Easy Ways To Build Customer Trust

If you do most of your business online, or even all of it, gaining the trust of your customers takes a little bit of extra work. When it comes to ecommerce, every small detail either helps or hurts when it comes to building trust with your customers. Product descriptions, photos, reviews, and social media posts will all have an impact on if your customer sees you as a trustworthy brand or not.

It isn’t enough to know you are running a legitimate operation; you have to assure your customers that your business and your products can be trusted. The good news is that once you start using the following strategies, it’s not too hard!

Use Good Branding Techniques

Having a cohesive style across your company website, social media, and printed materials is one of the easiest and most effective ways to build trust with your customer base.

Consistent, strong branding shows customers that you have put a lot of work and thought into your company. It also shows that your company has a clear story to tell and value to add to people’s lives. The story of your brand should permeate every aspect of your shop, from your company logo to your product descriptions. Consistency here is key.

To learn more about how to create a successful branding strategy, read our Branding Guide.

Update Frequently

By updating frequently you show customers you’re here to stay. This doesn’t mean you have to redesign your entire website every few months, but it does mean you should be regularly updating banners, social media copy, and your product listings to keep content fresh.

If a customer is interested in your product and heads to Facebook to look at your profile, it doesn’t look good if there haven’t been any updates for over a month. This gives the appearance that you aren’t staying up-to-date on trends and that you aren’t concerned with providing your customers with updated information.

We’re constantly monitoring our website and have a daily deal that we post about on our Facebook page.

Showcase Positive Reviews

Inspire trust from potential customers by showcasing positive reviews from past customers. You worked hard to get those positive reviews, so make sure you use them to your advantage. When customers see that others have had a positive experience shopping with you, it gives them confidence in shopping from you as well.

We have an entire Customer Testimonials page on our website for this very reason!

Interact With Your Customers

If you get a question or comment from a customer, don’t ignore it or put off answering. Quick response times and interactions with customers is an easy way to show that you value customer concerns and opinions.

By interacting with customers regularly, you’re also showing that your business is active. Personal interactions are also more likely to build a loyal customer base. People like feeling as if they are special, so make them special!

Provide Clear, Informative Product Photos & Copy

Short, vague descriptions and blurry photos are easy ways to turn customers away from your website. It makes your business look scammy and lazy. That’s why it is so important that you take the time to make each product page as nice as you can.

Use crisp photography that showcases your product from a variety of angles. Your product descriptions should clearly state the product features, dimensions, and any other pertinent information that customers will be looking for.

Your photos and copy should be clean and professional across your entire website. That goes for banners, FAQ pages, About sections, and every other page on your website.

Now that you know how to build customer trust, don’t forget to deliver with high quality shipping supplies so your customer’s orders arrive undamaged!

Keep Customers Happy With Excellent Parcel Delivery

Your job isn’t over once you’ve packaged a product and sent it to your customers. You may have the perfect customer service, efficient and professional packaging, and an amazing product, but customers can still leave you angry reviews because of the delivery of your parcel.

This means that even if the carrier is to blame you’ll be the one to suffer the negative feedback. Luckily there are ways you can counteract this. These seven tips will help keep your customers happy with your brand, even if something goes wrong.

Schedule delivery times with your customers so your parcels aren’t left sitting on their doorstep in the elements and vulnerable to thieves. Of course this will depend on the carrier you are using. If you can offer a specific delivery time, give customers the option, especially for more expensive products.

Provide delivery windows if you can’t schedule a specific time. Even if you can’t guarantee delivery on a specific date, you can often provide a delivery window of several hours.

Allow customers to request specifics when it comes to parcel delivery. Customers can leave instructions about where they would like parcels left if they are not home. This will give your customers more control over the delivery process and prevents costly mistakes.

Send tracking details over the course of the delivery. Inform customers of when a parcel ships, when it arrives, and maybe even while the parcel is in transit.

Use preferred communication mediums for each customer. Give them the option to receive updates on their parcel via email, text message, or by utilizing a company tracking landing page. Your customers will appreciate being notified about their order, and giving them the option for how to receive those notifications will make you stand out.

Offer a tracking page that customers can visit at any point during the delivery process. Having this page means you’ll field less questions from customers about where their parcel is. Additionally, by creating a branded tracking page you are encouraging further engagement with your customers. It’s a great place to cross sell as well.

Provide excellent customer service, especially if something goes wrong. It may not be your fault something went wrong with the delivery of your products, but it isn’t the customer’s fault either. Be understanding and helpful so that your customers still view you in a positive light.

Keep Your Customers Happy

It is extremely important that you keep your customers satisfied. Even if you have a customer who only makes a single purchase, if they have a good experience they are likely to mention your business to their friends and family. Today we’ve got some tips to make all your customers satisfied.

1.      Keep customers informed about their order status. How many times have you ordered a product online and not heard anything from the seller? If the order is late, you then have to track down a tracking number or sometimes even a phone number to find out what is going on. Notify your customers every step of the way. Let them know you’ve received their order, when the order has been processed and when it ships, along with details so customers can track their package. You may even send an email when their item has arrived. This keeps your customer in the loop for the entire shipping process, so they are less likely to get frustrated by the shipping time.

2.      Apologize for late delivery. One of customer’s biggest gripes is late delivery. Sometimes this may be your fault due to delayed processing, sometimes it may be the fault of the company shipping the product. No matter the reason, contact your customer and offer an apology, and if possible an updated estimate of when their product will arrive. Your customers may still be annoyed, but they will at least be informed.

3.      Make your customers feel valued. You want them to know you appreciate their business. A great way to do this is to send a note thanking them for their purchase, or sending a coupon for a future purchase. This can be right in the package with their product. Even if the customer doesn’t use it, they will appreciate the thought. Knowing their business is important to you will make them more likely to shop with you again.

4.      Have a fast turnaround. Online shoppers want their items quickly, so get it to them as quickly as possible. If you have items that are on back stock or have lead times, make sure the customer knows that before they place the order. Fast shipping is extremely important, and the faster the product gets to your customer the happier they will be.

5.      Ensure your products arrive undamaged. This means taking the time beforehand to make sure items are packaged properly. You need to have the right packing supplies for the right product. Make sure anything fragile is handled with exceptional care. Accidents do happen during shipping, but with the right packaging technique your items should almost always arrive intact, saving you money and keeping customers satisfied.

Do you have any tips for keeping your customers happy? Let us know in the comments!

Five Common Shipping Mistakes

Shipping may seem simple on the surface, but there are many layers to the process. Here are five common shipping mistakes you may be making and not even realizing it.

1.      Not Keeping Track of Price Changes

Shipping prices change regularly, and you’ll be unhappy if you get hit with a bigger bill than expected. The USPS quietly increased the pricing on many of their mail services less than a month ago, but unless you were watching for these price changes you likely would not have noticed. Not only does this result in unexpected expenses for you, it often results in lost time. When pricing changes paperwork often changes, which can end up delaying your shipments and making your customers unhappy. This will usually happen at the start of the year, but it is smart to check on pricing periodically.

2.      Using the Wrong Packaging Materials

When you have a product you’re trying to get out the door, you want to ship it quickly. Unfortunately this can lead to poor decisions. Maybe you decide to re-use your boxes. Maybe you don’t have the right box size, so you package an item in a box that is too large. This type of behavior can lead to very negative results. Boxes get weaker the longer they are used, making them less able to protect the items inside. Shipping products in the incorrectly sized box can not only make a difference in pricing, but it can lead to the product being damaged.

3.      Not Giving Customers Shipping Options

Customers like to have options when it comes to shipping. For some, they are willing to wait several weeks to receive their product if it means free shipping. Others will pay extra to get their product as soon as possible. Offering these different options will give you appeal to a larger customer base. If you have a customer that needs a particular item within days and you can’t do that, they will go to your competitor. Likewise, if you have a customer on a budget but have no cheap shipping options, they will find someone who does.

4.      Not Listening To Customer Feedback

This includes both negative and positive feedback. You may be tempted to ignore that one bad review or skim the good ones, but reviews, feedback forms, and emails are a valuable source of information that can give insight into your business practices. Pay attention to opinions on delivery times. Note if anyone had any problems with objects not arriving in perfect condition. Look for what your customers wished you offered, and then start to offer it. You’ll never improve without feedback from your customers.

5.      Having a Poorly Organized Shipping Area

This is a huge problem because it costs you a lot of time. If you have boxes and packaging materials spread out with no organization, it will be a huge waste of time trying to find the items you need. Not only that, it can lead to you not being able to find the correct box or void fill, leading you to use subpar materials that can damage your product. Make sure everything has a place and keep it organized.

These mistakes are easy to fix and can have a huge impact on your business. Are there any shipping mistakes you’ve rectified or want people to know about? Let us know in the comments! 

Stand Out During the Holidays with Fantastic Shipping

We’re right in the middle of the holiday season, which means that many of you are probably sending out a large amount of products. That’s great! But you should be doing more than simply sending your customers the products they’ve ordered. This is the perfect opportunity to make your customers remember you.

So how do you stand out amid all the other companies sending out products? We’ve got some tips. First off, you may want to make some changes to your website. Customers nowadays find it stifling to only be offered one shipping method. The more options you can give your customers, the happier they will be. Ensure your customers can choose between slower, cheaper shipping options and faster, more expensive ones. If you can afford to, offering free shipping can make a huge difference in revenue. Many shoppers will gravitate towards you over competitors if you are able to offer them free shipping.

Now you’ve got the order and you’re ready to send it out. You want to make sure you are packaging all of your products properly. You will never get a good reputation if products arrive damaged, or even just in messy condition. We have an entire post about how to properly pack and ship that can be found HERE.

So, you’ve packed up your shipment? Before taping it up, consider adding some additions to the box. Unfortunately shipments are sometimes damaged, which is why it’s a good idea to include shipping and company information inside the box or mailer you are using. You can also stand out by including something a bit more personal in with the shipment. Add in a small sample or a handwritten note expressing your gratitude.  

With a rise of packages during the holiday season, you also see a rise of thieves. Requiring a signature upon delivery ensures your packages won’t fall into the wrong hands. Of course this depends on the customer, but it doesn’t hurt to recommend it on the website.

The product has been packed, shipped, and delivered, but that doesn’t mean your job is done! Send out an email to your customers thanking them for their business. You can even use this opportunity to request a review or ask customers to fill out a survey. This extra communication keeps you on your customers’ minds. Remember, the goal should be to get these customers to come back, or at least recommend you to friends and family.

Happy Holidays from all of us here at ShippingSupply.com, and we hope you have a great end of the year!

Use Shipping to Build Your Brand

If you do a lot of shipping, it is likely that you have a lot of online customers. It is possible that you have no brick and mortar location and rely on the internet for all of your sales. This is great, but customers can be quick to switch between online businesses. There are many strategies you can use to keep their attention on you, but you may not have considered how your shipping can be a big impact as well.

Be sure to package everything well. This is, of course, your biggest priority when it comes to items you are shipping. We already wrote a blog post about packaging properly, so check that out if you need a refresher. So why is this important? It’s not just important because you need your products to arrive in good condition, but because you want your customers to see that you know what you’re doing. If you ship out a product using the wrong packaging materials, customers may not trust you to ship them products again, even if the product arrived safely. Check out our packaging supplies guide for more details about choosing the right supplies for the job.

Make your packaging stand out. This doesn’t mean that your box or mailer has to be a bold color, though it certainly can be. Glamour bubble mailers, for example, are sure to grab your customer’s attention. But you can also add a company label that clearly showcases your brand. Ideally, your customers will receive a package and know it is from you.

Make it easy. Have a receipt printed and easy to spot inside the packaging. Include a phone number your customers can call if they have any concerns. You may also choose to include information about returns. While this may seem like it is encouraging customers to send something back, it is the opposite. Customers will appreciate having the information right in front of them in case something is wrong, versus having to check all over your site or give customer service a call. You really don’t want negative reviews due to issues with your products.

Add incentive to return. There is a multitude of ways to do this. The easiest way to do this is to include some type of coupon for a future purchase. This can be a general coupon or, even better, specified to the type of product your customer just bought. Including information leading to a survey, with a chance at a prize, is another great way to get feedback and keep your customer’s attention. Drawing a customer back in is incredibly important, especially in e-commerce.

Include information about your website, social media presence, etc. This may be included on paperwork or some type of flyer. It will remind your customer of your website and point them towards social media. This is also a great way to ask them to sign up for an email newsletter. Making a connection in the digital world is extremely important, so use this opportunity to do so.

Make it personal. This is probably the easiest step of all. Simply including a note, handwritten or not, is a great way to show you appreciate your customer’s business. Depending on the industry you may even choose to include a free sample. This really stands out and will make you stand out as a company.

Keep in Contact

ShippingSupply.com is one of the leaders of the packing and industrial supplies industry. It’s been in business since 1994 and carries a wide range of products for its customers.

All of us here at ShippingSupply.com want to make your experience with our store as positive as possible. Today we’re going to show you all the ways to keep in contact with us, and how to keep up-to-date on our sales! 

First, let’s discuss contacting us. There is a multitude of ways for you to do that. First, you may try calling us. You can reach us at 1-414-290-1073, or toll-free at 1-877-501-PACK. If you prefer not to call, we also have a contact form on our site. All you need to do is add a bit of your personal information, write your message, and send it along. You can find that HERE. Or do you need help right now? We also have a live chat option that is available the majority of the day on weekdays. You can find that HERE.

Do you keep yourself informed of our deal of the day? Every weekday we post our daily deal online for our customers to take advantage of. This daily deal could be on anything. Sometimes it is for contains. Sometimes earplugs. Maybe we’ll have a deal on a specific poly bag, corrugated box, or tag. You never know. We post these deals to both our Facebook page and our twitter account.

The best way to keep updated on our latest sales, products, and more, is to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter. And if you haven’t signed up yet, you’ll receive 10% off when you do. Who could pass up on that offer? You can sign up for the newsletter HERE.

We hope that some of these links can be useful for you. As always, we will see you at the next blog entry. Goodbye! 

A Thank You To Our Customers

Today, everyone at ShippingSupply.com has a message for you. We want to offer a sincere thank you to our customers over the years. We would not be where we are today without all of you. To show our appreciation we are currently offering 11% off everything in our store.

That’s everything. Anything you could need for shipping is on our site, and anything on our site is on sale for you. That’s 11% off labels, so your products can go out. It’s 11% off corrugated boxes, so your products have something to be sent out in. That also means 11% off mailing bags & envelopes, for your smaller items. 11% off shrink film, kraft paper, strapping, and tape. We want to give you savings on everything we can to show our appreciation.

We understand that our success depends on you. Part of what has made us successful is focusing on you more than our business. We want to make you, our customers, happy. And we want to make you happy regardless of size. Today, we wanted to take time to share our equity points with you. It seems appropriate, as today we are offering a thank you to our customers.

High Quality Shipping and Packing Supplies: For you, we choose only the highest quality products. We look for brands you can trust. Our products need to be good to keep our customers happy, so we do not settle for anything that doesn’t meet our quality standards.

Exceptional Prices: We purchase in bulk so that you don’t have to. This lets you purchase items in smaller quantities at lower prices. We understand that not all our customers need the supplies to justify buying in bulk, so we’ve taken care of that for you.

Unbeatable Customer Service: We ship all orders within 24 hours of purchase for your convenience. If you’re not totally satisfied with your items, they may be returned within 10 days for a refund or replacement. We do everything in our power to make sure you are happy. After all, without you we’d not be here.

Equal Treatment and No Minimum Order Amount: Every single sale is important to us, whether it is a huge purchase or a sale of a single item. We treat every customer equally. Our goal, no matter the customer, is to exceed their expectations.

As you can see, all of these points above point back to one thing. You, the customer. So to illustrate this, enjoy our sale this week. Simply use the code THANKS11 at checkout to save.

And don’t forget to keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter to keep up with The Deal of the Day.

12" x 17" Cool Shield Bubble Mailers

Deal Price: $64.52
Normal: $71.69

An economic choice for shipping perishables or items that are temperature sensitive. Bubble liner protects the item while thermal material maintains the desired temperature.

Enjoy the 11% off, our Deal of the Day, and the rest of your week. Until next time.