When we say ecommerce the first thing that comes to mind is how conveniently we can shop and start an ecommerce business. So, in the recklessness of the moment, you decide to do everything by yourself and make the mistake that will surely take you down. The problem with this plan is that you are predicting the wrong scop of an online customer’s journey.
The design of an ecommerce website is very important for high conversion and sales. But that is not the extent of a customer’s journey. From landing on your website to trying the product in their house is where this voyage ends. Now you can develop an ecommerce website if you are a developer but you will need external help for the remaining process. If you can develop a website does not ensure that you can do proper SEO of your website as well so you ask the assistance of an ecommerce SEO expert. Similarly, you can’t go to every door to deliver your product. To resolve this you request the assistance of a third-party for shipping services.
Just imagine you have a stunning website and you provide the customer with the best possible ecommerce experience from landing t checking out, to this moment you are in control of the customer’s experience but when you drop the product at the shipping company you lose control over it. Now it is up to the shipping company and the service they provide can make and break a customer.
These facts ensure that shipping strategy is very important for the success of an ecommerce business. Here I have discussed some ways that will help you in developing an effective ecommerce shipping strategy.
Packaging of the product
The packaging is the last frontier of a product at a company after that it is transferred to the shipping firm along with the hope that they honour their terms. The packaging is very important because it will be the first impression of the product. The size and quality of packaging material are important for the pricing strategy. If you pack the product in an attractive manner but it costs you more money than it will impact a companies profit margins. Moreover, the integrity of the products state is also on the line e.g. you can’t send a glass product in an envelope it requires a box and protective material. Similarly, if you send documents in abox that will be absurd. So, when packaging the product and its material and cost must be kept in mind.
Shipping
Before we indulge in finding the shipping partner we must decide what shipping policy to follow. The world of ecommerce has been evolved a lot during the last decade or so. The demands of online buyer are increasing and with that vendors are evolving as well. That is reason why there are many shipping techniques from home delivery to BOPIS to shop-ahead. One of the main reason behind developing these technologies is charges. Ecommerce titans like Amazon have ruined it for everyone else by offering free one-day shipping. Now customers expect vendors to offer free shipping as a result around 50% of ecommerce brands are offering free shipping while others are in trying very hard to achieve it. Some companies raise the product price and cover the shipment charges and then offer free shipping.
One big mistake that ecommerce make is hiding shipping charges. They conceal the shipping charges till the last step i.e. checkout and then complain about cart abandonment. If you can’t offer free shipping display shipping charges on with the product price.
Select a shipping company that you can hold responsible for in case of a mishap. Large companies like FedX and UPS have a reputation to maintain so providing the best shipping services is just as important for their success as it is for you. So, don’t settle for an immature company just to save a few bucks.