What Retailers Should Ask Their International Shipping Partner Now to Avoid Peak Season Surprises

As shippers and retailers get ready for peak season, most preparation focuses on what retailers can control directly, such as inventory, forecasting, capacity planning, and staffing. However, retailers shipping internationally should also be stress-testing the partner they’re handing those shipments off to. This is where visibility is often lower, and issues can surface that directly affect customer loyalty.

Problems like unexpected duties at the time of delivery or delays caused by parcels held up at customs cost retailers their first impression with customers. A customer who has a poor first delivery experience and simply doesn't come back is considered "shadow loss" – a new concept describing the invisible revenue retailers lose when customers quietly abandon a brand after a negative post-purchase experience. Unlike a complaint or a return, shadow loss generates no signal; the customer simply doesn't place a second order.

It can cost retailers up to $250 to acquire an international customer, according to Magic Logix. Even a small number of these experiences can affect the economics of a brand’s cross-border program. Before order volumes surge, retailers should pressure-test their international shipping partners with the following questions to identify vulnerabilities while there's still time to address them.

1. Are shipping partners preventing problems before the parcel ships?

A strong international shipping partner does its most valuable work well before a parcel enters the network. Retailers should ask whether their carrier reviews product catalogs against restrictions in the destination country, flags items that can’t ship to specific markets, and then advises on making those products unavailable in those countries. If a product can’t clear customs in a given market, the customer shouldn’t see it at checkout.

Retailers should also ask whether their shipping partner is evaluating the data captured at the point of sale (i.e., the details that customs authorities require) to ensure shipments clear without delays or surprise changes. When a customer doesn’t have to think about their parcel between checkout and delivery, that’s the kind of experience that drives repeat purchases.

2. Can it keep shipments moving when a lane goes down?

Between flight delays, regulatory changes, and carrier failures, disruptions are a constant in international shipping. In 2024, the Canada Post strike lasted 55 days, affecting one of the largest international markets for U.S. direct-to-consumer brands at the height of peak season. This likely won’t be the last disruption on that scale. If a carrier operates in Canada, ask what happened to client shipments during the strike. The answer will be a reasonable predictor of how that company will handle the next major disruption.

Retailers should ask their carrier for its disruption plan in writing. A strong answer includes which carriers they maintain active relationships with across specific lanes, what a rerouting protocol looks like, and how it notifies clients.

There’s a meaningful difference between a carrier that has relationships with multiple networks and one that actively routes across them. When a lane goes down, only carriers already moving volume through alternative networks can quickly reroute parcels. Having a long list of partnerships that haven’t been tested under pressure won’t help in a 48-hour window.

3. Will it tell you about a problem before your customers do?

Communication during a disruption is often the difference between a manageable situation and a brand crisis. When a carrier notifies a retailer of a delay, it enables proactive communication with the customer. Retailers should specifically ask their carrier who notifies whom, through what channel, and within what timeframe when a disruption is identified. Also, ask whether there's a contact to reach outside business hours during peak season.

With EU customs requirements shifting and regulatory changes happening on a near-constant basis (and more on the horizon), the complexity of international shipping is only increasing — and peak season will further test every layer of it. The answers a carrier gives to these questions, or can’t, will tell a retailer exactly where it stands before November reveals it instead.

Helaine Rich is vice president of strategic sales and administration at ePost Global, a provider of international parcel and mail shipping solutions.