E-commerce shipping is associated with costs which entrepreneurs or brands look for ways to reduce. An effective e-commerce shipping system is a perfect strategy to grow your business online. For all online marketing, success and failure are determined by shipping management regarding packing orders and monitoring expenses. Therefore, shipping is one of the essential operations which every business owner must check on and manage efficiently. If you are an entrepreneur, below are steps you should take to simplify e-commerce shipping.
1. Use appropriate packaging. Packaging at times may seem to be a significant problem in shipping. This can be solved by ordering free supplies in advance directly from the carriers. There is a wide variety of supplies which you can use to pack your products. They include boxes, envelopes, padded envelopes, padded pouches, and custom slips, which must be named.
2. Schedule a pickup. At times you may have a lot of packages to ship and wonder how you will do it. If you encounter such a problem, it is essential you schedule a free pick-up with your carrier in advance to avoid lugging your packages out for shipment. Shipping carriers include DHL Express, FedEx, USPS, UPS, etc. It is necessary to set up a regular pick-up schedule if you ship products frequently. It’s also important you remember to create a scan form, especially if you are shipping via USPS.
3. Understand the rules of the country. At the border of each country, there are custom agencies at the border control which determine duties and taxes to levy when packages are received. At this point, the commodity, quantity, and the country of manufacture are the main factors used to determine these charges. Calculating these fees in advance may be difficult since they are not included in the shipping label cost. Therefore, it is essential you understand the specific rules for your products before choosing a shipping carrier. Carriers such as UPS have incredible tools that help one in understanding country-specific custom rules.
4. Sticker labels and scan-based return labels. Quick shipping is facilitated by slapping sticker labels on your package, sticker labels printed with a thermal label. Also, you should use scan-based return labels which ensure that you are free from charges if your customers don’t use your products. Even though this option adds extra costs depending on the carrier used, it enhances better customer experience. With return labels on your shipments, your customers can return items easily, if necessary. It is not only a way of simplifying e-commerce shipping, but also streamlines your customers’ buying cycle.
Once you simplify e-commerce shipping, the next operation is order fulfillment. As a customer, it feels great to receive a product that you had ordered, and in perfect condition. Business owners may lose money on some orders since customers may return the products or the shipping costs get to be more than you expected. If you have problems with shipping management, you should consider ShipHero which can assist in managing your warehouse and fulfillment operations.
