Parcel Perform gets $1m funding to solve ecommerce boom’s UX problem

Parcel Perform co-founders Dana von der Heide (L) and Arne Jeroschewski (R) / Photo credit: Parcel Perform

In all consumer-facing businesses, it’s vital for merchants to provide the best experience possible for their customers. In ecommerce, that experience doesn’t end when shoppers click “buy now” and enter their credit card details.

Receiving their shipment in good time and in perfect condition is arguably what matters most. But with that part of the process typically handled by third-party logistics providers (3PLs), most online merchants lack control over their customers’ post-payment experience.

“Where other companies focus on the pre-sale, Parcel Perform has found a large opportunity in helping companies improve the post-checkout experience, starting with the tracking business,” said Wavemaker managing partner Paul Santos, whose firm has just led a US$1.1 million seed investment in the Singapore-based startup.

500 Startups also participated in the round through its Southeast Asia fund 500 Durians, alongside several angel investors.

Parcel Perform will use the funding for global expansion and to develop new features for its tracking tool, which aggregates data from multiple 3PLs into a white-label solution that online retailers can make available to their customers.

Protecting market share

The parcel-tracking startup was founded in July 2016 by CEO Arne Jeroschewski and chief commercial officer Dana von der Heide. Jeroschewski was a former executive at DHL and SingPost and co-founder of Zalora while von der Heide previously worked in business development and corporate strategy at German logistics giant DHL.

Merchants invest so much to get [customers], but then they have to send them away.

It was during these earlier roles that the two co-founders realized the potential oversight problem faced by online merchants who often rely on several 3PLs to deliver purchases to their customers.

Typically, after completing a purchase, retailers send customers a link to a third-party website where they can track the shipment.

“Merchants invest so much to get market share, but then they have to send them away to to some other website,” von der Heide told Tech in Asia.

Parcel Perform aggregates and standardizes tracking data from more than 500 3PLs, enabling retailers to monitor all their shipments in one place rather than with individual providers.

The tool also allows merchants to display this information to customers in a branded environment on their own website.

Merchants pay a monthly subscription, with different price packages available according to the features included and the provision of additional services, such as data analytics.

Sweet spot?