When it comes to eCommerce, shipping is often the most overlooked aspect. Many businesses focus on the product and forget about the shipping process. However, eCommerce is a vital part and can make or break a sale. I hope you have considered this overlooked aspect already.
When I started my 3D Printing business, I thought I would only be working and delivering locally. Well, that was a mistake I made at the beginning. I did not take into consideration any of that. So, here is my guide for eCommerce shipping integration without further delay.
Shipping is a Vital Part of eCommerce
When running an eCommerce business, shipping is often one of the most overlooked aspects. Yet shipping is a vital part of any eCommerce operation – after all, how can you make sales if you can’t get your products to your customers?
There are a few things to remember when shipping for your eCommerce business. First, you must ensure that your products are adequately packaged and protected to arrive at their destination in good condition.
Many businesses focus on the product and forget about the shipping process.
1) Make sure you have a suitable shipping carrier.
Shipping can make or break a sale.
An eCommerce business is only as good as its shipping. If customers are unhappy with the shipping, they will be unlikely to continue shopping with that company.
Shipping can make or break a sale, so it is vital to get it right. When designing your eCommerce shipping strategy, keep a few things in mind. First, you need to offer fast and reliable shipping. This means working with a reputable shipping company that can deliver your products on time. Unfortunately, it is also where most stores fail to satisfy their customers.
Shipping is one of the most vital components of eCommerce. It is not only the process of shipping products to customers, but the entire experience of waiting for your product to arrive. The Fulfillment Lab will take care of the shipping process while you focus on growing your business.
Not worrying about shipping allows eCommerce stores to focus on marketing and growing their business. Choosing a shipping partner can be a stressful and challenging task. There are many choices, and many companies provide strictly worse services than the following companies.
However, The Fulfillment Lab is the shipping partner that takes away that stress and makes your business stronger. Please focus on growing your business while we care for the shipping aspect. The Fulfillment Lab will help enterprises grow faster by taking away their shipping responsibilities instead of giving them time to focus on their businesses.
Believing that a business can grow faster if someone else is handling its shipping responsibilities is an idea that has been proven time and time again. Ecommerce Shipping Integration As your business grows, your most crucial resource becomes time. “Integration” is when you use shipping to connect to The Fulfillment Lab. Book an appointment with The Fulfillment Lab integration. [HERE]
Think you’re too small to need The Fulfillment Lab? Growth can happen anytime, even if you’re shipping only a handful of orders a week right now. Social media can spike your sales overnight. Integrating now helps you prepare for the future. And during your rush season, The Fulfillment Lab makes it much easier to keep up.
eCommerce Shipping Best Techniques
Were you thinking of starting an eCommerce business or just wanting to brush up on some shipping best practices? You’ve come to the right place. You can have a great product, but its delivery can make a difference. Your shipping policies can attract new buyers, build brand loyalty, and increase customer satisfaction! So here are six eCommerce shipping best practices you should follow.
Assemble a “Shipping Team”
Regarding shipping, all the stakeholders within your organization should involve all the stakeholders. This includes members from the following teams:
- Marketing. They are responsible for communicating shipping procedures and promotions to customers. They should also be able to answer questions like “how often can a promotion run while maintaining margins?”; “How should we promote a particular product?”; and “Which products are best sellers vs. which products have the highest abandoned cart rates?”
- Web Design. This team often works closely with marketing (or is part of the marketing team). They are responsible for making sure shipping options are clearly laid out on your website and that they see them correctly. They should have insight into which web pages visitors spend the most time on. At this point, customers will likely abandon their cart, which offers to convert the best using A/B testing.
- Fulfillment. Whether this team is in-house or a third-party logistics (3PL) company. They work to ensure orders are picked, packed, labeled, and shipped accurately and on time; they’re also responsible for returns management. They need to be able to answer questions such as, “Will this promotional idea cause operational slowdowns?” and “which products are being returned most frequently?”
- Customer Service. This team will directly communicate with your customers, so their involvement is critical. They need to understand how different shipping options work, what promotions are currently running, and company policies for customers that have a terrible experience. Learn More [HERE]
Create Your Shipping Strategy
What are you hoping to achieve with your shipping strategy? What are your goals? That may determine what type of shipping you offer. Think about some of the following objectives:
- Increasing conversions. If you want more people to purchase your product, you can’t charge them a vast shipping fee at checkout, or they will likely abandon their carts. So, provide multiple shipping options and be upfront about costs to increase conversions.
- Increase order values. Do you want customers to buy more from you? Then your strategy may be to encourage this through free shipping thresholds, expedited shipping, or free or expedited shipping at a particular spend (more on all these later).
- Grow Your Audience. Looking to gain more customers? Perhaps you’ll want to expand into international markets, offer alternate shipping options like in-store pickup or local delivery, or look at needed promotion methods.
- Decrease Costs. Are you simply looking to decrease your costs? You may want to consider looking at different fulfillment providers, or if you’re doing shipping on your own, consider one. This can reduce your operational costs. Due to their relationships with carriers, you can often acquire better shipping rates through a fulfillment center. They can also ship from the closest to your customers if they have multiple locations. Hence, the product crosses fewer shipping zones (thus reducing shipping costs further).
Understand Carrier Options
Which carrier is going to deliver your product to your customer the quickest? What are their policies for overnight and holiday delivery? We’ve compiled information about delivery times and service for “the big three” (FedEx, UPS, and USPS), so you don’t have to seek data from multiple sources. Check it out here: Delivery Times for Top Shipping Carriers: FedEx vs. UPS vs. USPS.
Consider a Multi-Carrier Strategy
Busy shippers often choose a single carrier strategy and negotiate a reasonable rate. This streamlines decision-making, as there’s no need to research rates online or request a spot quote. While a single carrier strategy is a time-saver, using multiple shipping carriers offers many benefits.
- More Negotiation Power. Using only one carrier places you at their mercy and can leave business owners complacent if service is “generally acceptable.” Business owners are more likely to keep up with other carriers’ services without an exclusive arrangement. In addition, deliverers may not provide existing customers with their most competitive service options or rates, similar to cable companies.
- The Right Service for the Right Job. When handling different shipments, some carriers are just better than others. Following a multi-carrier shipping approach, you would choose the best transportation for each cargo (for example, domestic vs. international shipping, oversized freight, etc.)
- Risk Mitigation. You could scramble to find another when service goes terrible with one carrier. For example, a courier may change service levels or discontinue service in certain areas. You may find that your courier is becoming sloppy and losing more packages in transit. Or poor weather could halt a carrier’s service, which impacts your delivery times.
Regarding Proposed eCommerce Free Shipping
Free shipping can make small businesses cringe because it can be a considerable expense. Still, Amazon and other retail giants use it. Most customers expect it 9 out of 10 say free shipping is their most significant incentive to shop online.
On top of that, today’s consumer has many options. So unless you’re selling a niche product they can’t get elsewhere, they’re more likely to pass you by in favor of a seller offering to ship for free. This means you’ll need to accept lower profit margins on your product or increase the product’s price to make up the difference. Learn how to calculate your free shipping threshold easily.
Of course, you may want to limit free shipping to the 48 contiguous United States, certain days of the week, or certain times of the year, or use it as a promotional tool.
Weigh Expedited Shipping
Studies show that 90% of consumers are willing to wait longer for an item if shipping is free. However, many smaller eCommerce companies can’t afford to offer free shipping. Expedited shipping is a good alternative (if people can’t get it free, they want it fast).
The even better news? Most of the respondents in a survey of 2,815 U.S consumers have reasonable expectations for “fast,” especially when ordering from small and medium-sized eCommerce retailers. The majority stated that 3-5 days was an acceptable wait time. So, another strategy is to offer free shipping and then a surcharge for expedited shipping to offset the cost!
Be Transparent About Shipping Charges
Can’t afford to offer free shipping? The next best option then is to be transparent about eCommerce shipping costs. One of the biggest frustrations for buyers is only learning the shipping cost at the end of their transaction. They may abandon their cart and look elsewhere (estimates reveal that 55% of abandoned carts are due to shipping costs).
Rather than blindsiding them with shipping fees, adopt a flat-rate shipping system that provides the fee upfront or allows them to enter their zip code before checkout. The eCommerce shipping costs can be calculated earlier in the transaction.
Ship Products Properly
As a small business, you may not be able to provide personalized packaging like some of the big guys. But that doesn’t mean you should drop your product in a box and ship it off. You should still ensure that your product is shipping in an appropriately-sized box and wrapped safely if it’s fragile. This will also help to ensure fewer returns due to breakage.
Dispatch Shipping Notifications
Customers like to know the status of their delivery. In a survey, 82% of consumers stated that retailers must proactively share every fulfillment and delivery stage. With 45% saying they track order status by text and 85% using email to stay updated.
Implementing a communication system that notifies your customers of their product’s location can create more trust and provide a more positive experience. It is critical when your delivery times are lengthier, and your customers are likely to become more anxious.
Take Accountability for Shipping Issues
A lot can happen to your package once it leaves your hands. It can be delayed in transit, delivered to the wrong destination, arrive damaged, or be lost altogether. While none of these may be your fault, your customer won’t see it this way, and they will want you to make things right.
As soon as you’re made aware of a problem, you should contact the carrier to try to resolve the situation. Making good on the problem could come down to offering a discount on the next order for delays or replacing the item if it’s damaged or lost.
Book a “FREE” consultation with The Fulfillment Lab
While these ten eCommerce shipping best practices should help startups and small businesses succeed. You may eventually decide you no longer want to be responsible for shipping. Outsourcing to a fulfillment center is a great solution!
The Fulfillment Lab can help you save money on eCommerce shipping costs. Learn more about how Fulfillment Lab can boost your business and bottom line! [HERE]
Grammarly proofread this post!
Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below if you have any additional questions.
Thanks for being part of the community!
Kevin
Hello,
As an eCommerce seller, the first physical touchpoint you’ll have with a customer is when your package arrives at their door, an impactful impression is critical.
Fulfillment marketing, a cutting-edge solution crafted by my friends over at The Fulfillment Lab, is designed to make the unboxing experience memorable by bringing marketing and fulfillment together at scale!
With this strategy, you can create a unique order fulfillment experience using data you’re already capturing—without sacrificing speed or scalability. It makes it possible to:
- Build brand recognition. With increasing competition for eCommerce businesses, you need a way to differentiate and build brand recognition. Fulfillment marketing is that solution!
- Tailor the customer experience. Personalize the fulfillment experience to each buyer using marketing data you’re already collecting—delivering a unique customer experience that’ll leave a lasting impression.
- Create brand advocates. Turn one-time buyers into repeat buyers and loyal advocates for your brand. You make it easier to attract new customers driving additional revenue from repeat sales while expanding your new customer base.
I figured you’d like to do this in your organization, so I’m connecting you with The Fulfillment Lab! Click this link [HERE] to get started with their fulfillment services today, or contact them directly if you have more questions.
The Fulfillment Lab, 5136 W Clifton St, Tampa, FL 33634, (813) 444-3455
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