Shipping Promotional Products: What Are Delivery Notes?

Nowadays, the delivery service is being utilised by all sorts of people and a knocking delivery at your doorstep is a pretty usual sight. If you’ve received an additional document separate from the invoice of the products you ordered along with the promotional merchandise and had your forehead creasing with it, we’re featuring that document today! So, here are delivery notes and why companies use them.

What Are Delivery Notes?

A delivery note is a document that comes along with the shipped promotional merchandise to consumers. It is also known as a “dispatch note” or a “goods received note.” They contain certain information that allows the consumer, seller company and delivery company involved to be able to ensure the safety of the products from their origin to their end consumer.

Typically, delivery notes are printed but they can also be emailed beforehand so consumers will have an idea of what products they will expect to receive in advance.

Some companies have their delivery notes duplicated with a signature field at the bottom. One is a copy for the consumer while the other one is to be signed by the consumer and returned to the company as proof of delivery.

What Should Delivery Notes Contain?

There are no set rules when creating delivery notes. Brands have the freedom to design and put additional information they deemed necessary for consumers to know. However, these are certain sets of information that delivery notes commonly contain and consumers commonly expect to see.

Company Name and Contact Details

Customer Name and Details

Dates of Issuance and Delivery Expectancy

Order Number and Product Code/s

Product List and Quantity

Signature Field (Optional)

Delivery Notes: What Are Their Purposes?

It is worth noting that delivery notes are not compulsory for shipping promotional products. After all, an invoice can contain the same information and more. Nowadays, however, delivery notes are becoming a necessity as it serves a number of purposes that puts all parties involved at ease.

Checklist

Delivery notes can serve as a checklist that both the consumers and the company can use as a product reference. Since it contains the product breakdown that the package contains such as the product quantity, short description and product codes. It ensures there will be no missing or misplaced products as the shipment matches the list of products in the delivery notes.

Tracking Purposes

For the business, delivery notes give them a way to track the input, process and output of their products. It gives them an overview of what products have already reached their end consumers and what shipments made some errors. It can be a form of feedback that companies can use to improve their business.

Branding Extension

Delivery notes should naturally have the company logo, name and contact details. This makes it an extension of branding that would remind your consumers of the service you made thereby urging them to do business with you again.

They also add professionalism to your business since it is an added service you’re doing to assure them of their ordered promotional products.

Provides Security

One vital purpose of delivery notes is the security it provides for both the consumer and the company.

For end users, the delivery notes assure them the company looked over the package and ensure all of the branded merchandise they ordered are there. It also gives them an easy way of checking the shipment for themselves as well as the information they needed to contact the company if needed.

For the companies, delivery notes that have duplicates to be signed and returned to them confirm the success of the transaction. It means the promotional products reached their destination without any trouble and that consumers won’t be able to claim otherwise at a later date.

Here are some related reads you might want to have intensive knowledge in:

When your ordered promotional products are being shipped, they’re typically put in a container with all other packages. This can cause confusion and errors in deliveries. The answer to this problem relies in shipping marks, know more about them below:

How to make Shipping Marks for Export Cartons?

If you’re interested to create promotional merchandise and are trying to find a manufacturer for them, here are some things you should know about contract manufacturing. As well as where you can find the best one for the promotional product on your mind.

Contract Manufacturing in China: Which Province for What Products?

Enlisting the help of another company to help in merchandise design can be quite as risky. An NDA helps outline the conditions in which information can be shared, thus securing your brand. Learn more about it here:

NDA for Product Development

The risk of working with another company to manufacture your custom merchandise is the theft of your intellectual property. If you’re looking to work with a manufacturer, specifically in China, an NNN Agreement that’s equal to an NDA might be a document you’d wish to go over.

NNN Agreement: How To Protect Your Intellectual Property in China?

For a number of reasons but most specifically for transparency that could reinforce your company’s credibility, a document that you must request whenever you’re working with another company for manufacturing is a “certificate of origin.” Know more about it here:

What is Certificate of Origin? – Shipping Promotional Products from China

Accordingly,

Having delivery notes on shipping your products is not a compulsory service but one that could arguably help your business connect more to your clients. It takes your service a step further to ensure your consumers will be satisfied, strengthening your brand in their perception to repeat their business with you.

The important thing to always remember is to keep your branding and service consistent across all possible outlets such as delivery notes so you’d remain on top of your consumers’ minds.

Harness Our Creativity!

The ODM Group is a promotional company with decades of experience in the industry. Our work spans from manufacturing promotional products, specialising in customisation with our creative team, Mindsparkz, providing packaging solutions, to designing branded merchandise and promotional giveaways. We also work with trusted merchandisers to ensure the quality of products.

You can harness this experience and creativity to work with your promotions! Contact us today!