Dive Brief:
- UPS has launched a service that factors in applicable duties, fees and taxes for online shoppers' international purchases prior to checkout, the logistics giant announced Wednesday.
- The service, UPS Global Checkout, is available in 43 origin countries and delivers to over 200 destinations worldwide, covering major markets in North America, Europe and Asia. It adjusts to changes to policy, international tax laws, duties and tariffs, allowing shoppers to see what the guaranteed total landed cost will be before completing the purchase.
- “We can program and modify the rules such as trades or tariffs or taxes in almost real time,” said Kiel Harkness, UPS VP of strategy for Europe and the Americas, in an interview with Supply Chain Dive. “So there's that core technology sitting there is what enables and empowers us to offer the guarantee.”
Dive Insight:
UPS Global Checkout's goal is to improve price transparency for cross-border e-commerce transactions amid a flurry of new tariffs and regulatory shifts. Currently, consumers are often burdened with surprise import costs charged later on, which can sour the online shopping experience, according to UPS. Retailers can integrate the service into the checkout stage to erase that hurdle and attract more purchases.
"Online shoppers can now enjoy full transparency and peace of mind with no surprises, knowing what they pay at checkout is the total cost for a cross-border purchase," said Kate Gutmann, UPS EVP and president of International, Healthcare and Supply Chain Solutions, in the announcement. "This, combined with our total UPS premium delivery experience, benefits our customers – the retailers – by helping to drive additional sales."
The service could help UPS grab a larger share of volume from small- and medium-sized businesses, a high-priority customer segment for it and rival FedEx. While many larger retailers and e-commerce brands have the internal resources to navigate trade turmoil, smaller shippers are less equipped to do so, Harkness said.
"Aspiring to even tackle that type of complexity is out of their comfort zone," he added.
Implementing Global Checkout via an API integration is a straightforward process for shippers, Harkness said, but UPS is looking to make it more accessible for potential users going forward. As one example, UPS will be releasing Global Checkout in its WorldShip shipping software by the end of April, he said.
"Global Checkout will continue to be offered in different channels," Harkness said. "And again, the focus is just increasing accessibility for our customers to get to use it."
