The quality of your shipping services can make or break your eCommerce business. 50 percent of online shoppers will abandon their cart if a business doesn’t offer their preferred delivery choices.
As an eCommerce business owner, it’s clear you need to have your shipping services down to a T. This means developing a small business shipping strategy before you even start the business and fine-tuning it as you go along.
Read on for essential things you need to know about eCommerce shipping, including your shipping options.
Use Quality Packaging
Some business owners don’t consider product packaging an integral component of shipping, which is a big mistake. If you don’t take packaging seriously, orders might reach the consumer broken, which will obviously hurt customer satisfaction and increase order returns.
Use quality packaging that’s suitable for the nature of your product. If you’re shipping fragile products, for example, a polyurethane bag provides great outer protection. Cushioning materials such as bubble wraps and crumpled paper provide inner protection.
You can hire a packaging service to prepare your orders before they’re shipped.
Understand Your Shipping Costs
Online shoppers love free shipping and as an eCommerce entrepreneur, you’d love to offer free deliveries. Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible because shipping costs money. And you don’t want to cut your profit margins or even run into losses because your want to entice shoppers with free shipping.
This is why it’s crucial to have a clear picture of your shipping costs and know how to factor them into the pricing of your goods.
Most businesses, though, use third-party shipping companies, which means they have little control over the shipping costs. However, you can negotiate a better rate if your shipping volume is high.
Make the Most of the United States Postal Service
Every day, the Postal Service processes over 425 million mail pieces. This shows that Americans have a lot of trust in the USPS because of its reliability and cost-effectiveness.
If your eCommerce business deals in products that can be shipped in small packages, it makes sense to use the USPS. Especially if you’re sending documents, the certified mail service will come in handy. Here’s a guide on how to send a letter via USPS.
Choose a Commercial Shipping Carrier Diligently
Many small e-commerce companies have no choice but to turn to commercial shipping companies with an elaborate shipping infrastructure. These companies aren’t created equal, so the quality of services differs.
When choosing a shipping carrier, don’t just look at the cost. Consider overall reliability and the shipping tools it offers you as well. You want a carrier you can count on to make deliveries on schedule every time.
Small Business Shipping Shouldn’t be a Pain
Shipping is central to the operations of your eCommerce business. Get it wrong and you risk killing your business. Get it right and it will spur the growth of your business.
With these small business shipping tips, you now know how to ship your products the right way. Keep tabs on our blog for more shipping advice.
