Meeting Customer Shipping Expectations

Customers have high expectations when it comes to the shipping of their orders. Do you know what the biggest customer demands are? And are you meeting them? We’ve compiled a list of the leading customer demands when it comes to ecommerce and how you can be sure to deliver.

Expectation: Fast Delivery

Solution: At the bare minimum, you must make sure to meet the deadlines you’ve set for yourself on your website. If you state that products will arrive one week after an order has been placed, you need to be sure that the products will arrive within that one week timeframe.

But ideally, your products will be in your customer’s hands within several days of a product being ordered. Aim for faster delivery times, and aim to have your product arrive faster than a customer expects. They’ll be pleasantly surprised to get your product early.

Expectation: Easy Product Tracking

Solution: If most of your tracking systems are manual, now is the time to update your supply chain. Think about your shipping process and consider when during the process customers are able to track their order.

The goal is to offer updated shipping information regularly. This may include emailing the customer, texting them, or creating landing pages where customers can easily track the status of their order. If nothing else, you’ll want to set up a process so that a customer is emailed when their item ships.

Expectation: Multiple Shipping Options

Solution: Your customers are busy people, and they won’t always be home to collect parcels that are being delivered. When it comes to more expensive parcels in particular, customers want the opportunity to have more control over the arrival times and days.

It’s easy enough to offer multiple shipping options, whether that is faster delivery times or delivery of parcels on specific days such as on weekends or after typical work hours. Get an idea of what your customers want so you can offer the options they’re looking for.

Expectation: Fair Return Policy

Solution: Customers are more likely to spend their money online when returns are easy to make and ideally, free. There are several things you can do about this to keep customers shopping and ultimately, buying. You want to make sure your return policy is clear and easy to find. You also want to make it as easy as possible for customers to return an item. Nothing frustrates a customer more than being unhappy with a product then having to jump through hoops to get their money back.

We wrote in depth about return practices HERE, so take a look for more details.

Expectation: Free Shipping

Solution: Customers love free shipping, and your brand loyalty will grow when you offer free shipping. It may seem expensive, but there are a few ways you can offer free shipping without losing money.

We did an entire blog post on this subject, which you can find HERE.

Expectation: Products Arrive Safely

Solution: Properly package your products before sending them to your customers. By properly packaging your items with the correct shipping supplies, you can be reasonably sure your products will arrive safely.

Shop ShippingSupply.com for quality shipping products that will get your items safely to their destination, helping you to gain loyal customers.

Are You Spending Too Much On Shipping?

No matter how long you’ve been in business, there’s a good chance you’re spending more than you have to on shipping costs. Your shipping costs can have a huge impact on your bottom line. By reducing shipping expenses, your company will gain additional revenue, and it isn’t even that hard.

Here’s how to know if you’re spending too much on your shipping costs.

1. You Aren’t Consolidating

Sending large shipments can get expensive, but by consolidating your shipments you can save a lot of money. Work with a consolidating freight service to find the best way to do this. By doing this for larger, heavier orders, you can save a huge amount of money, and so can your customer!

2. You Aren’t Tracking Carrier Performance

By tracking the costs and services of your carrier, you can actually save a lot of money. Your carrier may be costing you more than you even realized. Late deliveries, damaged products, and unexpected fees can quickly add up to more than you expected.

When tracking carrier performance you’ll want to pay close attention to:

·        Is the carrier meeting pickup and delivery times?

·        Are you being charged non-essential fees?

·        How does the carrier respond to customer feedback?

·        What do your customers have to say about their deliveries?

3. You’re Not Negotiating For Discounts

Did you know that carriers will often provide discounts to customers who ship frequently and in high volumes? Browse a variety of carriers to see who can offer you the best price. From there, you can negotiate with your preferred carrier to see if they can match the rate or give you a discount. And don’t forget, you don’t need to stick to just one carrier. You can always branch out if a specific shipment will be cheaper through a different carrier.

4. You Aren’t Being Strategic With Your Shipping Supplies

The shipping supplies you’re using can either make or break you when it comes to shipping costs. As a rule of thumb, you should try to sue the smallest box you can to package your products to reduce costs. You also want to be sure to properly pack products with void fill and other cushioning items so your product won’t arrive damaged.

It’s also smart to buy your shipping supplies in bulk, which costs more upfront but gives you big discounts. ShippingSupply.com offers bulk pricing on all products, so keep that in mind next time you’re looking for packaging products.

5. You Aren’t Buying Postage Online

You can get some nice discounts when you pay for your postage online rather than taking your packages directly to the USPS. Staffing a Post Office is expensive, so the USPS offers discounts as an incentive to buy postage online. If you use the USPS for a lot of your shipping, this is an important tip to keep in mind.

Don’t let these shipping mistakes happen to you!

Start Preparing For Holiday Shipping This Summer

Don’t let yourself get complacent about the holidays just because it’s summer! The Christmas season may not yet be on your mind, but when it comes to your business, it should be. Four months from now you’ll be in the middle of the busiest time of the year.

By starting to prepare for the holidays now, you’ll save yourself a lot of stress down the line.

Here are the steps you can take now to be ready to ship products during the holidays.

1. Consider Your Inventory

Now is the time to place your orders so you have the products you need for the holidays in stock and ready to ship. Focus on stocking up on your best sellers. If they’re usually your best sellers, it is likely they will be your best sellers during the holidays. Make sure you have enough inventory!

2. Test Your Website

You have months to make changes to your website so it runs smoothly for your customers during the holiday rush. Websites that run poorly tend to cause customers to shop elsewhere.

Websites that load slowly are one of the biggest reasons why customers become frustrated by a website. Test website loading speeds using software tools to ensure everything is running smoothly. You also want to make sure your product images and copy are updated and that the website is easy to navigate.

3. Stock Up On Shipping Supplies

You need more than a healthy inventory of products; you also need plenty of shipping supplies. Make sure you have a decent stock of corrugated boxes, bubble & foam wrap, tape, poly bags, and everything else you need to properly pack and ship.   

4. Examine Shipping More Closely

Timing is everything during the holiday season, so ensuring that your packages arrive to their destination in a timely manner is extremely important.

Think about your shipping providers. Have they been reliable? Do you regularly get complaints? Could your shipping options and returns policy be updated to make your customers happier? If you’re thinking about making changes, now is the time to get started.

5. Start Hiring Extra Help

If you know your current staff can’t keep up with sales volume during the holidays it’s time to think about hiring temporary workers. We recommend hiring your temporary staff in October so you have time to train new employees before it gets busy.

How are you preparing for the holidays?

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.

Your Guide To Shipping Perishables

Food is a big business, and it has only gotten bigger as meal delivery kits surged in popularity. If your business works with perishable items or you’re thinking about expanding to include perishables, there are a lot of things to keep in mind. Keep this guide handy so you can pack perishables like a pro!

Types Of Food

The way you ship perishables, and if you can even ship them at all, really depends on the type of food you want to send.

If you want to ship:

Baked Goods are probably the easiest perishable item to ship. You won’t have to be as careful with temperature regulation for these items. You will have to consider how to ensure the baked goods keep their shape and how to stop icing from smearing or melting.

Meat can be a challenge to ship but luckily as long as your product meets USDA regulations you will be permitted to ship it. Meat is one perishable you will likely overnight every time.

Produce may be the trickiest of all. You are allowed to ship it, but condensation will likely spoil your produce before it arrives, so you have to be careful and make sure it ships dry.

The Packaging

• Choose the right insulation. There’s a lot of options for keeping temperature sensitive items safe from heat. Insulated shipping containers include a box for shipping, foam for temperature control, and a tight fitting lid. Thicker walls means you’ll need less ice packs or dry ice.
•  Cool shield bubble mailers and insulated mailers are also a good option for shipping perishables. As they aren’t protected by the sturdy walls of a box you’ll want to use these for less sensitive food products.
•  Keep your packaging as small as possible. Not only will this help you save on shipping costs, but it makes a big difference when it comes to the amount of cooling products you will have to use for the package.
•  Make sure your packaging comes stamped, or stamp it yourself with the word “Perishable”. The last thing you want is for your product to spoil because it is mishandled during shipping.

Staying Cool

• Ice packs are the standard when it comes to shipping perishables. They are made with non-toxic materials and some are even designed to reduce condensation. You can buy reusable ice packs, but one-use styles are the most popular.
•  Dry ice is considered a hazardous material, which adds added complications to your packaging and shipping. It offers extra climate control, but also extra planning. We recommend sticking with ice packs when possible.
•  Do your research about how many ice packs you will need and how long they will keep your perishables cool. Some last only a day, some can last two weeks. Pay close attention to this when doing your packaging.

Shipping Logistics

• Rules will vary depending on what carrier you ship with, so it is best to do your research ahead of time and choose one to stick with.
• You don’t have to overnight your perishable shipments, but it is best not to let them linger in transit for days, either. Two day shipping is much more affordable than overnight shipping, so try to make that your target.
• When researching carriers don’t forget to look into specifics. What are the prices of 2 day ground VS air shipping? What about overnight shipping? Are there service guarantees? This all becomes very important once you start shipping products out.
• Keep an eye on the weather. Winter shipping presents different challenges than summer shipping, and inclement weather can lead to delays. Make sure customers know that shipping times may vary due to weather conditions. If mail service may be cancelled, wait to ship the product.

Pricing

• Shipping perishables is expensive. Instead of displaying a lump sum shipping charge, add some of it to the price of the product. Customers may turn away from high shipping costs, but they are less likely to do that when it comes to the product price.
• Analyze your orders and shipping costs. Make changes as needed. Remember that you will probably have to re-work the pricing as you go.
• Estimate how much air mail you will have to use. Keep track of where most of your orders are coming from so you can adjust your marketing accordingly.
•  Buy your insulated shipping supplies in bulk. You’ll often receive a quantity discount, decreasing your overall shipping expenses.

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!