobile app,” said Carsten Frank Olsen, Head of eCommerce at Maersk.
”In the first five weeks of 2020, the app averaged 70,000 business transactions weekly. By mid-April, it had grown to 130,000 business transactions weekly, reflecting an 86% increase in this online remote usage tool.”
Why this demand?
The demand is driven by customers relying on eCommerce to navigate in a business environment which has seen record numbers of employees working from home for safety reasons while performing day-to-day operations.
What does this say of online tracking?
- The surge of interest in the app usage reflects the container tracking, vessel schedule, live chat, instant rate quotes, booking of containers, cargo notifications, and Spot Rates activities that customers are relying on to run their business while away from the office.
- Customers can use credit cards or a smart pay solution and have cargo released instantly.
- Three new eCommerce digital solutions were added in March that improve the customer experience for import functionality and replace manual processes:
Which features are most used?
- Maersk Delivery Order (MDO) enabling cargo release;
- the Demurrage and Detention Calculator that answers storage fees and offers online payment for immediate release of full containers at the port or storage yard;
- and last free day for a container in storage – which is a feature designed for US-based customers.
These three key enablers redefine the import self-service customer experience through better decision-making, visibility and speed.
Customer Feedback Driven App
- Of interest, the new features were all designed and driven by customer feedback as Maersk seeks to cultivate a constant feedback loop from customers to shape the company’s product development pipeline.
- The Maersk.com website is one of the largest B2B websites in the world handling $20 billion in transactions in 2019.
- The Maersk shipment app is available in The App Store and on Google Play.
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Source: Maersk
