Product Management: How did we make Shipping more Personal?

Background

MyUS enables international customers to purchase e-commerce goods from the U.S. and then export and ship the goods anywhere in the world. It was founded in 1997 and is based in Sarasota, Florida. In October of 2022, MyUS.com was acquired by Aramex. I began working for MyUS.com in 2018 as their head of product reporting directly to the CEO.  I created a team of high-performing product managers that worked to constantly improve all areas of the business.  I also became the head of marketing for MyUS where I managed our SEO, SEM, Affiliate, Content, and Influencer channels.  

What problem were we trying to solve? 

At times, customers would make comments about the quality of the shipment's packaging.  These were typically positive and referred to how well the shipment was prepared.  This is important since many consumers and small businesses use MyUS.com to consolidate many different items into one box or shipment.  We wanted to give customers a glimpse into the people of MyUS.com and make it more personal, not just a business. 

As the Vice President of Product Innovation leading the product management and marketing organization, I felt it was important to give our packages a bit of a personal touch.  These shipments were packaged by people every day, not by robots and I felt it was important to develop a relationship between the shippers and the customers.  

I took making things about the employees very seriously.  In conclusion, the problem we were trying to solve was to make MyUS more personable and encourage customer engagement.

Brainstormed Ways to Make MyUS.com more personable

The product team went to work and had a brainstorming session for how to personalize shipments.  A lot of ideas came out of this.  Here are some:

1. Putting a postcard in each shipment that had some information about the shipping process.  This could get confusing since ship stations were shared and we also did white label shipments.

2. Putting a sticker on the box, with a URL where customers could provide feedback on their shipment and experience.  While this provided feedback it did not help with personalization.

3. Adding an image of the shipper along with a QR code that would lead to a survey.

4. Winner:  Having a sticker print with the shipping label that had the shipper's picture, name, message, QR code that linked to a survey.

What was the final product and how did you get there? 

Once we figured out what we wanted to create it was time to hash out the details!  Here are some of the details:

1.  Every warehouse employee who ships needs a picture in the system.

2. An image must be attached to the employee who is logged into the ship station.  Figure out what displays on the label when we do not have an image yet for a new employee or someone in training.

3. Every time a carrier label prints out, an employee sticker must print out too.  

4. The employee must attach both labels to every box.

5. The QR code will go to a survey seeking feedback about how the shipment was prepared.

6. Shipment feedback from the survey will be analyzed and sent out to supervisors monthly for employee recognition.

What was the final product?