Did couriers deliver for you during the Christmas period?
According to shipping software Sendcloud, the likelihood of lost packages increases by 21% in December and 41% in November (during the Black Friday rush). Lost and damaged shipments not only affect your reputation with customers, but negatively impacts your current and future revenue streams.
Historically, making compensation claims against couriers was a cumbersome, time-consuming and often capital inefficient process. But with automated claims processing, e-commerce retailers can now easily claim compensation for lost shipments and boost their bottom line with minimal intervention. Here’s how.
Profitability and AI: 2025’s major e-commerce trends
Most retailers were happy to wave goodbye to 2024; a year of economic uncertainty and slow growth. But with poor economic conditions expected to continue for the first half of 2025, many e-commerce companies are switching their growth focus to cost-optimisation, operational efficiency and profitability. In particular, amidst greater competition and increased marketing costs, keeping hold of earned revenue is essential in 2025.
AI automation can plug the revenue drain.
According to Neil Saunders, Managing Director and Retail Analyst of GlobalData Retail, “with fairly flat volume growth and profits under pressure, the headline e-commerce focuses for the year ahead will be deepening efficiency and enhancing the experience.” In particular, this will involve “using artificial intelligence and automation to reduce costs across functions such as marketing, fulfilment, and route planning.”
In other words, there’s no better time to leverage claims automation to retain more of your existing revenue.
How much could you earn with claims automation?
According to ParcelMonitor’s E-Commerce Logistics Market Report 2024, 6.5% of UK deliveries encounter an issue, such as loss or damage. If you send 5,000 shipments per month, with an average value of £50, that’s 325 lost shipments worth £16,250. Over the course of 12 months, that’s £195,000.
What’s more, given that 52% of shoppers hold the retailer accountable for lost shipments (not the courier) and 24% refuse to buy from the retailer again, the true revenue cost of lost shipments is even higher.
Navigating the complex claims process
Lost and damaged deliveries are rarely the fault of the retailer (despite courier companies often trying to pin the blame on faulty packaging or products). As such, almost all the major courier companies offer insurance up to around £100 per shipment (variable according to weight or value of goods).
Unfortunately, the claims processes are complex and varied. For instance, you need to:
- Compile specific documentation. This includes HD product photos, tracking numbers, product serial numbers, proof of shipment loss, proof of damage in transit (not damaged before), proof of stated shipment value, and proof of the original pickup.
- File each claim individually within a set deadline. This ranges between 30-90 days depending on the courier (i.e. Parcelforce is 30 days and Royal Mail is 80 days).
- Ensure the claims adhere to the courier’s Ts and Cs. This includes understanding confusing terminology (i.e. was your parcel lost or misplaced? Was there total loss or partial loss?) and various exclusions (i.e. many couriers do not cover perishable, antique, electronic or fragile items).
After filing a claim, you then need to track the claim and wait weeks (or sometimes months) for payment. As such, it’s no surprise that many e-commerce retailers don’t think claiming is worth the hassle.
Let AI claim your compensation
But with AI claims automation, you can now avoid the complexity of the claims process and recover bottom line revenue with minimal intervention.
At Claimit, for instance, we handle the claims process from start to finish, enabling you to claim in bulk for lost shipments. We also provide a centralised management platform that tracks all claims from a single dashboard, so you can keep up-to-date of your claims status.
The result?
- Recover up to 15% of your shipping costs.
- Reduce time spent on claims processes by 80%.
- Improve claims success rates by 4x than doing it yourself
At a time when retaining revenue is of paramount importance, automated claims can be the difference between turning a profit or loss at the end of 2025.
Book a demo and see how much we can save you.
