Sample: How Can You Ace Your Shipping Game?

Over the past few years, e-commerce has matured enough to become a crucial part of the global retail structure. The ecosystem has undergone dramatic changes following the dawn of the Internet and digitalisation. 

According to Statista, in 2019, global retail e-commerce sales totalled USD 3.53 trillion with revenue generation being projected to swell to USD 6.54 trillion by 2022. 

According to Walker Sands, a B2B tech integrated marketing agency, 54% of US consumers below the age of 25 said that same-day shipping is their number one purchase driver. A Narvar consumer report says that 53% of US online shoppers will not purchase a product if they don’t know when it will arrive.

These figures speak for themselves, don’t they? Hence, if you are an e-commerce business person or entrepreneur, one of the most effective ways to grow and scale your business is to have an efficient and seamless shipping process in place.

We’ll help you ace your shipping game and emerge triumphant.

Have a solid team

This stands true for businesses across all verticals. Having the right team or the right stakeholders can make or break your business.

a.   Marketing: Standing at the forefront, this team will communicate shipping costs, entice them with social media ads, summon them to your site with the right content marketing strategy and finally generate sales and enhance revenue.

b.  Web design and development: This team will ensure that the right shipping methods, charges, processes and offers are shown appropriately to customers at the right time.

c.   Fulfilment: This team will ensure that orders are being packed, picked and shipped correctly, according to a customer’s needs or requests.

d.  Customer service: This team will understand how your shipping method affects customers at the various stages of the customer life cycle. Thus when they raise questions, this team will answer them right away.

Determine shipping charges and methods

Once your teams are in place, settle your shipping rates and how you would want to ship your goods. Here, please note that your costing and shipping methods will also be subject to the scope and financial competencies of your e-commerce business that includes ample groundwork, skilled expertise, correct resources and impeccably optimised processes.

Here are some tricks of the trade:

–        Charge a flat fee to entice customers.

–        Free shipping works impressively well to incentivise your customers to buy more.

–        Offer overnight shipping or a same-day delivery or a two-day delivery that has now become an industry standard.

–        Offer international shipping to expand to newer markets. Yes, this can be a challenge for smaller businesses, but this becomes a mandate over a period of expansion and scaling.

–        To decide on the price of the product, ensure you keep the cost of production, packaging, shipping costs, customs and duties (where applicable) and payment processor fees in mind.

3.   Get the packaging right

You have just one chance to win over your customers and here’s where remarkable packaging comes into the picture.

–        Make sure your package fits right, both internally and with regard to utility packaging. It should be tight, but should not compromise a product’s quality. This will help you save cash on shipping material and dimensional shipping charges.

–       To please the current environmentally-conscious generation, go for sustainable packaging with materials such as paper, pulp, wood and seaweed.

–       Use a triple-duty tape to seal, reinforce and trademark your products.

–       Think smart, stay flexible. There’s no one rule when it comes to packaging – a pouch over a plastic bottle, a bag over the box and so on.

Final thoughts

Unveiling your own venture is a demanding experience. But you are a step closer to your dreams once you get started. Also, despite the raging pandemic, e-commerce is set to thrive. With your shipping plan of action well defined, now is the time to move ahead and grow your business by leaps and bounds.