How to manage ecommerce shipping
Some online stores sell stuff via smartphones, computers and tablets, and some of them don’t have a brick and mortar store, which means that the online shop owner is in charge of the shipping of products to the final customer. In this article, we’ll talk about delivery in e-commerce. Let’s check it out!
Summary :
Importance of notifications in delivery process
Ecommerce shipping best practices
What is delivery?
Delivery in e-commerce is the process of shipping products to the customer in the address given by him when buying a product from your online store, in addition to all services around it. Shipping is a significant expense for ecommerce merchants.
Importance of notifications in delivery process:
Providing notifications and status updates is very important to keep your informed about the situation of shipping and send them the track and trace information when the product is on its way.
This will hugely impact the customer trust because online shoppers expect regular updates about their packages. Please your customers with multilingual notifications to increase post-purchase experience.
Shipping labels
Shipping labels are a main part of the shipping process of all online stores no matter the size of the store. Getting shipping labels wrong could result in getting the parcel lost, delayed and costly.
Shipping labels show the key information for a carrier to deliver a package from your warehouse to your customer’s hands. This information includes: Name of the recipient, postal code, country, city, street, date, tracking number, weight and sometimes the content of the package.
A label can’t be used for more than one package. A new label should be created for each package.
Shipping rates and methods
The pricing strategy is an important part of your shipping process. There are different methods depending on the financials of your business.
Free shipping
Studies have shown that higher than expected shipping fees is one the top reasons that let customers abandon their shopping carts. This is why we highly recommend you to think about offering your consumers free shipping by increasing the product price to cover the total price of shipping or a part of it. You can also offer free shipping to your loyal customers or those who buy more than a defined amount via a discount code.
Calculating shipping costs
Calculating shipping costs is a critical part of your online business. To do this, you must know the factors used to calculate shipping costs. These factors include:
- Packaging dimensions, weight
- Cost of stickers
- Cost of import/export if the item is shipped internationally
- The cost of the courier
Also, you should keep an eye on your competitors' shipping strategy and whether they are offering free shipping, shipping deals or not. The primary stage to keep your brand loyalty is transparency about your shipping costs.
Packaging
Ecommerce merchants usually take great care in choosing and designing packages to ship their products to customers. Custom packaging will help your business showcase its creativity and create a solid brand identity to stand out of their competition.
To choose your packaging, think of:
- Know your packaging goals
- Define your budget based on your packaging value for the customers
- Determine how much products you expect to buy
Today, the success of every business relies heavily on the packaging that delivers an excellent and unique unboxing experience.
Customs declaration and forms
If you are shipping internationally, it is mandatory to add the appropriate customs documentation. Coming back to these forms, the customs officers at the country of import can have an idea about what’s inside the package, how much it costs, and whether it is merchandise or a gift.
You need to make sure the products sent are in accordance with the shipping rules of the destination country.
Ecommerce shipping best practices
- Involve your organization teams in your shipping strategy : Marketing, customer service, fulfillment …
- Create your shipping strategy : Define your goals, type of shipping …
- Understand carrier options to choose the one that suits your business the best
- Offer free shipping when it is possible
- Be transparent about your shipping costs
- Provide personalized packaging and securely wrap your products
- Notice customers of the status of their delivery every step of the way
- Consider offering a discount for delays and replacing damaged or lost items
Every ecommerce business works hard to develop and overcome challenges related to its shipping strategy. The shipping is a fundamental part of your ecommerce strategy and a great point of differentiation for your brand. Guaranteeing the efficacy of shipping strategy requires the coordination between several teams in your organization including your fulfillment team, your marketing team and others.
With this handy guide about ecommerce shipping, we believe that you will easily set up a successful shipping strategy, and watch your sales increase!
