Ecommerce is at the core of our modern consumer culture. Rather than drive to the store for the goods we need, current technology now allows us to purchase everything on our lists with a few simple clicks of a mouse. This sense of ease has led overall sales to skyrocket in as little as the past few years—with shopping rates rising as our ecommerce technology improves. But, there’s one crucial step to this process that often goes overlooked by consumers, yet is incredibly important for business success and shopper satisfaction. This is a beginner’s guide to ecommerce shipping and the role it plays in your online company’s sales and overall future.
The Importance of Ecommerce Shipping
Since shoppers themselves are no longer bringing their purchased items home with them, ecommerce shipping processes are crucial to ensuring that they receive their orders on time. As such, it’s a key component in how a company is viewed from their market’s perspective and, in turn, how likely they are to retain customers. Buyers want to know that they can trust your business to take care of their newly acquired product, and to get it to them in both great condition and in a timely manner. For this reason, online businesses specifically need to generate a reliable shipping strategy in order to promise a satisfactory delivery.
Basic Components of an Ecommerce Shipping Strategy
Every solid shipping process begins with an established business strategy. This plan covers all the overarching details of how each product will go from one point to another. It also sets the standard for how items will be handled, who they’ll be handled by, and what you’re going to ultimately charge your consumers for the service. These are some of the central factors that must be considered in every shipping strategy:
Fulfillment Method
For starters, the fulfillment method refers to how your business will choose to store products and fill orders as they come in. There are three main types of fulfillment, each with their own benefits and drawbacks to consider. Self-fulfillment is when you store, package, and ship the product yourself in your own facilities. This method provides you with the most control, and is the least expensive because you aren’t hiring outside parties. Utilizing third-party logistics, on the other hand, involves working with an outside provider to store inventory and put together consumer orders.
But, if you’d rather cut out additional handling entirely, you can arrange to have your products shipped straight from the manufacturer. This alternative is known as dropshipping and often requires you to pay for products as you receive orders for them rather than in larger bulk. It also means that you’ll need an inventory management system that both you and your supplier have access to.
Product Characteristics and Packaging Needs
Specific product characteristics are also something important to keep in mind, as they can dictate how that item will be packaged and what materials you’ll need. Things like its dimensions and overall weight are especially vital, as they may affect the overall price of shipping that package. For most smaller, less fragile items, poly mailers and bags are typically the best option. However, if your products are larger or more fragile, you’ll most likely need to use boxes with various packing materials for cushion.
Shipping Range
Additionally, you should also keep in mind what your shipping range will be. Often times, it’s a matter of whether you want to ship locally, nationally, or internationally. Each market will offer new opportunities for your business, but they all come with different price tags. Local shipping will be significantly cheaper than national, and international shipping comes with its own set of regulations to follow depending on the location. For new businesses getting started, it’s recommended that you start by shipping locally.
Shipping Method
Then, you need to pinpoint the best shipping method for your plan. This factor refers to the settings you use on your online store for shipping with your specific carrier. You could offer real-time shipping that automatically calculates shipping costs on the site, or even two-day shipping to prioritize speed. All these choices make the shipping process more attractive to certain types of customers. So, based on the nature of your market, it’s up to us to decide which option would be the most applicable.
Rates and Overall Shipping Cost
Last, but certainly not least, you need to think about the rates you’re going to offer and the overall cost you’re going to pay to ship certain orders. Whether it be free, flat, or order-specific rates from your carrier, the prices you charge can have a large effect on how comfortable consumers feel buying from you. Free shipping is the most desired type from buyers, but this could also leave you paying more in the long run. Flat rates are good for consistency, but price them too high and you could have angry shoppers on your hands.
Developing Your Own Ecommerce Shipping Strategy
Now that you have a general overview, this beginner’s guide to ecommerce shipping wouldn’t be complete without giving you an idea of how you can apply it to your own business. When you’re in the beginning stages of creating your own ecommerce shipping strategy, keeping these fundamental components in mind is critical to setting the groundwork. But there are several other things to think about as you further customize your plan to your business and market needs. These are a couple tips to get you started.
Know Your Region’s Shipping Restrictions
As we briefly covered, shipping location and range are key to determining price and potential shipping restrictions. But each state has its own specific guidelines to follow, and you need to know them if you’re going to adhere to all the necessary standards. Some locations, for instance, require ecommerce sellers to package their products with suffocation warning bags to minimize risk, while others do not. Because of this, it’s crucial that you do a bit of research on the shipping practices in your area so you can ensure you stay compliant.
Consider Insurance and Package Tracking
Even after you feel like your strategy is complete and you’re ready to start shipping products, it’s important that you think about protecting those packages. Despite how reliable your chosen carrier may be, things can still go wrong during delivery. As such, it’s highly recommended that you also look into getting package insurance and product tracking capabilities to ensure that each parcel makes it to its destination. This way, you’ll be protected should something happen, and you’ll also be able to correct the problem quickly for your customer.
At Royal Bag, Inc., we believe that the best shipping experiences begin with a plan and the right packaging materials for the job. For this reason, we supply wholesale poly mailers to businesses that want to streamline their shipping process and we strive to educate them on how these bags are most efficiently used. This way, we can ensure that we’re not only providing you with materials, but also the understanding of how their quality can influence shipping as a whole. If you have any questions about our bags, or are looking for more effective ways to package your products, we’re ready to answer all your questions.
