For new businesses, winning in your local market is just the start. As your e-commerce store starts to scale, you should look at options for growing international sales.
Growing your business overseas requires a lot of preparation, research, and planning. Here are our best seven tips for a successful transition to an international market:
Study the Market and Product Demand
Before you aim for a new market, see if your products are getting attention in other countries.
Are you getting a lot of traffic worldwide? Do you already have repeat customers from places outside the US? Answering these questions should provide you with insights on how to adapt to a new market.
You can look at this using Google Analytics. If you don’t have the tracking pixel installed on your website, you can learn more about doing it here.
Also, research to find out if there’s a high demand for the type of product you sell. If there’s a need that’s not met in one country, you can be there to fill that gap by growing international sales.
You can also use Google Trends to see what people are searching.
Translate Your Website to the Local Language
Make sure that international customers can understand your website in their own language. No one will buy your item if they can’t read your product description.
However, don’t settle for simple translation tools such as Google Translate. You want to make sure to hire a professional translator who can write good e-commerce content.
Otherwise, there may be inaccuracies in your copy that might throw off your audience.
Aside from translating your website, also make sure that your store converts prices into their local currencies. Many tools on Shopify help you do this, such as Transcy, for example.
Do Research on the Country’s Culture and Customs
While translating your website is a must, it won’t be enough to adapt to a new market overseas. You’ll also have to research the country’s culture and customs.
For example, selling products made out of ivory is illegal in many European nations, such as Italy. Countries also have different definitions of what they consider “ethical marketing” as well.
Find brands that align with yours that are currently selling in those markets. You can research to see what they are doing, even contact the brand and ask them what it is like.
Get International Payment Options Ready
As you get ready to scale overseas, start thinking about how you’ll be accepting international payments.
The preferred payment method of the customer will depend from country to country. For example, cheques are still commonly used in France, while German buyers prefer to purchase directly.
Consider adding PayPal as a payment option on your website. The platform makes it possible to take payments from over 200 countries in 25 currencies. It also has a good reputation regarding security and purchase protection.
While translating your website is a must, it won’t be enough to adapt to a new market overseas. You’ll also have to research the country’s culture and customs
Get All the Legal Documents Required
A not-so-fun part of expanding your business overseas is getting yourself legally ready. Some countries will require specific documentation before you can operate in their territory.
You’ll also have to research how you plan to pay taxes in the country. You’ll have to adhere to the laws determined by the IRS and the tax authority of the country you’re selling in.
Figuring all of this out by yourself can be a headache. That’s why we help our customers take the stress off their backs by handling all the documentation needed to ship internationally.
Provide Excellent Customer Support
A vital factor to consider as you shift your business overseas is how you will handle customer service. Remember that your customers will be in different time zones and may not speak English.
To overcome these roadblocks, you can invest in chatbot technology to answer customer questions anytime. Another strategy is to hire an international remote team that can provide customer support even during late times.
Make sure you include tracking information for any shipments, as well as posting expected transit times for overseas shipments.
Make International Shipping Affordable to Customers
Lastly, your shipping strategy could make or break your success overseas.
Unexpected shipping costs can drive your potential customers overseas away. In fact, high shipping costs are one of the most common reasons why customers abandon their carts.
If you’re a small or medium-sized business, however, it can be difficult to find competitive rates on international shipping. Many roadblocks can get in the way, such as paperwork, negotiating deals with carriers outside the US, and managing international returns.
At eHub, we help take care of international shipping so you can get started selling internationally right away. We have hundreds of connections with carriers worldwide to ensure you get the best rates every time – especially internationally!
Wrapping Things Up
If you’re serious about growth, international markets offer a unique opportunity to scale quickly. It will require careful planning on your end, but the results can be very lucrative in the long run.
eHub can help you transition seamlessly as you enter a new market. Our platform allows you to scale your shipping to multiple countries without having to negotiate rates or hurt your profit margins. Contact us today for a free demo to learn more.
Summer is almost over, and it’s time to think about your strategy for the holidays.
The holiday season is typically the most chaotic time regarding online orders and shipping. To make it worse, the world is currently battling against COVID-19, which makes 2020 a year like no other for e-commerce.
As stressful as everything may seem, we’ve got your back.
Here’s our 2020 shipping checklist to make sure you stay on top during this year’s holiday season:
1. Forecast Demand
As the pandemic continues, you must forecast customer demand for the upcoming holidays.
COVID-19 has changed everything from the customer’s channel selection frequency to shopping and the products they want. For example, there’s a more robust demand for items that align with social distancing, such as entertainment products or home goods.
Look at your sales during the lockdown — which types of products were in high demand? It should give you a clue on what to expect from customer behavior during these next months.
There is a science to forecasting demand, but let me give you a simple metric: compare sales from March to May this year versus last year. Take that percentage difference and multiply last year’s holiday sales to see how much bigger it could get.
Also, think about talking with your 3PL to find out how they can help you prepare for the upcoming holiday demand.
2. Implement a Strong Communications Plan
Another critical factor to consider during the holidays is communication with your customers.
Make sure to keep them up-to-date with each of their orders. One thing that will make customers worry, for example, is how COVID-19 will impact shipping delays. You’ll need to provide tracking and let them know when they can expect the item to arrive at their doorstep.
During your communication with your customer, it’s also a good idea to promote upsell offers. You can run post-purchase email campaigns with other products they can buy to complement their order. It will help deliver more value to the customer and boost your average order value.
3. Get Ready for More Customer Returns Than Usual
Dealing with customers is part of running an e-commerce business. However, you can expect returns to skyrocket during the holidays.
The reason is that customers will feel reluctant to step into retail stores due to virus fears. To gain peace of mind and avoid getting infected, they’ll be doing most of their shopping online.
Customers love the ability to buy and try on or see how something looks in real life. They often buy two or three sizes or styles, keep one, and return the rest.
As a result, your business must come prepared with reliable customer service staff or shipping software to manage returns effectively.
Dealing with customers is part of running an e-commerce business. However, you can expect returns to skyrocket during the holidays.
4. Get Shipping Insurance
No one can predict what will happen to your product once it is out for delivery. Nothing is worse for a customer during the holiday season than to make a purchase only to have the item damaged or never even arrive.
With an expected surge in shipments this holiday season, these problems will be multiplied. You can protect yourself and your customers, however, with shipping insurance.
It’s why you want to plan in advance and get shipping insurance, which is easier than you think. No matter what happens to your product, you’ll be protected against significant financial loss and gain peace of mind.
The holidays are the time when orders reach their peak throughout the year. As a result, you can expect new rules, restrictions, and deadlines for all major carriers. Look into the specific provisions of your carrier for different times of the year and figure out what measures and fees are required.
5. Do Research on Seasonal Fees and Restrictions
Keep in mind as well that major carriers will be surcharging their rates on shipping due to coronavirus and customer demand. For example, UPS plans to make businesses that ship more than 25,000 orders per week pay an extra $1 to $4 for each package.
6. Offer Multiple Shipping Options
If you offer free shipping, you’re probably sending things via Ground or Priority Mail. Those options have been impacted the most by slow delivery times, and you’ll have customers who will want something faster.
Offering an expedited shipping option – like 2-day, overnight, or even same-day delivery, is a must this holiday season. Here’s why:
It sets clear expectations for delivery times
Customers have the option to pay for faster delivery
Free shipping has a higher perceived value
Anyone who is expecting free shipping will see that delivery times affect cost. They will appreciate that the slower option is still accessible compared to the expensive, expedited option.
7. Make Your Packaging Stand Out
The holidays represent a unique opportunity to strengthen brand loyalty and delight new customers. One of the best ways to do this is to create a fantastic unboxing experience that wows them.
Branded packaging is the first approach because it makes each purchase feel unique and delivers a great impression. Since shoppers also buy gifts for their friends and family, you’ll surprise multiple customers simultaneously.
Customers also love to share brand packages on social media, which promotes your store and boosts your reach.
The next step is making what’s inside stand out with different packing paper, a hand-written thank you note, or even surprise gifts you’ve included.
There are so many things to handle regarding shipping during the holidays. You have inventory to manage, orders to pack and ship, tracking, and many more tasks on your list.
Software is the best way to improve processes like this. With automation, you can improve the pick-n-pack process, automatically select the correct shipping method, batch print labels, and update tracking information.
Essential Hub’s software provides all the tools you need for success this holiday season. Not only do we help you get the best rates on shipping, but our software also comes with order tracking, inventory management, and more.
A vital shipping program is central to e-commerce success. Very few e-commerce companies, however, know how to set one up. This guide will walk you through how to set up shipping on your Shopify store [and more].
It doesn’t matter if you have the best user experience and products on your website. Without the right shipping strategy to satisfy customers, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.
For example, a customer finds a product they like from your store and adds it to their cart. They discover your high shipping rates and start hesitating in their purchase. They search the web and look for cheaper alternatives. Next thing you know, they’re ditching their cart and going to your competition.
In this complete guide, you’ll learn everything about setting up a shipping strategy on Shopify to ensure this never happens. Here’s what we’ll cover (click any topic to jump ahead):
45% of customers ditched their cart because of poor delivery options
61% of consumers are “somewhat likely” to cancel their purchase if free shipping is not offered
One thing to note is that your shipping strategy will change over time. For example, you might change your shipping carriers, price, unboxing material, etc.
What’s important is defining a game plan now and continuing to adjust as you grow.
Understanding the Different Default Shipping Options on Shopify
When you sign up with Shopify, the platform offers three different plans: Basic, Shopify, and Advanced.
Each plan you choose has different options and discounts when it comes to shipping. Depending on your Shopify plan, you might be eligible for reduced shipping rates from these three carriers:
Let’s take a look at how each Shopify plan differs from each other:
Basic Plan
Shopify Plan
Advanced Plan
Monthly Price
$29/Mo
$79/Mo
$299/Mo
What does the plan consist of?
All the basics for starting a new business
Everything you need for a growing business
Advanced features for scaling your business
Shipping Discount
up to 64%
up to 72%
up to 74%
Print Shipping Labels
Yes
Yes
Yes
USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing
Yes
Yes
As you can see from the table above, the higher you upgrade, the more discounts you’ll get on shipping and labels. While each plan offers the possibility to print shipping labels, the basic plan doesn’t come with USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing.
While Shopify offers reasonable rates, you’ll still gain more value using a shipping app. With Essential Hub, we connect all your eCommerce operations so you can get the best discounts and save up to 35% on shipping.
Shopify Shipping – How to Set up Zones and Rates
Once you decide which plan is the right fit for your business, it’s time to get started on your shipping strategy. The first thing you’ll have to do is set up your zones from the Shopify admin.
What Is a Shipping Zone?
On Shopify, a shipping zone is a specific location based on region or country. It defines where your package is shipping from and to which destination.
Your shipping zones play a vital role in setting up your rates. Typically, the farther you ship the item, the higher shipping costs will be.
Here’s how you can define your shipping zone from the Shopify admin:
Step 1: Go to the Shipping Section From Your Admin
From your admin dashboard, click on “Settings” at the bottom left on your screen. Click on “Shipping” to start setting your zones and rates.
Step 2: Click on “Manage Rates”
Once you land on the shipping section, hover over the “General shipping rates” section and click on “manage rates.”
Step 3: Scroll Down and Click on “Create Shipping Zones”
On the “manage rates” section, You’ll get to see all of the products that you added to your store. Scroll down underneath to get access to your shipping zones.
In the example above, we already defined some specific rules for shipping in the US. We’re offering shipping for product orders of $25 and up.
To create a new shipping zone, click on “create shipping zones”.
Step 4: Name Your Shipping Zone and Add Countries
In the textbox, add a name to your shipping zone to differentiate it from others.
When you create your zone, you can search and select countries where you want to ship. Once you choose them, click Done.
Step 5: Add Any Rates You Want for the Shipping Zone
Once you create your shipping zone, you can start adding rates that apply to it. You can set your own prices and let the shipping carrier do it.
Should You Offer Free Shipping?
As you set up your shipping zones and rates, you may ask yourself — should I offer free shipping or not?
You already know that customers love it. 91% of online customers will leave an eCommerce store if they don’t offer free shipping.
As practical as it may be for customers, free shipping might not be appropriatefor your business. There are many different factors to consider before offering free shipping.
Here are a couple of things to consider before you make the jump and offer free shipping on your store:
You’ve Calculated Your Profit Margins
First, you’ll have to do some math to determine if free shipping is right for your business.
Keep in mind that you’re the one who’s going to have to cover the shipping costs. That often means you’ll have to increase the price of your product to cover costs.
You also have to be careful when raising the price of your item — you want the price to cover shipping and marketing costs but not high enough that it scares away customers from buying from you.
A good strategy on Shopify is to offer free shipping when a specific amount of items are ordered, which we’ll get into later.
Your Supplier Offers Free Shipping
Whether or not you should offer free shipping also depends on your supplier.
If the supplier you choose offers free shipping, then it’s ideal to offer free shipping to your customers. In this case, it won’t be fair to charge them for shipping costs.
If they don’t offer free shipping, however, it’s up to you to decide whether you want to cover the shipping costs and make your customers pay for them.
The Competition Is Offering Free Shipping
If competitors in your niche are offering free shipping as part of their strategy, then it’s best that you do the same.
You don’t want your store to be falling behind everyone. However, even if the competition isn’t offering free shipping, it could still be a way to make your business stand out from the crowd.
Online customers value free shipping during their purchase. If they explore their options and see that you’re the only one who offers free shipping, they’re most likely to pick you.
Your Customers’ Location
Ask yourself: where are your customers located? Are you only shipping to the United States, or do you have customers overseas as well?
The customer’s location has a significant influence on your shipping costs. That’s why it might be better for your store to offer free shipping only to specific locations.
How to Offer Free Shipping on Shopify
Once you’ve considered all these things and decided if your business will offer free shipping, it’s time to set it up on Shopify.
There are various ways you can set up your free shipping options from the Shopify admin. You can offer free shipping based on the following criteria:
Product Cost
Product weight
Let’s take a look at the different steps and ways you can set up your free shipping:
Step 1: Go to the Shipping Section From Your Admin
Similarly to setting your shipping zones, click “Settings” at the bottom left of the Shopify admin. After that, click on “shipping.”
Step 2: Click on “Manage Rates”
Once you land on the page for “Manage Rates,” you want to scroll down and click the specific zone where you want to offer free shipping.
Step 3: Click on “Add Rate”
To set up your free shipping, click on “add rate.” It’s where you can create specific conditions for free shipping to apply.
Step 4: Type in Free Shipping and Click on “Add Conditions”
When you click on “add rate,” you’ll receive this popup on your Shopify admin:
In the text box, type “Free Shipping” to differentiate the rate from others. Next, click on the “add conditions” button to define the conditions of your free shipping.
Step 5: Offer Free Shipping Based on Product Weight or Order Price
When you click on “add conditions,” Shopify offers you two choices: either provide free shipping based on weight or product price.
If you want free shipping based on order price, check the “Based on order price” box. You’ll be able to provide a minimum order amount for customers to qualify for free shipping.
However, to offer free shipping based on item weight, check the “Based on item weight” box. Here’s what will pop up on your Shopify admin:
From there, type in the minimum item weight, and you’re good to go.
Choosing the Right Kind of Packaging for Your Orders
Packing is one of the most significant factors of a successful shipping strategy. You don’t want to make the mistake of spending more than you have on packaging or choosing the wrong material to transport your product.
Here’s how your store can select the proper packaging to fulfill your orders:
Determine Your Packaging Budget
First, you’ll need to assess your current budget for packaging.
How much money you’re willing to invest determines the packaging material you’ll use. For example, a popular brand option is corrugated cardboard, which ranges from around $.075 to $0.95.
It’s also possible to get free packaging from Shopify’s three leading carriers: DHL Express, UPS, and USPS. You can order your free shipping supplies online or pick them up. Check out free shipping supplies from the USPS here.
Pick the Appropriate Packaging Weight and Material
Since the shipping cost relies on the size and weight of your products, you want the packaging to be light. Your box should be big enough to transport your product but not heavy to the point it inflates your shipping costs.
For the best delivery, your order must be protected with suitable material. Here are examples of different types of packaging material you can choose from:
Paper and Cardboard
Cardboard is one of the best packaging materials for shipping. It’s low-cost, durable, and is easy to customize to reflect the look and feel of your brand. It’s particularly useful when it comes to shipping heavy products.
Poly Mailer
Poly mailers are lightweight and adjust to different product weights. They’re ideal if you’re shipping products that don’t need much cushioning, such as socks or shirts.
Plastic
What makes plastic practical for shipping is that it’s lightweight and flexible. As a result, you’ll be able to ship more items with less packaging material.
Airbags
Airbags are handy when filling up empty spaces in your packaging box. It’s something you want to consider if you sell items with sharp edges. They also act as cushioning for fragile objects.
Glass and Jars
The glass looks great aesthetically, and its transparent material makes your product visible. The obvious disadvantage, of course, is that it’s pretty fragile and can break during transportation.
To pick suitable packaging for your product, find and assemble different materials. From there, select the best fit for the product you plan to ship. While the outside might be plain, you can still create an incredible unboxing experience with a few simple additions inside the packaging.
Make Sure the Packaging Gets From Point A to Point B
It doesn’t matter how fancy your packaging looks. If your packaging can’t travel without being damaged, it will be useless.
It all goes back to picking the suitable material for packaging. If your packaging material isn’t strong enough, customers will receive broken or damaged products.
It will cost you less to invest in adequate packaging design than replacing damaged products.
Tactics You Can Use to Boost Your Shipping Strategy
As you can see from the above, Shopify makes it easy to set up and manage your shipping. If you want the best results, however, you also need some strategy.
Use Third-Party Shipping Software
If you’re handling one or two orders a day, then you won’t mind using the Shopify platform to print shipping labels. Once your volume rises, however, you’ll want to use a software program to help. Effective shipping software provides better rates, automation (always selecting the best price for the desired service level), and the ability to print labels either all at once or one at a time.
Essential Hub integrates with different software solutions to provide our clients with the best system for what they need. If you have any questions about the software, please reach out using the contact form at the end of this post.
Offer Free Shipping Without Hurting Your Profits
As mentioned earlier, free shipping is an effective way to capture customers’ attention and stand out from competitors. It’s a marketing tactic that can skyrocket your sales and continually drive new customers.
There’s a catch; however, remember that you need to think about how free shipping could potentially affect your profit margin. While free shipping can boost sales, you’ll have to cover all shipping costs as well.
One way to effectively do this is to offer free shipping when customers pay a certain amount in your store. It could help you squeeze in some cash to pay for shipping.
Let’s say, for example, that your average order cost is $22. To invite customers to pay more in your store without feeling like they’re being tricked into buying more, you can offer free shipping for orders above $25.
Alternatively, you can offer free shipping on any order with a particular product. You can choose those that you know have higher margins and can cover the cost of free shipping.
Another option is to offer a membership program for customers who seek free shipping. Customers are charged a yearly or monthly fee in exchange for free shipping on items.
It’s all about testing what works and making changes from there.
Make Your Order Fulfillment and Return Policies Clear
Your store needs a concise order policy that sets clear expectations between you and your customers. Setting clear expectations is a simple tip when getting started in shipping.
Online shoppers want access to all relevant information about shipping. They need to know where you ship to and when they can expect the item to arrive.
One thing that matters to them, in particular, is your shipping cost.
For example, if part of your strategy is to offer free shipping, you need to mention this the second visitors land on your home page. Doing so could completely transform your conversions.
When announcing free shipping on your website theme, make sure you make it work in the Shopify backend by setting it as a rule. This can be done by making an announcement under your theme settings.
If you’re delivering overseas, customers need to know exactly how much they’ll pay to cover shipping. Nobody likes nasty surprises.
Here are some questions that your shipping policy should cover:
Which countries do you ship to, and which do you not?
What shipping method do you use?
Do customers get access to shipping tracking information?
Can customers pick up your item at a physical location?
What is the procedure and deadline for refunds?
Charge by Flat Rate
Flat rate shipping consists of offering a single rate for shipping an item, regardless of weight or size.
It means that the value or size of products doesn’t get taken into account. For many eCommerce brands, this simplifies the shipping process and encourages buyers to spend more.
For example, for each order, you could offer a flat rate of $5.
Setting up a flat rate is a good strategy if you’re starting out and don’t know how much your shipping costs will be. However, you can still offer different rates based on how fast the customer wants to receive the item.
For example, if customers really want to get your product in two days, you can set up a special rate for two-day shipping on Shopify. They’ll receive the item faster, expecting that they’ll have to pay a higher flat rate.
Get Insurance for High-Value or Fragile Items
If you’re selling an expensive or fragile item, you want to ensure you get insurance to protect it in case issues arise.
Insurance is handy if your product gets lost, stolen, or broken during shipping. When something goes wrong, you’ll need to prove the item’s value, and the insurer will pay you back the total amount.
While insurance is helpful, remember that you might have to raise your shipping rates to cover it. Logistical services such as USPS, UPS, and DHL only offer free insurance for items up to $100.
Alternatively, there are some really great services out there, like Route, an app we will review below. They let the customer add insurance at checkout and manage any issues with lost, stolen, or damaged packages.
Actively Engage With Customers During Ship” ing With Email Marketing
Once the item gets shipped out, it’s an excellent time to engage with customers and improve their experience with your brand.
A good tactic is to send email updates to your customers once the item ships. You can also feature sales and promotions for other products that could interest them.
Check out this perfect example from The Dollar Shave Club. Each time a customer buys from their store, they receive an order confirmation email with the shipping date and items they can buy before the product ships:
Offer Same-Day Delivery
Offering same-day delivery can boost your sales and make you stand out from other stores. 61% of customers will pay extra bucks to get their products shipped the same day.
Same-day delivery is a great way to boost customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Best Buy, for example, has rolled out same-day delivery since 2015:
To take advantage of same-day delivery, customers must order with Best Buy Before 3 p.m. local time. It’s available seven days a week, and shipping costs depend on the product.
When offering same-day delivery, you need to measure how it’s impacting your sales. If more transactions are driven thanks to it, and it’s enough to pay for shipping, then it’s a good strategy.
To set up same-day delivery on Shopify, take advantage of their same-day app – you can find it on the app store. To set up local delivery, you’ll need to turn on one of your locations as available. You can do this through the Admin panel settings Shipping and Delivery button Local Delivery section (click manage next to a location).
Create An Incredible Unboxing Experience
Your goal as an online store should always be to stand out from the crowd. One excellent way you can do this is to ensure customers remember to open your packages every time.
A unique unboxing experience makes your business memorable and leaves customers hungry for more. As a result, you’ll create a loyal customer base that will repeatedly return to your site.
Here are some ideas of how you can do this:
Make your packaging material branded or unique. Whatever you use as filler to protect the contents can be colorful and wow your customer.
Provide a custom thank you. A simple note with the customer’s name, even hand-written and signed, goes a long way to improving customer retention.
Give a free sample. Do you have other products that make sense to give away? These can act like a simple gift showing off your additional products.
Include discount codes or special offers. Give them a reason to revisit your website!
Add branded stickers inside and out.
Focus on creating epic packaging like this from nuts.com
The best part is that you don’t have to spend much money creating custom packages for all the different sizes you ship. With stickers on the outside and cool stuff inside, you can make any package stand out!
Useful Apps That Will Up Your Shipping on Shopify
Before we conclude, there are many apps you can use on Shopify that make the shipping process so much easier for you and your customers.
Here are the best apps you can integrate on your Shopify store to better manage shipping at each stage of the product delivery:
1. Free Shipping Bar
Free Shipping Bar is a tool that displays your free shipping offer in a bar on your website that you can easily customize. Its goal is to encourage customers to add to their carts and buy more.
As customers add more to their cart, the Free Shipping Bar will show them progressive messages on how much they have left before they get free shipping.
You can congratulate customers once they have landed on a free shipping offer and measure the results of each bar to see which free shipping goals create more sales.
As a bonus, its currency detection features make it easy to auto-detect the local currencies of visitors. The platform then converts the free shipping amount with real-time exchange rates.
Pricing:
Basic Plan: Free with limited options
Premium Plan: $9.99 per month — gain access to unlimited active bars, Performance tracking, Auto currency conversion, and more
2. Parcelify
Parcelify makes it simple to create custom rates for your Shopify store.
With Parcelify, you control the shipping pricing and options that customers see during checkout. Customers can get live, accurate rates of what they’re actually paying for shipping.
Parcefily also comes with local delivery and in-store pickup. With cheaper options to receive their product, you’ll satisfy customers and drive more repeat purchases.
Pricing:
Basic Plan: $12.99 per month. Parcelify comes with a free unlimited 14-day trial.
3. AfterShip
Tracking and managing each customer shipment can be a time-consuming headache. Aftership cuts the work in half by tracking all shipments across 600+ carriers in one place.
AfterShip is currently being used by more than 30,000 Shopify stores worldwide. You’ll be able to keep customers updated on the placement of their orders and when they can expect delivery.
As a result, your store will see a drastic decrease in customer inquiries and complaints.
Pricing:
Free Plan: Free for 50 monthly trackings with no extra charge
Essential Plan: $9 per month for 100 monthly trackings with $0.08 per extra tracking
Growth Plan: $29 per month for 500 monthly trackings with $0.08 per extra tracking
Pro Plan: $99 per month for 2000 monthly trackings with $0.08 per extra tracking
Advanced Plan: $199 per month for 5000 monthly trackings with $0.08 per extra tracking
4. Tracktor
The modern customer has higher expectations than before. One of those expectations is expedited shipping and being able to track down exactly when their item arrives.
Tracktor makes it easy for customers and store owners to track down the delivery of a shipped item. The platform integrates with hundreds of carriers across the globe, so you can track exactly where the package is going.
The best part? You can do all of this from a single app. Customers won’t have to come to you and ask, “Where’s my order?” anymore. As a result, you’ll boost customer satisfaction and reduce support costs.
Pricing:
Basic: $5.99 per month
Professional: $14.99 per month with custom branding
Premium: $44.99 per month with custom branding and custom order statuses
Enterprise: $119.99 per month with custom branding onboarding services and more feature
5. Route – Shipping Insurance
No one can predict what can happen to your product during shipping, which is why getting insurance is so important.
Route is a tool that offers insurance on any item that gets lost broken or stolen during delivery. Customers gain peace of mind knowing that their purchases are guaranteed, and you get to keep more of your revenue.
Since Route covers the cost of refunds, you won’t be losing any money. The app is also 100% free for merchants and only takes a few minutes to set up on your store.
Pricing:
Free
6. Aftership Returns Center
As frustrating as custom returns can be, there’s software you can use to handle returns more efficiently. Aftership Returns Center uses automation to track and manage your returns like child’s play.
When you integrate Aftership into your online store, you’ll be able to:
Manage all of your returns in one dashboard
Process refunds easily
Automatically send notifications to users on the status of their returns
Make returns a simple one-click process for buyers
Pricing:
Starter: Free for up to 3 return quotas per month. $0.5 for each extra return.
Essential: $9 per month for up to 20 monthly return quotas. $0.5 for each extra return.
Growth: $29 per month for up to 100 monthly return quotas. $0.5 for each extra return.
Pro: $99 per month for up to 400 return quotas. $0.5 for each extra return.
Advanced: $199 per month for up to 1000 return quotas. $0.5 for each extra return.
7. Sales Box
Sales Box offers an exciting way to manage shipping and personalize offers for your customers.
Your store can set up different shipping fees and promotions for individual products or countries. Right under the “add to cart” button, customers will have all the shipping information.
Each sales box is fully customizable and easy to edit. No coding knowledge is necessary — you get instant access to templates that make your offer stand out.
Pricing:
Basic Plan: $19 per month. The app comes with a 7-day free trial with unlimited features.
Next Steps
There you have it! By following our tips and tricks above, you should have a solid roadmap of where to go with your shipping strategy. It might require some testing, but soon enough, you’ll be able to blow customers away with your fantastic service and delivery.
Shipping delays can negatively impact your brand reputation and sales.
If your item doesn’t arrive on time, customers won’t feel they can trust you with their money and won’t return to your store for more.
Even worse, they can post negative reviews and spread the word to their friends and family. It doesn’t take long for bad reviews to spread.
Why do Shipping Delays Happen?
Even if you think everything’s under control, no one can truly predict what happens to your package once it leaves the warehouse. Your item’s delivery could get delayed for various reasons, which include:
World Events
World events can have a significant impact on shipping operations. Just take a look at what happened this year with COVID-19 — with new social distancing measures put in place and thousands of business shutdowns, many stores had a hard time making sure their package got into the hands of customers.
With more e-commerce orders than ever, all major carriers are struggling. The USPS has had the most challenging time since they have the most significant volume.
Unexpected Weather and Natural Disasters
Sudden weather changes can prevent your orders from arriving on time to the customer’s doorstep. It’s something that’s unfortunately beyond your control, but there are tactics you can use to handle the situation (which we’ll get into later).
Domestic & International Customs
Your package can get held back if it doesn’t respect customs procedures. For example, if you’re trying to ship ivory products to Italy (where the material is banned), your package might even get destroyed. That’s why you need to do your research on customs before shipping the item to the customer.
Shipping insurance protects you from any drastic financial loss and takes extra stress off your shoulders
Holidays
E-commerce sales tend to skyrocket during holiday seasons or important dates. As a result of record items being ordered, carriers can’t consistently deliver to your customer on time, which is not practical when everyone expects to receive their gift quickly (or by a specific date).
Poor Inventory Management from Your 3PL
Your item’s shipping delay could also result from poor management of your 3PL.
While investing in a logistics provider can provide you with many benefits in the long term, choosing the wrong one can be detrimental to your brand. Check our blog post on picking the right 3PL for your business to avoid making this mistake.
The Best Tactics You Can Use to Handle Shipping Delays
Get Shipping Insurance
Preparing yourself in advance goes a long way. Before shipping the item to your customer, you should consider investing in shipping insurance to protect yourself from any trouble during delivery.
Shipping insurance protects you from any drastic financial loss and takes extra stress off your shoulders. If the customer demands a refund because of the delay in delivery, you’ll have the means to give it to them without hurting your profits.
Be Upfront With The Customer
When your shipping is delayed, you’ll need to let the customer know what’s going on, especially as the world still battles with COVID-19.
Make sure to follow up with them via email, social media, and SMS. Apologize, explain the current situation to the customer, and how you plan to solve it. Holding yourself accountable proves to the customer that you’re someone they can trust.
Offer Order Tracking on the Delayed Item
Not having an order delivered on time can cause a lot of anxiety for the customer. To give them peace of mind, you can give them a tracking number to monitor their package.
With eHub, each item you ship comes with order tracking to get updates as they happen for your customers. We can also provide insurance if your package doesn’t arrive or is stolen during delivery.
Offer Special Discounts and Deals
Shipping deals can be an unpleasant experience for the customer. To make up for it, you can offer them special discounts and promotions on future orders.
Giving customers discounts proves that you value them and take their satisfaction seriously. For example, if your package doesn’t arrive on time, you can offer free shipping for their next order or a 20% discount on future items.
Use Multiple Shipping Carriers
Regarding shipping, it’s essential not to put all your eggs in one basket. Using multiple carriers ensures your package arrives on time if one fails to deliver.
Finding suitable shipping carriers, however, takes a bit of time and search. That’s why we do the hard work for you by connecting all major carriers in one place on our platform.
Offer Multiple Shipping Options at Checkout
Providing transparency into expected delivery times is vital to the ordering experience. Showing customers two options (at least) – one for expedited and the other for slow delivery – lets them choose what will work best for them.
If you’re offering free shipping on the slower service, then the value of the expedited shipping will be improved. While many people expect free shipping, they are willing to pay for faster delivery times when it is essential to them.
Conclusion
Shipping delays don’t have to be the end of the world. Handled effectively, you can still shine in the eyes of your customers and retain their trust.
If you’re looking for a platform covering everything you need to manage shipping effectively, we can help. From inventory management to order tracking, our platform gives you all the tools you need for smooth delivery.
The checkout page is the last step in creating a customer from a visitor. Optimizing checkout is a key to reducing cart abandonment and driving sales.
Here are some essential practices you can implement on your checkout page to deliver significant results:
8 Things You Must Be Doing During Checkout
Include Customer Testimonials & Trust Symbols
One-Page Checkout
Offer Free Shipping
Optimize Your Checkout Page for Mobile
Highlight Upsell Offers
Use Exit-Intent Pop-Ups
Offer “Save Item” as an Option
Let’s dive into each and see how you can easily upgrade your checkout.
Include Customer Testimonials & Trust Symbols
To get the customer to purchase, you first have to gain their trust.
Adding customer testimonials on your checkout page reassures the prospect they’re making the right choice. Seeing others enjoy your product gives them the confidence to make the purchase.
Furthermore, if they don’t know you’re brand, they may hesitate on the quality of your product and service. You can promote trust by using testimonial & review apps like Okendo, Product Reviews by Shopify, or Stamped.io.
These apps make it easy to collect and publish reviews on your home, product, or checkout pages.
Security is also a big concern for customers since you handle their payment information. A good tactic to give them peace of mind is to include security badges on your checkout page, such as the below:
If customers know their payments are in good hands, they’ll be more likely to follow through with their purchase.
One-Page Checkout
Any friction during the buying process will cause customers to drop their carts. No one wants to go through loops and holes to make a final purchase.
The checkout process must be as simple and straightforward as possible. The best way to simplify your checkout page and get customers across the finish line is to offer a one-page checkout:
One-page checkout works because it’s shorter and reduces the steps the customer has to go through. It’s convenient and can lead to better conversions.
However, we recommend testing multi-page and single-page to see what works best for you.
As a small business, however, you may not be in a position to offer free shipping. Free shipping isn’t free to you and can hurt your profit margins in the long term if you’re not careful. If you’re wondering how to decrease your shipping costs, you may be interested in the cubic pricing program.
Optimize Your Checkout Page for Mobile
More and more customers are using their smartphones to shop. By next year, mobile sales will represent a whopping 54% of total e-commerce revenue. It’s the reason why your checkout page needs to be mobile-responsive.
You must also ensure your checkout page loads fast on mobile, especially when the customer gives you their payment information. 53%of visitors will ditch your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.
Highlight Upsell Offers
Upselling is a sales technique to persuade the customer to buy more items, upgrades, or add-ons once they make a purchase. It’s a tactic used by top brands such as Amazon, GoDaddy, and Booking.com.
Your checkout page represents extra sales for your store. As the customer is about to checkout, you can recommend complementary products.
It’s a great way to boost your customer lifetime value (CLV) and make prospects come back. Here’s an example from Dollar Shave Club for inspiration:
The best tool we recommend to help you do this is Carthook. Once the customer checks out, Carthook sends them three different upsell offers. The platform auto-fills the page with the customer’s details, so they don’t have to re-enter their payment information.
Use Exit-Intent Popups
Just as a customer abandons their cart or is about to leave your site, you can launch exit-intent popups to promote discounts they can use for their purchase:
Exit-intent pop-ups work well for two reasons. First off, it gives the customer an incentive to stay on your checkout page. Secondly, your store gets a second chance to make a sale.
There are various tools you can download on Shopify that help you capture the customer’s attention with pop-ups. Check out our 8 top picks of pop-up tools for boosting sales.
Remove Any Distractions on the Checkout Page
A key theme that we’re repeating here is keeping everything as simple as possible. To maximize your conversions, you need to eliminate any distractions that might draw the customer away from making a purchase.
There are various ways to do this. You want to avoid having any ads, navigation bars, or eye-catching graphics that might get in the way. You also don’t want to surprise customers with hidden fees they weren’t aware of before.
Offer “Save Item” as an Option
Lastly, there are many reasons why your customer doesn’t follow through with their purchase. They may not be ready to buy, or something distracted them as they were about to check out.
To help returning visitors, make it possible for them to save your product so they can go back to checkout whenever they have time. Amazon does this on their store with their “wishlist” feature, so customers can come back at any time to finish their purchase:
Conclusion
The checkout is the final and most critical part of the buyer’s journey. Even with the best marketing and products in the world, customers will ditch your store if the checkout process is not optimized the right way. By applying our tips above, you’ll be on your way to setting up a killer checkout page and boosting your sales.
As your business continues to grow, managing shipping will become more and more difficult.
Getting more orders indicates that your business is on the right track. However, managing your orders and getting the best rates can be a time-consuming process.
Thankfully, some apps help you manage your shipping and orders effectively without sacrificing your precious time.
Free Shipping Bar is a tool that displays your free shipping offer in a bar on your website that you can easily customize. Its goal is to encourage customers to add to their carts and buy more.
As customers add more to their cart, the Free Shipping Bar will show them progressive messages on how much they have left before they get free shipping.
You can congratulate customers once they have landed on a free shipping offer and measure the results of each bar to see which free shipping goals create more sales.
As a bonus, its currency detection features make it easy to auto-detect the local currencies of visitors. The platform then converts the free shipping amount with real-time exchange rates.
Pricing:
Basic Plan: Free with limited options
Premium Plan: $9.99 monthly — unlimited active bars, Performance tracking, Auto currency conversion, and more.
You need a solution that makes it possible to connect all of your eCommerce operations in one place
Parcelify makes it simple to create custom rates for your Shopify store.
With Parcelify, you control the shipping pricing and options that customers see during checkout. Customers can get live, accurate rates of what they’re actually paying for shipping.
Parcefily also comes with local delivery and in-store pickup. With cheaper options to receive their product, you’ll satisfy customers and drive more repeat purchases.
Pricing:
Basic Plan: $12.99 per month. Parcelify comes with a free unlimited 14-day trial.
Tracking and managing each customer shipment can be a time-consuming headache.Aftership cuts the work in half by tracking all shipments across 600+ carriers in one place.
AfterShip is currently being used by more than 30,000 Shopify stores worldwide. You’ll be able to keep customers updated on the placement of their orders and when they can expect delivery.
As a result, your store will see a drastic decrease in customer inquiries and complaints.
Pricing:
Free Plan: Free for 50 monthly trackings with no extra charge
Essential Plan: $9 per month for 100 monthly trackings with $0.08 per extra tracking
Growth Plan: $29 per month for 500 monthly trackings with $0.08 per extra tracking
Pro Plan: $99 per month for 2000 monthly trackings with $0.08 per extra tracking
Advanced Plan: $199 per month for 5000 monthly trackings with $0.08 per extra tracking
The modern customer has higher expectations than before. One of those expectations is expedited shipping and being able to track down exactly when their item arrives.
Tracktor makes it easy for customers and store owners to track down the delivery of a shipped item. The platform integrates with hundreds of carriers across the globe, so you can track exactly where the package is going.
The best part? You can do all of this from a single app. Customers won’t have to come to you and ask, “where’s my order?” anymore. As a result, you’ll boost customer satisfaction and reduce support costs.
Pricing:
Basic: $5.99 per month
Professional: $14.99 per month with custom branding
Premium: $44.99 per month with custom branding and custom order statuses
Enterprise: $119.99 per month with custom branding, onboarding services, and more feature
No one can predict what can happen to your product during shipping, which is why getting insurance for your products is so important.
Route is a tool that offers insurance on any item that gets lost, broken, or stolen during delivery. Customers gain peace of mind knowing that their purchases are guaranteed, and you get to keep more of your revenue.
Since Route covers the cost of refunds, you won’t be losing any money. The app is also 100% free for merchants and only takes a few minutes to set up on your store.
As frustrating as customer returns can be, there’s software you can use to handle returns more efficiently.Aftership Returns Center uses automation to track and manage your returns like child’s play.
When you integrate Aftership into your online store, you’ll be able to:
Manage all of your returns in one dashboard
Process refunds easily
Automatically send notifications to users on the status of their returns
Make returns a simple one-click process for buyers
Pricing:
Starter: Free for up to 3 return quotas per month. $0.5 for each extra return.
Essential: $9 per month for up to 20 monthly return quotas. $0.5 for each extra return.
Growth: $29 per month for up to 100 monthly return quotas. $0.5 for each extra return.
Pro: $99 per month for up to 400 return quotas. $0.5 for each extra return.
Advanced: $199 per month for up to 1000 return quotas. $0.5 for each extra return.
Sales Box offers an exciting way to manage shipping and personalize offers for your customers.
Your store can set up different shipping fees and promotions for individual products or countries. Right under the “add to cart” button, customers will have all the shipping information.
Each sales box is fully customizable and easy to edit. No coding knowledge is necessary — you get instant access to templates that make your offer stand out.
Pricing:
Basic Plan: $19 per month. The app comes with a 7-day free trial with unlimited features.
There’s a lot that goes into managing shipping and customer orders. You have to keep track of inventory, calculate your shipping rates, print your labels, and so much more.
It can be time-consuming and frustrating to bounce from software to software to get all of this handled. You need a solution that makes it possible to connect all of your eCommerce operations in one place.
That’s where eHub comes in. From the admin, your business gets access to:
The best shipping rates from all major carriers
Accurate parcel-level reporting
Label generation
Insurance of each item shipped
And more!
Essential Hub also integrates with more than 100+ e-commerce and shipping tools.
Pricing:
Free! Essential Hub technology is free for any e-commerce business that ships with us. The app is private, however, so you’ll need to contact our support team to get started.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoy our list of the best apps you can use to manage your shipping. These tools should help save money on shipping and manage your orders effectively to delight your customers. To learn more about how Essential Hub can improve your shipping strategy, feel free to contact us.
You started out doing the shipping yourself. You loved putting products into packages and printing the labels because it represented all the hard work you’ve invested in starting your business.
Now, your online store is growing, and shipping has turned into a headache. It needs to be done every day, but your business has a lot of other needs, too.
If you’re currently evaluating whether you should expand your operations and hire someone to take over fulfillment, you may want to consider a third-party logistics provider (3PL) to do the job for you.
What is a Third-Party Logistics Provider (3PL)?
A 3PL is a logistics provider that allows you to outsource your fulfillment operations. The provider will handle various business activities for your company, such as:
Warehousing
Distribution
Fulfillment
Inventory management and forecasting
And more
Sooner or later, there will come a time when it will be necessary to enlist a 3PL (or expand operations to do it yourself). If you’re starting to run out of space or are shipping around 10-20 daily orders on your own, a 3PL can help you save time so you can focus on business.
It’s also an excellent investment if you’re looking to expand overseas or adapt to seasonal changes. Here’s what to consider to pick the 3PL that’s the right fit for your business.
Payment History and Financial Stability
When choosing a 3PL, consider what would happen if they were to shut down or go bankrupt suddenly. If you’re not ready, it could have brutal consequences for your business.
It’s always better to be safe than sorry, which is why you need to pick a 3PL with financial stability and a solid payment history. You’ll be saving yourself a lot of trouble in the long run.
Do your research and ask around to learn more about how they’ve handled payments in the past. If they have a history of not being reliable, then it’s best to move on and find a better partner to fit your needs.
Excellent Industry References
Not all 3PLs are created equal. You’ll also have to find out what others in the industry say about their services, along with strong financial stability.
One of your goals during your research should be to network with their existing customers and get their opinions on the 3PL. Here are some questions you can ask them to learn more about how the logistics provider does business:
Is the 3PL easy to work with?
Are their customers satisfied with the results they’re getting?
How much money could they save on shipping, labor, and other rates?
Does the 3PL offer reports and updates on key performance metrics?
How were they able to scale thanks to the logistics provider?
Technology Integrations
There’s plenty of technology that helps you manage your supply chain easier. A quality 3PL should be able to integrate tools that give access to automation, connect with major carriers, and help you get the best rates.
Look at the 3PL’s website and see which e-commerce integrations are possible when you work with them. They should be able to integrate with the best platforms, such as:
Amazon
WooCommerce
Shopify
Whatever your store needs
Their Industry and Area Specialization
Specialty is key to finding the perfect 3PL. The right 3PL for your business depends on your location, the type of products you sell, and your current logistical needs.
For example, let’s say that you’re selling high-tariff items such as consumer goods and luggage. An option to consider is cross-border fulfillment, which is perfectly legal if you sell items with a 15+ tax rate.
Another aspect to consider is the 3PL’s location. Thanks to Amazon, customers expect to receive their products as soon as possible. As a result, it may be better to choose a 3PL that’s close to your customers. That will save you on shipping costs and keep delivery times to a minimum.
You can save on shipping costs by using one in the middle of the country or close to the region where you make the most sales. Larger 3PLs will have multiple locations you can leverage to cover the entire country.
A Strong Business Relationship
Collaborating with a 3PL is different from other traditional businesses. They are crucial in growing your business and effectively getting your product into customers’ hands.
To build a strong relationship with the 3PL, you want to know exactly what you need. Outlining your goals to the logistics provider will help set clear expectations that will lead the way to a solid partnership.
This should include:
Expected level of service – how fast do things get out the door?
Accuracy levels – sometimes, they ship the wrong product.
Cost to ship each package (with a breakdown for different SKUs)
How do they handle returns?
3PLs are notorious for being bad at handling returns. Have a frank discussion with any potential vendors so that you understand what they’re willing to do (and not do). Some will do it (for a price), but there are many with piles of unsorted returns sitting in their warehouse.
Scalability
Each company’s goal should be to grow and eventually reach a global market.
As your company starts to scale, its needs will change over time. You must consider what happens as you grow in SKUs and regions and hire more employees.
The right 3PL will fuel that growth and help you take your business to the next level. For example, the holidays are a period that significantly influences the supply and demand of your products.
A high-performing 3PL should also help you adapt to unexpected events. In the case of a natural disaster, you want to ensure they know how to handle the crisis and minimize the damage to your business.
When you meet up with a potential 3PL partner, ask them what their primary strategy is for scalability. It’ll show you if they’re worth the investment or not.
Pricing and Budget
Lastly, you’ll have to factor in your current budget. Investing in a 3PL can be costly, but it’s not a reason to go after the cheapest option.
As mentioned in this blog post, investing in the right 3PL helps you scale and grow your reach. A cheap 3PL is useless if it can’t adapt to unexpected situations and loses you money in the long term.
Many 3PLs will charge a flat fee, while others will charge variable pricing depending on your product type. Let’s take a look at an example:
You’re a clothing company with a high SKU that ships lightboxes. If your 3PL charges companies based on their SKUs, you will get charged more.
When checking out 3PLs, comparing pricing is just as important. Here are some questions that you should be asking the 3PL:
Does the 3PL come with an onboarding fee?
What type of products do they specialize in?
Does the 3PL charge based on the number of orders?
Do they take care of customer returns?
What kind of inventory transparency do they have?
At the end of the day, what matters is your return on investment. Partnering with a third-party fulfillment company can save you time and reduce labor costs at a significant price.
Wrapping Things Up
It takes a lot of time and research to find the 3PL that’s the right fit for your business. With these seven things to consider, you should have a clear idea of what to look for and find the best for you.
eHub manages a network of 3PLs with our technology. If you’re considering a 3PL for your fulfillment needs, we can help you find the right one for you.
A customer just bought a product from your store. You collect their mailing address, set up your branded packaging, and ship their ordered item.
But have you thought about what happens if your product gets broken or lost during the delivery process?
No one knows what can happen to your product during its transportation to the customer. Your business needs a game plan to prepare in case things go wrong.
What is Shipping Insurance?
When people hear “insurance,” they typically think of insurance for their health or home. But little do people know that it’s also possible to get insurance on products you ship to customers.
Shipping insurance covers the delivery fees and costs of your item in case something goes wrong during transportation. Let’s dive into the reasons why investing in shipping insurance is a smart move for your business.
Why You Should Consider Shipping Insurance
It’s impossible to predict the future, even if you think that you have everything under control. Your product could get lost or broken during delivery, leading to a disappointed customer. Some of the benefits of getting shipping insurance include:
Peace of Mind
Without insurance, you’ll be in charge of covering shipping costs and refunds if your item doesn’t arrive at the customer’s doorstep. It’s a process that adds extra stress to your workload, and you probably already have a busy schedule.
Getting shipping insurance takes stress off your back. No matter what happens to your package, you get peace of mind knowing that your item is always covered.
It Protects You From Any Financial Loss
Your item is in good hands when you get shipping insurance. The process might require a bit of paperwork, but the insurer will handle everything to ensure you get your money.
It’s also possible to get insurance for high-value items. Some carriers cover items up to $50,000, which we’ll explore later.
Getting Shipping Insurance Is Fast and Easy
Getting shipping insurance doesn’t have to be a complicated process. There are plenty of options at your disposal to get your items insured quickly. It’s even faster when you integrate a tool like eHub, which makes it simple to incorporate insurance.
The Different Types of Shipping Insurance Available
Here are the two main types of shipping insurance that you can choose:
Carrier Insurance
Different companies such as UPS, USPS, and FedEx all offer insurance for items you ship. Price varies from carrier to carrier, and each has limits on the maximum value of products that are covered.
Third-Party Software
You can also get insurance by integrating shipping software into your store. A shipping platform can ensure you get insurance on each item and offers the best shipping rates to customers.
How Much Does Shipping Insurance Cost?
If you decide to get your shipping insurance from a carrier, here’s how much you can expect to pay:
Things To Take Into Consideration Before Getting Insurance
International Restrictions
Remember that international restrictions influence whether your item qualifies for coverage or not. There are certain countries that carriers will not insure. For example, if your item gets lost in Paraguay, you won’t be able to obtain shipping insurance since it goes against US trade rules.
Certain countries also block you from importing certain goods. You cannot get coverage on items prohibited from shipping in the country you are targeting.
It’s impossible to predict the future, even if you think that you have everything under control
Terms and Conditions of the Insurance Contract
You must also be careful of the terms and conditions that come with shipping insurance. Some items don’t qualify for coverage, even if you ship them domestically.
Maximum Item Value
Carriers also offer limits to shipping insurance based on the item’s value. Let’s take a look at them below:
How to File an Insurance Claim
Next, you may wonder how to file an insurance claim on a lost or damaged product. Some carriers require you to file a claim within 60 days, while others give you up to nine months.
Here’s what you’ll need to do to get insurance for your product.
Your Package Got Lost During Delivery
If a customer reports that they’ve never received your item and can’t track it online, you’ll need proof of loss. Here are the documents that you’ll have to prepare in advance:
Evidence of pickup from your warehouse
The sender and recipient address
Tracking information
Package information: size, type of product, and more
Your Package Got Damaged
How you respond when your package gets damaged depends on your carrier. You’ll likely have to take pictures of the damaged packaging to compare it with the package’s photos in its normal condition.
It will also be required to provide documentation such as the original invoice, recipient address, declared value, and more. The carrier might inspect the package as well.
Your Package Got Stolen
Getting one of your items stolen is a tricky situation to be in. If you’re tracking an order, but it never seems to arrive to the customer, here’s the documentation you need to prepare:
Order tracking number
Description of what’s in the package
Recipient and sender mailing address
Proof of damage and value
Resources to Help You Out
If you need more information on how to file your insurance claim, check out these main couriers’ resources:
Running a business can be stressful enough. If you’re seeking extra peace of mind, getting shipping insurance goes a long way. No matter what happens to your item during delivery, you can rest assured that you’ll be covered if things go unexpectedly.
Your shipping bill consists of vital information about your package, from details about the recipient to how much you can expect to pay for a shipment. To avoid any nasty surprises or accidentally overpaying for shipping, you want to make sure to read your invoices carefully.
In this post, we’ll look at three leading carriers (FedEx, UPS, and DHL) and the structure that each of their shipping bills follows.
Reading Your FedEx Bill
Here is the format that each shipping bill from FedEx follows:
1. Contact / Bank Information
The first thing you’ll see on your shipping invoice is your contact and bank information. Here are the different things that it will consist of:
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): Your EFT will include your account name, bank, IBAN, and BIC.
Credit cards: FedEx makes it possible to choose which major credit card you want to use to pay your shipping bill.
Direct debit.
2. Invoice Type
There are two invoice types when it comes to FedEx shipping bills. These include:
Freight invoice: This consists of the transportation charges incurred per Air Waybill.
Duty tax invoice: It details all the clearance charges imposed in the destination region or country.
3. Shipping Information
This part of the invoice covers all of your package’s shipping information, such as:
Shipping number information
Ship date
Reference
Taxable/non-taxable / Total charges
4. Shipper Details
Next, your invoice will include all of the information about the shipper. These details include:
Company name
Postal code
City
Etc.
5. Charges
Here, you’ll see a breakdown of charges incurred at the Air Waybill level.
6. Proof of Delivery
This part of the shipping invoice confirms that your recipient received the order. The bill will show you the signature, date, and time of your shipment to show proof.
7. Overall Summary of All Charges & Total Amount Due
As you reach the end of the shipping bill, you’ll see a summary of all charges, such as taxes, discounts, and more factors that could affect the price.
8. Payment Remittance Address
Finally, the invoice ends with the remittance address to the UPS office.
To avoid any nasty surprises or accidentally overpaying for shipping, you want to make sure to read your invoices carefully
Reading Your UPS Bill
UPS is another popular option to get your shipping and packaging handled. Here’s how shipping bills from UPS are formatted:
1. Account Status Summary
On each UPS invoice, you get a summary of your account, which includes your previous invoices with the provider.
2. Payment Terms
The bill will have a section that outlines UPS’s payment terms and what they entail.
3. Outbound Shipping Charges
In this section of the bill, you’ll get an overview of any outbound shipments during the invoicing period and a tracking number for your package. It will also include information on your shipping zone and product weight.
4. Adjustments and Other Charges
There may be other additional costs that impact the total cost of your bill. These can include late payment charges, same-day pickup, and other factors.
Your package’s dimensions can also add extra charges. UPS determines how much you can expect to pay by taking into account the length, width, and height of your package.
5. Taxes
The invoice will cover which taxes you’ll have to pay for each item you ship.
6. Return Portion
If you’re paying by cheque, this section includes the amount due and the return form to fill out.
Reading your DHL Bill
DHL is one of the global leaders in the logistics industry. Here’s how to read the format of each of their shipping bills:
1. Type of Invoice
DHL has different forms for shipping bills, such as:
Inbound invoice
Outbound invoice
Credit adjustment
Debit adjustment
Your shipping bill starts by identifying which one corresponds to your package.
2. Customer’s Billing Information
Next, your DHL bill will cover all of your customer’s billing information, which includes:
Invoice number
Account number
Invoice date
Payment due date
3. Shipment and Package Information
This part of the bill covers the shipment origin details of the package and the destination receiver. It includes the total number of pieces associated with each waybill and the total weight of the shipment.
4. Service Description and Extra Charges
It’s possible that you chose a particular form of service and have some extra charges that impact the price of your shipping bill. They will all be covered in this section.
5. Total Due
By taking everything above into account, the invoice shows you how much you can expect to pay in total.
6. Billing and Payment Information
The invoice ends with all the bill and payment information (including the customer’s billing address), so you can proceed to pay the invoice in full.
Conclusion
Make sure you take the time to read your shipping bill carefully. While shipping invoices may defer from carrier to carrier, they all provide you with information on the recipient and consider extra charges that could impact the cost.
Everybody wants to save the most money on shipping. With so many shipping methods and carriers, however, it isn’t easy to know the best option, which can change based on the situation.
The type of shipping option that’s best for you also depends on various factors, such as delivery time, distance, and product weight. Here are some basic recommendations to help you find the best shipping method and make sure you save money on shipping:
The Cheapest Ways to Ship Based on Your Product Weight
To find the most cost-effective shipping method, your product’s weight is the first thing to consider. Here are our recommendations to get the best rates on your items based on how heavy they are:
Items That Are Under 1 Pound
If you’re shipping light items below 1 pound, the best carrier to go with is USPS. USPS First Class Mail is a fast, low-cost way to send any lightweight package.
Items That Are Under 10 Pounds
For products weighing only 1-10 pounds, we recommend going with USPS Priority Mail.
Heavier Items That Go Beyond 10 Pounds
There are various options available if you plan to ship heavy items. The best ones include:
UPS Ground: An excellent solution for merchants that want to ship items up to 150 pounds. Each package gets sent within three to five business days.
FedEx Ground: This option is available for stores that ship items up to 70 pounds. Like with UPS Ground, you can expect packages to ship within three to five business days.
USPS Parcel Select: If you’re shipping items up to 70 pounds, another solution is to go with USPS Parcel Select. It also comes with order tracking at no extra cost.
Unicorn Shipping: Priority Mail Cubic
If you’re shipping any items up to 20 pounds, one of the best-kept secrets in shipping is Priority Mail Cubic. Cost is determined by size, not weight, so this service is excellent for more minor but still relatively heavy items. Not using Priority Mail Cubic is #3 on the list of Deadly Sins when it comes to shipping.
The Cheapest Ways to Ship Based on Delivery Time
Delivery is vital in what kind of shipping option and carrier is best for your business. Here’s how you can get the best shipping rates depending on how fast the customer needs their order to arrive:
Next-Day Delivery Service
Here are our recommendations for shipping carriers to get your items delivered the next day:
USPS Express: The cheapest option you can get for next-day delivery, though not always the most reliable.
UPS Next Day Air Saver: Not only does this option offer competitive rates, but UPS will also refund you if the item doesn’t get shipped the next day. You will need to file a claim, however, if that is the case.
FedEx Standard Overnight: FedEx offers same-day delivery for all addresses in the US. However, if you’re shipping items over 150 pounds, you should get FedEx next-day freight services instead.
A note on guaranteed delivery: when a carrier says the delivery time is guaranteed, you can get a refund if they don’t make it. Guaranteed delivery does not mean the package arrives as expected every time.
If You’re Looking to Ship Within 2 Days
For two-day delivery, our best recommendations are FedEx 2 Day and UPS 2nd Day.
If You’re Looking to Ship Within 2-3 Days
To send orders within 2-3 days, the best option to go with is USPS Priority Mail. It offers the lowest rates compared to UPS and FedEx, which can cost almost twice as much.
You can see on their website that USPS Priority Mail coverage is two days for most of the country. If you don’t need guaranteed 2-day delivery, then this option is the most economical option for that service.
The Cheapest Way to Ship Internationally
International customers are a great way to expand your reach, but delivering products can seem more complicated. The cheapest way to ship your items internationally is through USPS, which will be less expensive than UPS and FedEx (which can cost three times as much).
Other Tactics You Can Use to Save Money on Shipping
Outside of these shipping methods, there are also things you can do from your side to save money on shipping. Here are a couple of tactics to employ:
Provide the Right Protection for Your Items
You want to ensure that each of your items gets to the customer safely from A to Z. If your product gets broken or stolen during the delivery process, that’s money; you’ll lose shipping.
There are two main ways to do this. First of all, you want to make sure that you’re using a suitable packaging material to protect your items during transportation.
Secondly, you should consider having insurance if anything unexpected happens to your item during delivery.
Integrate a Shipping App
A great way to save on shipping is to integrate shipping software into your store. A quality app should have access to discounts on shipping with major carriers to ensure you get the best rates on shipping every time.
The best part about using shipping software is that you can set up automation so the software finds the best rates for each and every shipment, so you don’t have to worry about figuring it out every time.
Keep Your Packaging as Light as Possible
The heavier your package is, the more expensive shipping will be. To save money, avoid using heavy packaging material to ship items. For example, instead of cardboard, consider using light materials such as air pillows or packaging peanuts.
Reuse Packaging Material
Lastly, a great way to save on shipping costs is to recycle your old material for future orders. It’s a great way to save money and respect the environment at the same time.
Grow Your Business With The Best Shipping Rates
Shipping can quickly feel like a liability, but there are ways not only to minimize its effects but also to deliver a great customer experience simultaneously. That’s why you need to weigh all your options and select the shipping option that will save you the most money.
By following our recommendations, you should have a good idea of how to get rates for shipping. To learn more about how Essential Hub can help you save money with the best shipping discounts, contact us today.
