Are you thinking about launching an online store or simply brushing up your knowledge of shipping practices? You are at the right place to meet your needs. Before beginning, you must understand that a fantastic product is nothing without a great delivery. Your eCommerce solutions may improve sales, brand loyalty, and consumer happiness! Following are the six best shipping practices currently flourishing in India.
1. Set Up A Shipping Team
When it comes to shipping practices, your company’s stakeholders should be involved along with the members of the following teams:
- Marketing: The marketing personnel must inform clients about delivery methods and discounts. Besides, the marketers should also answer issues like “how often can we run promotions while preserving margins?” and “how should you advertise a specific product?”
- HTML/CSS: Sometimes, the web designers work with marketing personnel (a sub-segment of the marketing department). The designers ensure that shipping practices are properly shown on your e-commerce website at the appropriate time. For example, they should know which visitors spend the most time leaving their carts and which offers should be converted for the best outcomes.
- Fulfillment: The eCommerce shipping providers guarantee the products are selected, packaged, printed, and sent properly on schedule. They also help you manage product returns and must answer queries like “Will this promotional concept slow down business operations?” and “What kind of goods are returned the most?”
- Customer Care: Customer service is the only staff that will have direct contact with your customers. The customer care executives must know how different delivery options work, the business policies of unhappy customers, and prevailing discounts, if any.
2. Make A Shipping Plan
What do you want your shipping plan to achieve that may influence your delivery options? You can consider the following goals to assess your answer(s):
- Conversion Growth: You cannot charge a big shipping price at checkout if you want more customers to buy your goods. To improve conversions, give several delivery alternatives and be transparent about prices.
- Order Value Boost: Do you want customers to buy more from your online store(s)? Encourage this plan by offering free shipping or expedited delivery at a particular purchase level.
- Get More Audience: Want more customers? Expand into overseas markets, shipping options like local delivery, in-store pickup, or creative ways to promote your brand and product.
- Reduce Costs: Looking to cut costs? Consider some fulfillment providers if you handle your product shipping alone. Because of providers’ ties with eCommerce shipping providers or eCommerce solutions providers with courier partners, fulfillment centers may typically obtain cheaper delivery prices. If the logistics partners’ have numerous locations, they may ship from the one nearest to your clients. It significantly reduces shipping costs with time.
3. Know Your Options
Which airline will deliver your product the fastest? Can the products be ordered overnight or on holiday by your customers? We have gathered information about delivery services and schedules of the best two logistics partners in one place for your convenience.
4. Opt For A Multi-Carrier Plan
Busy shippers often opt for a solitary carrier strategy and negotiate fair pricing. There is no need to look up the pricing online on the spot. While using a stand-alone delivery carrier saves time, having numerous carriers has its advantages.
- More Negotiation: Business owners might become comfortable if the eCommerce shipping service or eCommerce solutions are “usually satisfactory” while using only one carrier. Without an exclusive contract, the owners are more inclined to keep up with other carriers’ offerings. However, like cable providers, courier partners may not offer you their most competitive service options or pricing.
- Choosing the Right Service: Some logistics partners are better at handling certain cargo than others. With multi-carrier shipping, you pick the best courier partner for each package.
- Mitigation: When one carrier’s service fails, you may have to switch. Your logistics partner may get careless, lose goods in route, or the bad weather affects a carrier partner’s performance, greatly affecting delivery timeframes.
5. Offer Free Shipping
Free delivery is a major expenditure for small businesses. 9 out of 10 buyers say free delivery is their main reason for shopping online. Moreover, today’s consumers have numerous options, so unless you provide a unique product, they are more likely to choose a vendor that offers free shipping. It implies you will need to tolerate reduced profit margins or increase prices to make up the difference. Of course, you may limit free delivery to some states or employ it as a promotional/marketing tool.
6. Consider Priority Mail
About ninety percent of buyers are prepared to wait longer for free shipment. Because many smaller online sellers cannot afford free delivery, expedited shipping is a viable option. What’s better? A poll of Indian customers found that most have acceptable expectations for “quick,” especially when buying from medium- and small-sized eCommerce sellers. Most agreed that 3-5 days was appropriate for a product’s delivery. So, another tactic is to provide free delivery but charge more for faster shipment!
7. Be Honest About Shipping Fees
Is free shipping not on the budget? Then be honest about eCommerce shipping charges. Most buyers hate being surprised by shipping charges at the purchase’s conclusion, leading them to quit and search elsewhere.
Rather than surprise customers with shipping prices, you may either give a flat-rate shipping policy or allow them to enter the pin code before the checkout so that shipping costs can be computed sooner.
8. Send Products Correctly
Personalized packaging may not be possible for small businesses, but that does not mean you should just put your products in a box and mail them. If your product is fragile, it’s important to ensure it is shipped in suitable packaging. It will help reduce returns due to breakage.
9. Send Shipping Alerts
These eCommerce solutions are more beneficial. Customers want to know the product’s delivery status. Eighty-two percent of respondents agreed online sellers should interact with them at every delivery and fulfillment stage in a poll. You can build trust and deliver a better experience by keeping your customers informed of their product’s delivery progress. It is critical when delivery delays are longer, and your customers are more concerned.
10. Take Charge of The Shipping Issues
Once your shipment leaves your hands, it might go through several changes. It can be delayed, damaged, or lost in transit. While none of it is your fault, your customers will not perceive it that way and want you to make amends. As soon as you learn of an issue, call the logistics partner to try to address it. In the event of a delay, a discount on the following order may be offered, or the item may be replaced.
Fit With The Fulfilment And Logistics Laboratory
While the above-mentioned ten eCommerce solutions should help you flourish, you may decide to stop shipping alone. A fulfillment center and logistics service provider like NimbusPost is a fantastic solution! There are several ways it may help you save money.
