10 Tips for Your Ecommerce Shipping & Fulfilment Strategy
Last-mile delivery is the icing on your cake. It ensures customer satisfaction, pleasant shopping experience and a happy customer.
Shipping is one important process that most businesses tend to overlook or forget. It is as important as stocking up your store and making sales. But it becomes difficult to keep control and supervise packages after they leave the store.
But, by planning ahead of time, with cost-effective techniques, shipping can be made easy.
So, let us help you with a shipping strategy that improves your customer experience and retention.
Our discussion will include-
1. Shipping strategy 101
2. Shipping rates and methods
3. Calculating shipping costs
4. Packaging and marketing
5. Packaging options
6. Insurance and tracking
7. Customs declarations and forms
8. Business accounts
9. Labelling your packages
10. Using a fulfilment warehouse
11. Shipping Importance
1. Shipping Strategy 101-
It’s a good idea to plan in advance and be prepared for last-minute changes. With constant revisions and experience, you also learn what works best for you.
These are a few things you need to consider while chalking out your shipping strategy-
2. Shipping Methods & Rates-
Who is going to bear the cost of shipping, the Company or your customers? Or perhaps you’d like to go 50–50 between the two?
i. Product Weights-
Update each product with its weight to have a reliable cost estimate for shipping.
ii. Preferred Packaging-
Different products need different packaging with varied materials. It’s important to make a distinction for each product.
iii. Source your Packaging-
Determine the right service that is reliable. The service you choose can affect your brand’s quality. So you should weigh your options to help make a good decision.
iv. Determining Shipping Rates-
There are many choices to help you fix the right shipment rate. Consider the financial status of your company before making a decision.
Plan your approach and the transparency you will display for shipping rates. You can either-
a. Offer Free Shipping-
‘Free’ shipping reduces cart-abandonment and attracts more buyers. The catch is that the shipping isn’t actually free. The cost is hidden in various ways-
Increase product prices to cover shipping costs. — (Customer pays)
The company pays the full price of shipping out of its margins. — (You pay)
Increase prices of products slightly to cover partial costs of shipping while you cover the rest out of the margin. — (Shipping cost to be distributed between you and the customer)
b. Offer a discount code to certain customers for free shipping.
c. Offer free shipping on a minimum order amount.
d. Charge Real-time Carrier Rates-
Another good technique is to charge real-time carrier rates for shipping. Some Ecommerce platforms give shipping options and quote prices. This gives clarity to the customer.
e. Charge a flat rate-
You can also charge a flat rate for shipments. This works best with a standard line of products that are similar in weight and size. Don’t charge too less or too much.
3. Calculating Shipping Cost-
Shipping rates take into consideration different factors, such as-
1. Origin city
2. Destination city
3. Package size
4. Package weight
Additional services such as tracking and insurance are charged separately.
Every courier services have different ways to decide on the price for shipment. So, weigh your options and find the cheapest price.
Margin Analysis-
Watch the profit margin and then plan your shipping methods. Be careful to not go into loss.
Make relevant charts and find information to get the total cost. Accept the terms if the numbers are supportive. Be careful of little charges that add up quickly.
Here’s an example of how shipping charges can affect the prices of a product-
Initial cost of the product- ₹750
Packaging- ₹35
Shipping costs- ₹560
Customs/Duties (if you cover them)- ₹0.00
Credit card fee- ₹190
Profit margin- 50%
Total price- ₹2303
4. Packaging & Marketing-
Process of packaging has changed over the times. Now, you need to be creative if you want to compete. Companies try to come up with something new and different. This is done to give customers a better experience.
It is important to make your product look pretty. It should look rich and reflect the beliefs of your company. But this will add expenses. So, it’s important to find less-costly ways to beautify your products.
Sometimes, little goes a long way. Keep it simple and find the right, inexpensive design to echo your brand. Set yourself apart by making packaging a marketing tool that is an extension of your brand!
5. Packaging Options-
You can use different packaging materials depending on what’s convenient, cost-effective and on the space there is available. You don’t have to limit your choices. Think out of the box (see what we did there?) and try out other packaging options.
Clothes can be folded and tucked away into a poly mailer. This is both lighter on your wallet and an effective space saver. There are also blank and custom packaging materials that can be purchased from Arka and its Shopify app.
It is also important to note that many carriers, such as USPS, DHL and UPS offer free packaging in different types and sizes.
Keep it small and light-
Shipping charges are affected by size and weight. So you should reduce as much extra weight as possible. It saves money, space and makes your product look neater & more presentable.
6. Insurance & Tracking-
Getting insurance for the products you ship out is a wise move. This is a sort of security. It is a small investment with rewards to help you deal with any arising loss.
Tracking is a helpful tool which lets you and your customer know the status of the shipment at any time. It gives greater clarity for all parties involved.
Some shipping services offer complimentary coverage worth up to ₹7500–₹15000.
7. Customs Declarations and Forms
Goods outside the country will need to go through customs. You should hand over the right forms for approval to clear this process. You can make this easy by keeping yourself updated with the rules and regulations with the help of your country’s postal service.
Taxes, Duties & Tariffs-
Sometimes, the package is liable to incur additional customs fee when it reaches its destination. In such cases, the responsibility falls on the buyer to settle the arising obligation.
To avoid disagreements, it is a good idea to give a little heads-up to your customers on your shipping policy page just to keep your stance clear.
Customs Declaration Information-
For more details on the customs procedure, please see the links below-
- USPS Customs Information
- UPS
- DHL Express
- Canada Post Customs Information
- UK Royal Mail Customs Information
- Australia Post Customs Information
8. Business accounts-
After deciding the right carrier for you, the next step would be setting up business accounts. You can use any of the various online tools and services that offer discounts as well as added benefits. Shopify Shipping is one such service provider.
9. Labelling your packages
There are different approaches you can take when it comes to labelling packages. However, you can simply print & pay for multiple shipping labels directly in Shopify.
Here’s how you can try:
1. From your orders list, select all the orders you’re ready to ship.
2. Preview each shipment, including the carrier, shipping service, and package. Adjust or fill in any missing information as needed.
3. Buy all of your shipping labels in one click, then print them as a single PDF.
10. Using a fulfilment warehouse-
Fulfilment Warehouses manage your shipping requirements. The warehouses in India can carry out these functions on your behalf-
- Pick & Pack
- Orders Processing
- Returns Management
- Storage
- Daily Sheet Reporting MIS
- Courier Connections
- Multiple Ecommerce Integrations
Such warehouses are found in every state in India. So, it is convenient for you and your brand.
They make the shipping process easier.
The advantages of a fulfilment centre are-
1. They offer cheaper shipping rates.
2. They drastically cut down on shipping time.
They have their sets of disadvantages too, such as-
1. The packages cannot be as personalized you would like them to be.
2. Additional costs in the form of ‘pick and pack fees’ and warehouse storage fees.
After weighing out the pros against the cons, if you think fulfilling warehouses are a good option, you might want to check out Shipwire, Fulfillrite, Fulfilio (AU), and a host of others.
11. Shipping Importance-
As challenging as shipping is, it still needs to be done to sustain a business. The needs of each brand are different so it is important to analyze and choose the Shipping service that would serve your needs in the best way.
The world of shipping changes every day so what works today may not work a few months later. Keep yourself updated and reevaluate your options now and again to switch to something more effective.
Do you need help with more of such business strategies?
It’s our daily job to plan and implement strategies that skyrocket our client’s sales to a new high.
Reach out to us at info@boringcommerce.com, only if you can handle scaling.
