Autumn 2007

A hosted pay-as-you-go online version of the MetaPack carrier selection system, provisionally named MetaPack DM (for Delivery Management), has been launched by the company with the specific target of attracting small and medium-sized retail businesses - those that use more than one carrier. The company maintains that it should enable e-retailers to offer a better range of delivery choices to consumers, knowing that the 'best-fit' delivery service will always be chosen automatically. It lists the latest services and delivery options from nearly all the major B2C carriers.

The system has gained an oblique nod of approval from IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group), the organisation that represents the interests of the e-retail market. Although IMRG avoids endorsing specific products, it accepts that MetaPack DM should go a long way towards helping to ensure that users can meet the nine points of its newly revised Delivery Charter.

An unusual feature of the system is optional inclusion of text alerting, which allows retailers to send delivery notifications to end users at key points in the fulfilment cycle. Users can configure their own messages and decide whether the service should make provision for consumer responses or not.

This type of system, provided here by SMS specialist WIN plc, is usually been offered either as on a stand-alone basis or as part of a broader fulfilment software package, so MetaPack has introduced a new way for users to adopt it without extensive integration requirements or up-front investment.