Making a sale is always a great feeling.
But then comes the real work — fulfilling the order in a timely manner. In order to build a good reputation for your business, this means shipping your goods to your customer on time, every time.
While shipping might seem fairly straightforward to the uninformed, savvy business owners know that it isn’t. Having an effective shipping strategy in place is one of the most impactful things you can do to grow your business online. You need to ensure that packages get to customers when they want them.
The goal is to meet (or exceed) customer expectations, and, of course, to reliably deliver their items. Thankfully, modern tools exist to help.
Here are three smart strategies your business can use to keep customers happy.
1. Define Your Shipping Goals
Before you do anything, ask yourself this question: What do you want to accomplish with your eCommerce shipping strategy?
Of course, Amazon has set certain expectations among consumers thanks to their rapid next day or two-day shipping. If you’re a small or medium-sized business, this likely won’t be an option for you to remain profitable without having to charge an arm and a leg for your products.
So what can you do to compete and stay relevant? Be realistic and let your goods sell themselves.
Your eCommerce shipping strategy goals should keep an eye toward your bottom line while also aiming to keep your customers happy. Think of ways to increase conversions or your average order value. Consider how you can expand your market or target audience. Maybe you want to decrease costs or improve your operational efficiency.
These are all important components of your shipping puzzle. The bottom line is: How long will it take your goods to get to your target customers and what’s that going to cost? Then, you can price and set expectations accordingly.
2. Pay Close Attention To These Important Shipping Considerations
Offering the right shipping rates and options to your customer is crucial to your success as an online retailer. Getting shipping right can often make the difference between making and losing a sale. Charge too much for shipping and you’ll likely lose their business. Charge too little and you’ll cut into your profit margin. You have to find a happy balance.
Not only that — you have to offer the right shipping options to your customers at the right times to help reduce shopping cart abandonment. To do so, you need to have full control over your online store’s shipping. This enables you to offer the lower possible shipping rates while giving your customers the options they want.
Consider the following:
- Your product size and weight – is there a difference in size and weight from your smallest and lightest to your largest and heaviest items?
- Your shipping destinations – domestic and/or international?
- Shipping options – what services or carriers best fit your unique needs?
Understanding your unique considerations gives you a good baseline on what to look for in a shipping partner. Speaking of which…
3. Choose the Right Shipping Partner
Whether your eCommerce business is a side hustle or a full-time gig, you can’t cut corners when it comes to shipping. Choosing the least expensive option will often paint you into a corner with an unreliable partner. Entrusting your shipping to a single carrier can be troublesome if you choose the wrong partner.
You won’t create happy, loyal customers if you have packages show up late or damaged. So what you need is a reliable partner that gets your packages where they need to go, on time. A reliable shipping partner will pay for themselves in spades.
You want a platform that allows you to access their rates, track your shipments, and monitor spend for your shipping activities. Of course, you also need to keep speed in mind with customers expecting their packages to arrive fast. Reliability is most important, but speed a close second.
Naturally, the faster your items can reach their destination, the better. Weigh your options and choose the partner(s) that best fit your unique needs.
BONUS: Install Shipping & Receiving Software
When you choose a partner like aACE, you get shipping and receiving tools for Mac and PC that seamlessly connect your office with your warehouse in one powerful business management solution. You can shorten the order fulfillment life cycle, reduce moving parts, eliminate the need for manual data entry into shipping terminals, and even increase visibility into your inventory.
With aACE Shipping and Receiving tools, you can:
- Auto-generate shipments
- Use the aACE Pick App to eliminate paper pick lists
- Seamlessly integrate with top eCommerce solutions
- Receive payment failure alerts
- Track next steps
- Have your staff notified when goods are received
- Reconcile courier statements
You’ll gain real-time updates on inventory quantity, fulfillment status, payment, shipping alerts, and more. It’s everything your eCommerce business needs in one convenient solution.
If you’re ready to see what a powerful business management software with shopping and receiving tools can do for your business, check out our feature highlights.
