Australian-based online fashion store, VRG GRL, has sold its products internationally for years but has always experienced issues with rejected parcels due to surprise fees upon delivery.

International customers were unaware they would owe duties, taxes, and fees, and when presented with a bill at delivery, were unwilling to pay. In addition, VRG GRL was sending shipments DAP (without duties and taxes prepaid), which caused delayed transit times and lost parcels. This resulted in negative customer experiences and an increased volume of complaints.

When the UK announced its new VAT law, co-CEO, Cale Suesskow knew they needed a solution as the company had no way to handle VAT calculation and collection. Suesskow reached out to Zonos. VRG GRL was set up (almost immediately) to stay compliant and keep selling in the UK.

“We had to turn our live chat off because our customer service team members were so busy with other things like returns and rejected parcels. Unfortunately, those issues were causing further problems down the line of customer service,” Suesskow said.

Without a way to handle the UK’s VAT scheme, VRG GRL would have to turn off low- value sales into the UK to avoid non -compliance, which would hurt business, considering almost one-quarter (24%) of their international purchases are from Great Britain.

Commenting on the partnership with Zonos, Suesskow said, “The onboarding experience was simple. All I had to do was provide HS codes, and my onboarding agent did the rest.

“If I had to customise the settings and figure everything out myself, I would have been confused and overwhelmed. Plus, having someone dedicated in Australia provides a direct line. I feel like I have a connection with our Zonos representative, as opposed to other services where I wasn’t sure who I was working with or what to expect.”

Tax compliance solution enables sales to continue into the UK without setbacks, while landed cost transparency reduces rejected parcels by 50%.

Zonos Landed Cost enabled VRG GRL to continue selling into the UK with a simple, automated way to manage their VAT scheme. It also improved the international customer experience, reducing customer complaints and rejected parcels and giving time back to VRG GRL’s customer service team.