Container Booking comes in an Instant Flavour now

One of the first steps in a container shipment is the process of booking..

This is also one of the areas where the customers often face delays leading to frustrations resulting in sometimes the deal between the shipping line and the customer being cancelled even before the shipment takes place..

Maersk Line, currently the largest container shipping line in the world has reportedly become the first container shipping company to launch instant booking confirmation much like a flight ticket booking..

As per Maersk’s press release :

With the introduction of instant booking confirmation, Maersk customers can now complete their bookings within seconds compared to previous waiting times of up to two hours.

Eliminating this delay, as the first in the industry, is a top priority for Maersk as the delay triggers uncertainty and extra workloads in managing supply chains for the customers.

“We are now making it as easy for our customers to book a container as booking a flight ticket. Instant booking confirmation makes it faster, easier and simpler for our customers to interact with Maersk.

It is a milestone for the entire industry and a concrete example of how we are bringing our strategy to life when we improve the customer experience through seamless digital offerings,” says Vincent Clerc, Chief Commercial Officer, A.P. Moller – Maersk.

With the new solution, customers get visibility of sailing options with available vessel space, a list of depots with empty containers to choose from and a choice of relevant value adding services. More importantly – they get certainty that a booking will not be cancelled at a later stage.

Due to e.g. lack of vessel space or equipment availability, around 10% of bookings placed in Maersk’s systems were previously either rejected or confirmed for an alternative sailing, often spurring customers to follow up with questions and requests for changes.

Such follow-up inquiries have accounted for 15% of all Maersk customer service calls and chats – and close to 200.000 emails every month.

Instant bookings on-the-go

With the release of instant booking confirmation, Maersk is also introducing online booking via the Maersk App. Enabling instant bookings directly from the mobile phone is another functionality that has long been high on Maersk customers’ wish-lists, especially in emerging markets.

“Maersk operates in several markets where mobile phones make up the primary working tool for the workforce.

Here, Instant Booking Confirmation straight from the mobile phone will be a huge improvement for our customers’ supply chain managers – it will further enable trade in these markets,” said Sonny Dahl, Global Head of Customer Experience & Service, A.P. Moller – Maersk.

Instant booking confirmation is available in beta for all customers through the online booking modules of the Maersk Line, SeaLand and Safmarine brands.

The functionality currently covers dry cargo shipments. Refrigerated cargo, dangerous cargo (IMDG) and inland container yards are expected to be added during 2019.