Tutorials

Package Consolidation

Are you an avid online shopper, regularly ordering items from foreign e-commerce sites? At ColisExpat, we offer an economical and practical solution for receiving your packages at home: Package consolidation.

12 August 2024
• 6 min

What is Package Consolidation at ColisExpat?

Package consolidation is a service offered by ColisExpat that allows you to group your packages. The limit is 10 packages per consolidation.

Let’s take a concrete example: you order items from several different e-commerce sites (e.g., some items from Amazon, some from FNAC, and others from Nike), and you have them shipped to our platform in France. Once they arrive at our French warehouse and are registered, you receive a notification by email to inform you of the receipt of your packages. You then log in to your Customer Area, select each of your packages (Amazon, FNAC, and Nike), and request their consolidation. Our operators will then assemble your packages and pack them into a single box for just one shipment, meaning you only pay for one shipment.

Note that during consolidation, we group several packages into one box. This consolidation helps reduce delivery costs and avoids paying for separate shipping for each package sent. Feel free to simulate shipments by entering the size and weight of the box that could hold your packages. If the dimensions and weight of your packages allow it, the simulator will automatically suggest an optimized consolidation.

Package consolidation can only be done on one of our forwarding platforms (France, the UK, New Jersey in the USA). Thus, packages received on our three European transit platforms (in Germany, Spain, and Italy) can be consolidated on our main platform in France. Convenient for taking advantage of attractive prices or exclusive offers from each country!

Package Consolidation: How Does it Work?

To summarize, here are the steps for forwarding with the “package consolidation” option:

You make purchases on your favorite e-commerce sites and have your packages delivered to our addresses in France.
Once your packages arrive at our platform, you log in to your Customer Area and, in the “My Packages in Stock” section, select all the packages you want to consolidate and click on “Calculate My Shipping Costs.”
You confirm the consolidation and pay the shipping fees for a single shipment.
Our team carefully assembles your packages into the new box that was suggested to you, the smallest possible to optimize space and reduce shipping costs.
You receive your consolidated packages at home, or at the address of your choice, enjoying economical delivery!

The Benefits of Package Consolidation

Package consolidation offers numerous advantages:

Save on reshipping costs: by consolidating your packages, you only pay for one shipment instead of several.
Take advantage of attractive prices or exclusive offers from foreign e-commerce sites without worrying about multiple deliveries.
Simplify the management of your packages: track the progress of just one shipment and receive one package instead of many, saving time and space.
Minimize the carbon footprint of your deliveries by reducing the number of shipments.

Package Consolidation: A Service Offered to Premium Members

Package consolidation is a complementary service offered to our Premium members. To benefit from it, you simply need to subscribe to an annual Premium membership with ColisExpat. Discover the rates for our Premium and Standard packages on the following page: [“ColisExpat Package Rates”].

The Difference Between Package Consolidation and Package Repacking

Package consolidation should not be confused with “package repacking” The latter is a free service aimed at reducing the volume of your packages to offer you a discount on your next shipments.

Let’s go back to our previous example. This time, the operator opens each of the original cartons from the Amazon, FNAC, and Nike packages, removes the items, and places them in a single box. Removing the original boxes from the e-commerce sites further optimizes the space, allowing the use of an even smaller final box. However, repacking is only possible when the “Volumetric Weight” rule applies.

Package repacking is a free service that can be requested regardless of the plan you choose: Standard (On-Demand) or Premium.

For more information, we invite you to check out our detailed article: [“Package Repacking”].

Practical Information to Remember About Package Consolidation

The maximum number of packages per consolidation is 10.
The packages must be compatible with consolidation (dimensions, weight, etc.). You will find the list of exclusions in your Customer Area.
Package consolidation is not possible for dangerous packages, perishable goods, or oversized packages.

Conclusion: Consolidate Your Packages and Optimize Your Forwarding Costs!

With ColisExpat, take advantage of a wide range of services to facilitate your online shopping abroad: package delivery, consolidation, repacking, and more. Feel free to visit our website or contact our customer service for more information.

The ColisExpat Team