Why shipping is now your most important customer touchpoint

Insights from Pitney Bowes, Accenture, and Shift4 on the new competitive edge in shipping
Colin Forrest SVP Sales Pitney Bowes
12/15/2025 Customer Experience

At the recent Pitney Bowes User Conference, moderator Colin Forrest, SVP Sales, Pitney Bowes, opened a discussion that reflects a growing truth across industries: shipping is no longer a back-office task, rather it has become a core pillar of customer experience and operational performance. Joined by Sam Hendren of Accenture’s Supply Chain & Operations Consulting Practice and Juan Tovar, Director of Operations and Administration at Shift4, the panel explored the forces reshaping global shipping today.

What emerged was clear: visibility, speed, and data intelligence now define shipping success, regardless of industry or scale.

“Visibility is everything”: Accenture’s take on rising expectations

Sam noted that both businesses and consumers now expect to know exactly where their shipment is, why it might be delayed, and how the carrier is handling it. Traditional tracking updates aren’t enough. Leading retailers are already providing:

  • Photo-verified delivery
  • Hyper-specific delivery instructions
  • AI-assisted proof-of-delivery validation

These technologies used to be considered luxuries, but they have since become standard across sectors. Whether a campus needs secure document movement or a financial institution is shipping critical hardware, the expectations set by e-commerce are shaping customer standards everywhere.

The M&A shipping trap, and how data solves it

Juan reinforced another industry-wide challenge: the operational chaos that comes with acquisitions. Integrating multiple proprietary systems and inconsistent workflows can cripple shipping operations.

As he described, when his organization expanded globally, complexity grew instantly with multiple carriers, customs hurdles, legacy workflows, and shipping data spread across spreadsheets. The fix wasn’t guesswork; it was data clarity and standardized, API-driven shipping workflows powered by Shipping 360®.

Once leadership saw the bottom-line impact of consistent data, carrier performance, customs delays, shipping costs change followed.

The new competitive edge: intelligent, connected shipping

Across the panel, one theme kept resurfacing: shipping is now more critical than ever.

  • If a POS (point-of-service) terminal arrives late, the store can’t process payments.
  • If a gift card shipment gets stuck at customs, revenue stalls.
  • If a campus package isn’t tracked accurately, trust erodes.

Colin summarized it as: every industry is addressing different problems, but the need for “visibility, control, and understanding where stuff is” is universal.

Platforms like Shipping 360 by Pitney Bowes, combined with learning from top industry leaders such as Accenture, give organizations the intelligence and agility needed to meet these rising demands, while also setting the foundation to grow along with their industry.