If you do not know what fast tag coverage is, please read the the explainer at the bottom of this article.
How is fast tag coverage impacted by how you pack your forwarding shipment?
Deliverr's forwarding program allows you pack a single shipment and send it to a Deliverr cross-dock. The cross-dock processes the boxes in the shipment forwards them to fulfillment centers in the Deliverr fulfillment network.
In processing, the cross-dock chooses where to send boxes based on a goal: to maximize fast tag coverage for the SKUs in the shipment. Importantly, the cross-dock does not open boxes and distribute the SKUs and units inside them; rather, the decision is made box-by-box. This is why fast tag coverage is impacted by how you pack your SKUs in boxes.
TIP: We recommend every SKU should be in at least 4 boxes to maximize fast tag coverage for that SKU.
WARNING: If a SKU is sent in only one box; it will severely limit the fast tag coverage for that SKU.
If fewer boxes are used for a SKU, then fewer fulfillment centers will receive the SKU and fast coverage will be limited.
As such, when considering how you want to pack your shipment to Deliverr, consider that while it might be easier for you to put all SKUs and units in as few boxes as possible, that might result in reduced fast tag coverage for your SKUs. Here are a couple examples to demonstrate this tradeoff:
Example 1: Less Fast Tag Coverage
Seller Sam created a forwarding shipping plan for 2 SKUs and 100 units (50 per SKU). Sam packed all of his SKUs and units into 1 box and sent that box to a Deliverr cross-dock. Since there is only 1 box to forward, the 2 SKUs and 100 units will only be 1 fulfillment center. Having SKUs and units only in 1 fulfillment center results in less fast tag coverage.
Example 2: More Fast Tag Coverage
Seller Sally created a forwarding shipping plan for 2 SKUs and 100 units (50 per SKU). Unlike Sam, Sally packed her SKUs and units into 5 boxes. Each box contains 2 SKUs and 20 units. Since there are 5 boxes, the cross-dock is able to forward to more fulfillment centers than in Sam's case (example 1), which results in more fast tag coverage for Sally.
What is fast tag coverage?
Fast tag coverage is the percentage of continental US buyers who see guaranteed delivery dates on your marketplace listings if you opt into any of Deliverr's Fast Tag Programs, such as Walmart 2-Day, Shopify 2-Day, Google 2-Day, eBay Fast 'N Free, etc.
You can view the fast tag coverage of a SKU by visiting that SKU's Detail page from the Inventory Details page in your Deliverr account. Simply scroll to the the bottom of the page and view the Fast Tag Coverage Map to see your fast tag coverage by program.