How do I check a store’s delivery and shipping partners before taking over?
List every carrier or courier the store uses and ask for the contract or account terms with each. Review how often parcels arrive late, damaged or lost, and how claims are settled. Then confirm that the accounts, rates and pickup arrangements will carry over to you after the sale.
Ask first which partners handle which orders. Some stores use one carrier for everything, while others split by size, speed or destination. The split tells you how much a single change in rates or service could hurt, and whether the store has a fallback when one partner struggles.
Look at the track record, not just the rate sheet. Ask for complaint records, damage and loss claims, and refunds given to customers because of delivery problems. If the owner absorbs those costs, make sure they show in the statements. A cheap shipping rate that comes with frequent claims may not be cheap at all.
Finally, check whether the arrangements belong to the owner personally or to the business. Discounted accounts, pickup schedules and negotiated terms may need the partner’s approval to change hands. Ask the partner directly, with the owner’s permission. Also read the store’s shipping promises to customers, since those become yours the day you take over. Ask a few customers, if the seller allows, how deliveries have felt to them, since the complaints that never reach the owner often surface there. Compare what the store charges for delivery with what it pays, and note who covers the difference.
Key takeaways
- Find out which carriers handle which orders and what the fallback is.
- Review damage, loss and late-delivery claims alongside the rate sheet.
- Confirm in writing that accounts and negotiated terms carry over to you.
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Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
- 03Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentUnderstanding post-merger operational integration
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