White glove delivery isn’t a new concept but in the age of Amazon, one day delivery and better quality services, it has gained new importance. For businesses selling straight to customers, it may be seen as a crucial part of their delivery options. But there is also a strong case for using it in wholesale businesses too.
What is white glove delivery?
If you were to research white glove delivery, you would quickly realise that this is a delivery service that is a step above the normal type of delivery. Your usually delivery service is often called last mile delivery – the aim is to get the parcel to you as quickly as possible. This is great in many cases but sometimes this lacks the care and flexibility that customers seek, especially for larger items and special deliveries.
Where white glove delivery comes in is to add a number of extra benefits to a normal delivery service to enhance the process. For starters, it is often a two person delivery team so that larger, bulkier items can be safely and easily delivered. It also offers enhanced communication with customers to allow them to have more say over when and where the item is delivered.
Extra services
Another element of white glove delivery is the ability to have above and beyond services incorporated in the delivery. Examples of this can be:
- Bringing the delivery to a specific room or location in the property rather than leaving the customer to manage this themselves
- Unpacking the item to ensure it is in the right condition
- Removing packaging once this is done
- Installing the item for the customer
- Offering basic training on how to use the item
One scenario could be a customer who has bought a new TV that needs to be wall mounted. With white glove delivery, the TV would be unpacked, mounted onto the stand and the customer shown the basic features of the TV. All the packaging would then be removed by the delivery service.
This allows the customer to quickly start to enjoy their purchase without time spent mounting it on the wall, messing around with the set up or trying to figure out where their Sky TV is found!
White glove delivery and wholesale businesses
For B2C businesses, there’s a clear benefit to using white glove delivery for both the business and the customer. But what about wholesale businesses? What kind of businesses have found that using white glove services is a positive for them?
The list of wholesale company types that offer white glove delivery is actually quite substantial. White glove delivery companies work with wholesale businesses including:
- Furniture and cabinet manufacturers
- Medical and surgical companies
- Marketing and advertising companies
- Display manufacturers
- Home exercise companies
- Banks and financial companies
- Various speciality manufacturers
What additional services are on offer?
While the exact needs of the business depend on what it does, there are a few examples of the kind of services that wholesale companies can make use of from a white glove delivery.
Top of the list is having a two person team or even a larger team who can go into the business property and set up the equipment. As a wholesaler, you may be manufacturing a specific piece of equipment that needs to be used in a certain way and has to be set up properly to do this. By having a team of delivery experts handle this, you can be certain the equipment works correctly and the business using it has the information they need to do this.
Another example is where special handling, tools or detailed procedures are needed to deliver or install an item. There may be regulations that cover the installation and someone with the correct qualifications is needed onsite. The delivery team can meet them and ensure the item is ready for installation before the qualified person, such as an electrician, takes over the final fitting.
Sometimes it is something as simple as assembling displays or product stands in the business so that staff can be left to handle other matters. Or maybe there are specialist documentation or scanning processes that need to be followed. All of these may be beyond the scope of a normal delivery service.
Should your business offer white glove delivery?
Looking at white glove delivery to see if it is right for your company is something worth doing and ultimately the decision is down to your company and what works best for them. But there are a few general benefits to consider for almost any type of business.
Fewer missed deliveries
White glove delivery involves a higher level of communication with the customer than normal delivery, whether this is an individual or another business. This reduces the chance of a missed delivery with the costs associated with re-delivery.
Less chance of damage in transit
White glove delivery also reduces the chance that the products will be damaged in transit and therefore need to be replaced at the cost to the business. This also creates a better service for the customer and increases customer loyalty.
Better customer service
For any type of customer, the best customer service is what you should aim for. The flexibility and high quality services available with white glove delivery mean that this higher level of customer service can be achieved. This increases positive reviews and the chance that customers will recommend the business to others.