If you have an e-commerce business or you’re thinking about starting one soon, there are several important aspects you need to consider. Learn the best strategies and tips on how to ship your products to customers on this e-commerce pack guide & shipping tutorial.
Of course, you need to get your products right, but you also need to think about inventory, packaging, shipping, returns, exchanges and refunds as it’s all part of the retail experience.
However, shipping should be a key focus as excited customers want to receive their goods as quickly and safely as possible.
So if you’re currently thinking about the best way to ship your products, this guide is for you. Here’s what you need to do.
Create an e-commerce shipping strategy
The first thing you need to do, as with most areas of your business, is get an effective plan in place. Your shipping strategy should cover the following topics:
- Location – Where you will ship to
- Delivery times – How quickly you want goods to arrive and therefore what delivery options you’ll give to your customers
- Carriers – Which providers you want to use
- Cost – How much you will charge customers and if you’ll offer any sort of free shipping
- Packaging – How you will package, protect and label your goods
- Documents – Invoices, receipts or any other documents you need to include. For example, if you offer international shipping duties and taxes may apply
- Returns and exchanges – You need to put together a returns and exchange policy
If you start by getting a better idea of how you want your shipping to work and the relevant charges that will apply, you can get a much stronger shipping strategy in place. One which benefits both your business and your customers.
Research and select the best shipping providers
One of the most important aspects of your shipping is going to be the shipping courier you choose. After all, they will handle the transportation and delivery of your goods and you want them to be reliable and timely. Plus, you need to find shipping that’s affordable for you and your customers.
But more than that, you also need to think about providers that offer insurance, tracking links, flexible delivery, return services, international shipping, business accounts and more. You may also want to look for holistic services that effortlessly connect with your e-commerce site.
This makes receiving orders and arranging relevant shipping much easier and not only reduces the amount of work but also the risk of an error.
So this is not a decision you should rush into. It’s a good idea to do some thorough research on what’s out there and start to compare providers. You need to carefully weigh up services, location, cost and extras to make sure you choose the best possible shipping carrier.
Once you’re satisfied that you’ve found the right service, it’s time to sign up and get the ball rolling.
Understand shipping costs: E-commerce products ship guide
You should have a better idea of the cost of shipping based on the provider you have chosen. However, it’s not just about covering the cost of those services. There are some other factors you have to understand before you set your shipping rates for your customers. You also need to think about:
- Parcel size and weight
- The dimensions of your boxes or packaging
- The type of packaging and labels you use to send your goods
- Location and where they’ll be sent to
- Delivery speed
- Any extra services like insurance or tracking links
You need to take all of this into account if you want to charge a fair shipping price, whilst still making sure that you cover business costs. Learn the best strategies on how to ship your products to customers on this e-commerce pack guide & shipping tutorial.
Set your shipping options and rates: E-commerce products ship guide
The next stage of your strategy should be setting out what shipping options you’ll offer and how much these will cost consumers. Decide whether you’ll offer free shipping, flat rate shipping or any special services like express or next-day delivery.
You can then work out a price, deciding whether customers will cover the cost or if it will be your business, or perhaps a mixture of both depending on the size of the order.
Finally, you need to get this information clearly displayed on your e-commerce site, ready for customers to start placing orders.
Plan your packaging: Ship e-commerce products guide
Before you can send anything, you need to make sure you’ve picked, packed and prepared your goods properly. There are three key aspects you need to think about at this stage.
You need to make sure that you pack all the goods safely for transit. This might include packing peanuts, bubble wrap or other types of protective packaging. They also need to be in the correct size bag or box and sealed securely, so think about what packaging you’ll need to have to make this happen.
The outer packaging should look professional. You might even opt for eco-friendly or branded packaging to enhance the customer experience. If this is the case, think about where you’re going to get this from and make sure you factor in any additional costs.
The last but equally important aspect is the labelling. You need to make sure you have strong labels that are easy to fix onto your packages and easy for the driver to read. Some courier services will provide their own shipping labels but always look into this before assuming either way.
Make sure you understand international requirements
If you plan to send your goods on an international scale, you need them to clear customs. This means you need to provide all the right paperwork and make sure that any duties or taxes are paid with customers shipping tutorial tips.
If you’re not sure what documents and payments would be required. Make sure you get to grips with these before you start sending goods abroad. Learn the best strategies on how to ship your products to customers on this e-commerce pack guide & shipping tutorial.
Get a returns and exchanges policy in place
The final stage you need to tackle before you can start shipping is to get a returns and exchanges policy in place. Clearly displayed on your e-commerce site. Make sure that you are clear with customers about how they return goods and who will be covering the cost.
International returns can be a little trickier to navigate as you may need to request a duty drawback. Or duty relief. So you need to carefully consider whether you want to ship abroad. Moreover, how you’ll go about managing this process before you commit to it. I hope this tutorial helps you learn the best strategies and tips on how to ship your products to customers on this e-commerce pack guide & shipping.
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