The Black Friday & Cyber Monday weekend is coming up soon. Are you ready?!
We’ve been working closely with our courier partners and we have decided to put down the top tips to survive the upcoming Black Friday & Cyber Monday weekend.
uAfrica-generated waybills are required
If you would like to track your parcel and want to avoid billing complications, it is vital to use the waybills generated by uAfrica. Once an order is fulfilled, a waybill is generated that you must print and attach to your parcel. This is not the driver’s responsibility, it is yours.
The use of manual shipping labels is not allowed. If a parcel is shipped on a manual waybill, the system cannot automatically apply this waybill to your uAfrica account. Without a uAfrica waybill, parcels can’t be tracked, as well as result in uAfrica Support being unable to assist with shipping queries.
Use the manifests for collections.
What is a manifest? It is a document listing all the shipping labels of the parcels that need to be collected by a courier on a specific day. Downloading and using a manifest means that the driver who is doing the collection will only need to sign one document, rather than the shipping label for each parcel. You must then keep the signed manifest as proof of collection.
Find the manifests by selecting “Shipping” in the main tab and then “Manifests” in the sub-heading.
Check your Shipping Limit on uAfrica.
Black Friday & Cyber Monday inevitably means more sales which means a higher volume of shipments. It is thus very important to check your shipping limit beforehand and if necessary, to request an increase well ahead of time (subject to approval).
To request an increase, please make sure to do the following:
- Send an email to support@uafrica.com with your account name and account number.
- In this email, you need to specify what you would like to increase your shipping limit to.
- The team at uAfrica will review your request and should your request be approved, your shipping limit will be increased.
Please allow up to 48 hours for the increase to reflect on your account.
Book Special Collections with the couriers.
Please make arrangements directly at least 48 hours beforehand for Special Collections with the couriers, by contacting the relevant courier directly:
Dawn Wing – louisa@dawnwing.co.za
Courier IT – florencem@courierit.co.za and jennyd@courierit.co.za
The Courier Guy – uafrica@thecourierguy.co.za
To assist with the process of arranging your Special Collections, please CC support@uafrica.com in your request to the courier.
Note that additional surcharges may be applicable to special collection requests.
Select the correct service level for the type of parcel being shipped.
It is very important that if you select, for example, TCG National Flyer Service to ship your parcel, that you do indeed ship a flyer. If you select a flyer service level and end up shipping a box, the courier has the right to change the service level and charge you based on the actual parcel that was sent. If this service is being misused by merchants, uAfrica runs the risk of having the service level removed for all merchants.
Volumes will be higher than normal, and couriers will always prioritise quicker service levels, for example overnight, before slower service levels, for example economy. Thus selecting a quicker service level will ensure your parcel gets prioritised, however it can still take longer than usual even on a service level like overnight.
Remember to insure your products.
It is important to remember that your parcel isn’t automatically insured. Even if your parcel has been damaged or lost by the relevant courier, they will only refund you for the shipping charges and not the value of the goods inside the parcel. During fulfilment, you need to specify if you would like to take out insurance on your parcel. If you have high-value products, we would definitely recommend that you insure them!
Kindly ensure that you are familiar with the insurance policies of each of the couriers.
Courier IT Notice: You will not be able to claim for the shipping cost of a broken or hijacked parcel. You will only be able to claim for the shipping cost if a replacement parcel is sent through Courier IT.
We hope you have already placed your orders for stationary.
Make sure you have enough stationery before the flood of orders starts. Drivers will not wait around while your team packs orders into bags, so remember to order the courier stationery well in advance.
Not sure how?
You are now able to order stationery from the couriers directly by emailing the following information to your preferred courier:
- Your Name
- Your Merchant/Company Name
- Full Merchant Delivery Address, including postcode
- List of stationery required (courier branded sleeves, clear document sleeves or fragile stickers)
PLEASE NOTE: You must state in your email that you are a uAfrica.com customer.
CourierIt: email information to prycsd@courierit.co.za
Dawn Wing: email stationery@dawnwing.co.za and CC marym@dawnwing.co.za
The Courier Guy: email information to stationery@thecourierguy.co.za
If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our Support Team on support@uafrica.com or 012 940 1060.
