However, don’t let the word ‘free’ fool you — there are cases where free shipping might cause you to lose more money than you’re gaining. Remember that you’ll have to cover the shipping cost, which may hurt your total revenue.
So what do you do? In this blog post, you’ll learn about the benefits of free shipping, what to consider before setting it up in your store, and the tactics that can turn losses into additional sales for your business.
The Benefits of Free Shipping
There’s a reason why offering free shipping is a gold standard in the eCommerce world. Here’s how free shipping influences the purchasing behavior of customers:
Free Shipping Boosts Your Sales and Average Order Value
Everybody loves to get free stuff, and free shipping is no different. According to statistics:
61% of customers are “somewhat likely” to cancel their order if it doesn’t come with free shipping
Orders with free shipping average around 30% higher in value
93% of customers are encouraged to buy more if free shipping is available
Increase Your Brand Loyalty
Your success in eCommerce depends on your ability to adapt.
Free shipping from brands is now an expectation for the modern customer. A recent survey proves that 8 out of 10 consumers prefer free shipping over getting their items faster.
By offering free shipping, you meet your customers’ needs and give them a reason to return for more.
Decrease Cart Abandonment
Put yourself in the shoes of the customer for a couple of seconds.
Let’s say that you find a product you like and add it to your cart, only to find out about the high shipping rates. What would you do? Chances are, you’d likely leave the cart.
That’s where free shipping comes in. By covering the shipping cost yourself, you’ll encourage customers to follow through and reduce cart abandonment.
What to Consider Before Offering Free Shipping
With that in mind, however, there are cases where free shipping isn’t the right fit for your business. Here are a couple of factors you need to consider before setting up free shipping on your store:
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, it’s ideal to offer free shipping to your customers. In this case, it won’t be fair to charge them for shipping costs.
However, if they don’t offer free shipping, it’s up to you to decide whether you want to cover the shipping costs or 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 else. 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 Customer’s 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 areas.
You’ve Calculated Your Profit Margins
First, you’ll have to do some math to determine if free shipping suits your store.
How free shipping will affect your margins depends on the type of product, where your customers are, and more factors. Keep in mind as well that you’re the one who’s going to have to cover the shipping costs.
Knowing the average order value and average margin on every order will determine if free shipping can work for your business. Does the average order cost you $10 to ship? If your average order margin is more significant than $10, you can cover the cost of shipping.
To compensate for the lost money, you’ll have to develop an effective strategy, which we’ll get into later. You can also keep your shipping expenses down by investing in the right software.
How to Offer Free Shipping Without Hurting Your Bottom Line
As you can see, there’s a lot of thinking that goes into offering free shipping. You can’t just set it up in your store and hope for the best. Thankfully, there are strategies you can use to offer free shipping without going broke. Here are a couple of tactics that should help you:
If competitors in your niche are offering free shipping as part of their strategy, then it’s best that you do the same
Increase the Price of Your Products
An excellent way to win back the money you’re losing to shipping is to increase the price of your products.
However, you also have to be careful when raising your item’s price — you want the price to cover shipping and marketing costs but not high enough that it scares away customers from buying from you.
Customers find free shipping offers twice as compelling as discounts, so consider that when considering a lower price versus a free shipping offer.
Offer Free Shipping for a Minimum Order Size
Another way to cover shipping costs is to offer free shipping when customers pay a specific order size. The extra cash should help you cover the rest of the shipping costs.
However, just like with increasing the price of your products, you need to have a strategy in mind. You can’t just throw a random number around — customers will catch on to your actions.
Let’s say that your average order cost is $22. To invite customers to pay more without feeling like they’re being tricked into buying more, you can offer free shipping for orders above $25.
Here’s an example from skincare company Frank Body, that offers free shipping for orders above $20:
Create a Membership Program for Free Shipping
An option that’s gaining in popularity is setting up membership programs. To qualify for free shipping, customers must sign up and pay a yearly or monthly fee.
A great example of this in action is Barnes & Noble. On top of getting free shipping when customers sign up for their membership program, they also get exclusive perks and bonuses.
Offer Multiple Shipping Options at Checkout
Giving customers more than one option will increase their perceived value. When you display rates, include the estimated delivery date. Customers will be able to select a faster option (and choose to pay for shipping themselves) versus selecting the standard, slowest, and low-cost option for your business.
Your Shipping Rates are As Low as Possible
No doubt, getting access to cheaper rates makes offering free shipping easier. The problem is that small and mid-sized businesses can’t access the same discounts as their bigger competitors – or Amazon. A lot of platforms promise better rates, but what they’re really offering is a discount below retail (what you would get at the USPS or UPS store). Any business can access better than retail by setting up a business shipping account.
More tools are available, however, and that’s where a company like Essential Hub can help. We leverage our network of software partners to get customers the best rate and program for their particular needs, and our experts craft a custom shipping profile to leverage the strengths of each carrier. Check out some of our shipping tips, and if you’d like to learn more about how we can help, fill out the contact form below.
Wrapping Things Up
Whether or not you can offer free shipping depends on various factors. These include the type of product you’re shipping, your customer’s location, and what others are doing in your industry.
When free shipping is done correctly, you can boost sales and create loyal customers. It’s all about having the right strategy to make it work.
Keep Your Costs at a Minimum with a Great Shipping Program
Shipping is more than just low rates. An excellent shipping program gets you the best rates for the service you need for each and every shipment. Essential Hub helps our customers with strategy, software, and rates so their business can win more customers and grow!
If your store struggles with cart abandonment, you are not alone.
While it’s impossible to eliminate cart abandonment, there are various ways you can minimize it. In this article, we will review the top 4 reasons customers abandon their carts and determine the tactics you can use to eliminate those problems.
Top 4 Reasons Why Customers Abandon Their Cart
There are many reasons why customers don’t follow through with their purchases. Here are the most common ones:
High shipping costs
A complicated checkout process
Lack of payment options
Glitchy or slow website
Let’s get a little more in-depth with each of these.
High Shipping Costs
The #1 reason why customers abandon their cart is because of unexpected shipping costs.
When customers see that what they’re paying is more than expected, it gives them a reason to leave the checkout page. As a result, they might check out what rates your competition is offering and buy from them instead (also known as checking on Amazon for Prime delivery).
If you’re not offering free shipping, you should seriously consider doing it. There are tactics you can use to make it work for you financially; free shipping isn’t just about straight profit/cost.
A Complicated Checkout Process
Another big reason for cart abandonment is a checkout process that’s too difficult to follow. Online customers are impatient — they don’t want to jump through hoops to make their purchases—too many windows, boxes, and form fields to fill out.
The checkout process should be as fast and straightforward as possible, which we’ll get into later in this blog post.
Lack of Payment Options
Customers have different preferences when it comes to making their payments online. Some prefer to use their credit card, while others want to pay with PayPal.
Ideally, you want to provide customers with as many payment methods as possible. A lack of choice can lead certain customers to leave their cart since they can’t find a payment option that fits their needs.
Glitchy or Slow Website
Lastly, your website’s speed has a vital role in your online conversions.
According to Google, 53% of visitors will ditch your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. If your website is too slow or glitchy, customers will bounce and won’t bother buying anything.
The quicker your website performs, the higher your conversion rate will be.
The Best Tactics You Can Use to Prevent Cart Abandonment
Now that you know why customers leave their carts, you may wonder how to prevent it. Here are our best recommendations to make sure customers go past checkout:
Use Exit-Intent Popups
You need creative ways to engage web visitors. One of the best ways to do this is by implementing exit-intent popups on your site.
Exit popups track the visitor’s mouse movements to capture their attention as they’re about to leave your website. It’s super helpful on checkout pages, where you can offer customers a discount for the product they plan to buy.
Offering a discount or promotion to customers gives them an extra incentive to stay on your page. As a result, they may change their mind and follow through with their purchase.
Here’s a great example from Roadside Vapes. Not only is it fun with its imagery and copy (“Can’t You Stay a Little Longer?”), customers can get 10% off their first order by entering their email address.
Implement a Buy Now, Pay Later Payment Option
Your success in e-commerce depends on adapting to changes in consumer behavior.
86% of consumers are now looking for payment options that are more flexible and help them save money. It’s why Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) is becoming popular among consumers, particularly with millennials and overseas.
BNPL is pretty much the modern version of layaway. Instead of paying the total price upfront, customers can buy your products in installments. It’s a payment method that helps customers split their budgets better and encourages them to make larger orders.
Two options we love for BNPL are Sezzle and Klarna. Both are interest-free and provide you with the money upfront to make sure you get paid. They take care of collecting from the customer, so you see an immediate boost to sales from people who weren’t sure they could afford the purchase up front.
Have a Clear and Generous Returns Policy
Around 66% of customers read a store’s returns policy before purchasing. If your returns policy is complex to read or is unfair, customers may decide to go with your competition instead.
You need to make sure that you write your returns policy with simple language and no complicated jargon. Another good tip is to extend the return deadline — up to 365 days if you can.
Customers want to know that if the item doesn’t fit them, they can always return it with no problem. Ikea is a great example, with a 365-day return policy on an item bought from their store.
Keep in mind that one of the biggest reasons why customers love shopping online is convenience, but one of the biggest problems is that you aren’t there to see how the items look, fit, or feel. You must overcome any worry or fear about returns to grab the purchase and create a loyal customer.
Providing simple and free returns overcomes this problem and assures customers they can expect a smooth and fun shopping experience with your brand!
State Your Shipping Rates
As mentioned earlier, shipping rates are one of the top reasons customers abandon their carts. No one likes to find out they’re paying more than they initially thought.
If you offer free shipping, state it clearly on every page. That’s a great reminder for customers that they won’t have to pay for shipping.
If you don’t offer free shipping, offer an incentive to earn it. Minimum order thresholds for free shipping should be clearly stated on every page. That does two things:
Incentivize customers to add more to their cart to get free shipping
Subtly tell your customers that they will have to pay for shipping at checkout
Clear communication in e-commerce is critical.
Offer Guest-Checkout
Any friction during the buying process will cause customers to abandon their shopping cart.
A common issue among e-commerce stores is that customers must create an account before buying their items. That can feel like extra work for customers who want to purchase quickly.
Instead, your brand should allow customers to checkout as guests. Ask them to give you their email address, and they’re ready.
Offering a membership program is a great way to engage with repeat and loyal customers. Instead of focusing on setting up accounts for everyone trying to buy from you, focus on retaining the best, repeat customers.
Abandoned Cart Emails
A classic way to recover lost sales is to send abandoned cart emails. Ecommerce 101.
Don’t make boring emails. On-brand humor is engaging and much more likely to get the win. You should be using sequences for abandoned cart emails. Here’s an example:
One hour after leaving the cart: simple reminder email. Favorite subject line: “Did life get in the way?”
Twenty-four hours after leaving the cart: something more engaging and funny.
Forty-eight hours after leaving the cart: offer a discount or another incentive.
Simple A/B testing can help you find the right messaging or incentives that resonate with your customers.
Don’t give away the discount immediately; this is a common strategy for people looking for better deals, and sometimes people are just thinking about it. Remember that with abandoned cart emails, you need to keep things creative. Online shoppers see a lot of these and will ignore them, so keep it light, fun, and on brand.
Here’s an excellent example from Dote. Notice the creative copywriting — your shopping cart has abandonment issues. It’s a fun and creative way for customers to finish their purchases.
Install a Facebook Messenger Chatbot
65% of customers prefer using a messaging app to contact brands. On top of that, Facebook Messenger typically has a 90% open rate compared to 15-20% for email.
An alternative to abandoned cart emails is to use a Facebook Messenger chatbot. When customers abandon their cart, you can send them a personalized message on Facebook to invite them back to your store.
Facebook chatbots are also helpful when it comes to answering questions customers may have about your product. They improve the buyer’s journey and cut your customer service work in half.
Anything that makes the checkout process simpler will get customers to buy their cart.
Autofill takes your customer’s details and includes them on your form, so they don’t manually do it themselves. With their information already in place, customers will be more likely to continue their purchase.
Optimize Your Website’s Speed and Responsiveness
The best products worldwide will never make up for a slow and glitchy website. There’s nothing worse for a customer than to run into some technical problems as they’re about to checkout.
You also must make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. By next year, brands can expect 54% of e-commerce traffic to come from mobile. If you’re using Shopify, you can expect a fast and responsive website by default. If you’re on WordPress, then you’ll need to ensure that your developer is on top of page load speeds.
An excellent way to optimize your website is to invest in PWA technology, which offers faster speed, fewer glitches, and better UI for your website. It also makes your website easy to browse during periods of high traffic or poor internet connection.
Wrapping Things Up
Cart abandonment can be a significant headache for businesses. Understanding how your customers purchase and what is important to them makes it possible to increase conversions and drive more sales. Like anything, you must implement and test to see what works. After implementing the best practices mentioned in this article, start by testing one thing at a time to see how abandoned cart rates improve.
It’s Cheap to Be a Cube
Every industry has its little annoyances. You know, those aspects you wish you didn’t have to deal with, the ones your friends in other verticals hear about and say, “Sure am glad I don’t have to deal with that.” That frustration can turn to gratitude very quickly, however, with the right motivation.
Let’s pick a random example, such as…brick-and-mortar retail vs. e-commerce. It’s pretty easy to imagine e-commerce brands envying their retail relatives in the physical realm when it comes time to charge users shipping fees and customers abandon their carts.
That dynamic might invert itself if, hypothetically, worldwide circumstances are arranged in a manner that either compels or impels large percentages of the human race to do as many daily activities from home as possible.
In such an environment, retailers, great and small, would likely find that if people can’t do it online, they won’t do it at all and that shipping fees are only a secondary concern.
Such a situation—should it ever come to pass in our lifetimes—would, however, make the cost of shipping a central point of competitive advantage. Brands that can charge less for shipping will earn more market share, and those that can reduce their shipping overhead will maximize profits.
But how, exactly, can e-commerce brands capitalize on that without Amazon-level budgets and infrastructure?
The same way you win a poker game against a cheater: with an Ace up your sleeve.
Priority Mail Cubic—The Shipper’s Secret Weapon
There is a little-known shipping program that the USPS offers for packages under 20 pounds that can meet certain size restrictions. It’s cheaper and faster than other shipping methods for qualifying parcels, but most e-commerce retailers either don’t know about it or don’t use it.
So, what is this mystical gateway to delivery delightfulness? It’s called Priority Mail Cubic, or just “Cubic” for short. It’s a unique service the USPS offers, and it can do wonders for reducing shipping overhead for your business.
With Cubic, your business gets charged based on the dimensions of your package, not its weight. It’s an excellent alternative to FedEx and UPS if you want to save the most money on shipping, as it’s just as fast (if not faster), and you don’t have to stress about package weight as long as it’s under the 20-pound limit.
Let’s take a closer look at how it works. The trick is to use software that offers this incredible service at the correct rate (some shipping platforms mark this up to make more money).
Let’s learn about the benefits of Cubic pricing and how the service works.
How USPS Priority Mail Cubic Works
The Requirements
In order to avail yourself of Cubic shipping, your package has to meet specific criteria, so before we explain how to calculate costs or what savings you can expect, we should determine whether your shipments are candidates for the program.
Cubic parcels must match the following three attributes:
Weight—less than 20 pounds
Volume—0.5 cubic feet or less
Size—no dimension longer than 18 inches
If your shipping meets these precise specifications, it can be shipped via Priority Mail Cubic.
Determining Postage
The reason Cubic is such an effective tactic for reducing shipping costs is because of its unique pricing method that doesn’t take into account the weight of the package. As long as it’s less than 20 pounds, the USPS doesn’t give a ship what it weighs. If that’s the case, though, how do you determine shipping prices?
Well, it takes a little bit of math. So dig your old algebra notes out of the trunk; you might need them.
Here are the steps you need to take to calculate your package with Cubic:
Measure the length, width, and height of your package. Round each dimension down to the nearest quarter inch. For example: 3 x 10 x 12 package
Multiply the dimensions (Height x Width x Length) and divide that number by 1728. For example: 3 x 10 x 12 = 360 / 1728 = .2083
The decimal you get back is the size of your package in “cubic feet.”
Finally, round up your cubic feet measurement to .1, .2, .3, .4, or .5. For example: .2083 rounds up to .3
After you’ve done all that number crunching, you can compare the final cubic feet measurement against the USPS’s pricing tables (which you can find below, up to date with pricing for 2022). Determining the price is simply a matter of matching the cubic measurement to the number of shipping zones the package will have to travel. And that’s it.
Benefits of USPS Priority Mail Cubic
First and foremost, Cubic pricing means weight doesn’t come into the equation, allowing you to ship cheaply when your package is less than 20 lbs and is smaller than .5 cubic. Beyond that, though, USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing offers many benefits you won’t find from other carriers. These include:
Fast Delivery Within 1 to 3 Business days: USPS’s Priority Mail Cubic service makes it possible to ship your items to customers within 1 to 3 days across all states in the USA.
Free Package Tracking: USPS will offer free package tracking on shipments so you can follow the journey of your product.
Reduced Shipping Costs: With Cubic, you get much more competitive rates than other shipping methods.
“That’s great!” you might be saying. “If it’s so easy to ship cheaply, though, why doesn’t everybody do it?”
Cubic Shipping Caveats (and How to Get Around Them)
Caveat #1: The Threshold
Cubic offers you the possibility to save big on all of your shipping. What makes it difficult is that the USPS won’t let just anyone ship Cubic. To get these special rates from your friendly neighborhood postman, you have to meet a certain order volume threshold.
Think of it as a minimum order value to qualify for free shipping. Except, instead of “free,” it’s just “much cheaper,” and instead of $30 in product, it’s 50,000 packages a year.
This requirement prevents everyone and their mother from shipping holiday gifts to faraway families using Cubic pricing. Unfortunately, it also prevents smaller retailers from doing the same, at least unless they have help.
Solution #1: The Inside Man
Okay, so you’ve found your secret weapon, but you need some help putting it to use. So, you do what any sensible individual would: you find yourself a wingman who will put in a good word for you. Though, in this case, it’s not necessarily a wingman, but a wingbrand.
Several solutions can help you bridge this volume gap, and there are some names to call them by. They go by titles such as “shipping aggregators,” “independent postage vendors,” and “online postage providers,” just to name a few.
But while there are variations on the business model or services provided, the base functionality is the same: they allow you to print your own postage and shipping labels.
This particular industry niche began as a way to save businesses a trip to the post office or other drop-off locations. As it grew, however, additional core features were added to make the service more beneficial and to give the brand offering it a competitive edge.
These included features like reduced shipping rates (resulting from the vendor/aggregator’s brokered deals with the carriers), API integrations to calculate and populate shipping costs automatically, and more.
We could go on and on here (and we have, in fact, in other places), but what’s relevant to the current discussion are the agreements with shipping carriers. These arrangements allow aggregators to treat an entire lot of shipments with a given carrier, made using their system in a given year, as coming from a single business entity.
In other words, the shipments are “aggregated” together, and it’s easier for ten retailers using a single aggregator to ship 5,000 packages each to break that limit of 50,000 than it is for any of them to do alone.
This is what a solution like this can offer: convenience and improved shipping rates. But not every brand approaches the task of passing on the savings to your business with the same philosophy.
Caveat #2: The Grift That Keeps on Giving
It’s essential to be aware that not all third-party shipping software offers Cubic as an option. For those that do, it’s not always the actual Cubic pricing they offer. Here’s what we mean.
The USPS offers the Cubic program because they want to reward shippers for using smaller packages (making it easier for them to ship more in fewer trucks/planes/etc.). That’s why the pricing is better. And they work with vendors and aggregators to offer the rates because it gets more shippers in line with those requirements.
Obviously, businesses in this space are, well, businesses, meaning they intend to turn a profit (as opposed to, you know, non-profits). So, almost every solution will either charge a fee or mark up the Cubic rates to generate revenue from offering those rates to their clients (and eHub is no exception).
But both as business professionals and as consumers, we are all well aware that there’s a difference between an equitable exchange and scalping.
Some brands mark up their Cubic prices more than others, obviously. But keep in mind here: this is an offering that requires effectively zero overhead.
Unlike product brands, which can market themselves as a “premium” brand off of the ostensible promise of products built with better materials, design, and engineering (no matter how flimsy that excuse might be—looking at you, Apple), these brands are only offering access to reduced shipping costs, so excessive markups aren’t warranted.
Solution #2: Second Opinions to Avoid Second-Rate…Rates
This may seem an obvious solution, but it’s hard to overstate its relevance or efficacy. Never be afraid to exercise your right to shop around—even in B2B arrangements—especially here.
The USPS doesn’t publicly list their cubic shipping rates, so you’ll have to do some good, old-fashioned price matching on this one. While we mentioned above that everyone using Cubic is essentially getting the same “product,” there are variances in the level of customer support you’ll receive from different solutions, not to mention how easy support is to contact.
Beyond that, what determines the value of a lot of these solutions (and which clients are happy with their service) are the available API integrations. There’s no universal solution, so your best bet is to look for one that offers the integrations that are most critical for your business or find one with a team willing to prioritize building the functionality you need.
So, look for positive reviews and ratings, check with your peers in the e-commerce industry for referrals, and ask any hard questions you can think of so you can find a provider that meets your brand’s unique needs.
The Nitty-Gritty: USPS Cubic Pricing
Cubic Pricing Tiers
Now that we’ve covered the what, the why, and the who, let’s talk about the “how”—as in, “how much?”
Regarding Cubic feet measurement, your package will fall into one of five tiers that USPS uses to calculate the shipping rate. Here is what each tier consists of:
Tier 1: Packages up to .10 cubic feet
Tier 2: Packages more than .10 and up to .20 cubic feet
Tier 3: Packages more than .20 and up to .30 cubic feet
Tier 4: Packages more than .30 and up to .40 cubic feet
Tier 5: Packages more than .40 and up to .50 cubic feet
These tiers don’t change year-to-year, so regardless of fluctuations in actual pricing, a given size of the package will always be the same tier.
2022 USPS Priority Mail Cubic Rates
Cubic Ft. Range Up To:
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
L, 1 & 2
$7.54
$8.02
$8.25
$8.37
$8.50
Zone 3
$7.81
$8.20
$8.62
$8.85
$9.07
Zone 4
$8.05
$8.49
$9.01
$9.57
$10.04
Zone 5
$8.37
$9.12
$10.03
$11.83
$13.18
Zone 6
$9.18
$10.96
$13.48
$15.92
$17.79
Zone 7
$9.77
$11.62
$15.22
$18.73
$22.31
Zone 8
$10.43
$12.67
$17.93
$21.59
$25.74
Zone 9
$18.56
$25.09
$34.46
$42.67
$51.21
The rates, on the other hand, tend to change on an almost yearly basis. How much you’ll pay depends on your cubic dimensions (the tiers mentioned above) and zoning—including the zone of origin, the destination zone, and the number of zones in between.
Here’s a table of what the 2022 rates for USPS Priority Mail Cubic look like to give you an idea:
How You Can Get Started With Priority Mail Cubic
There’s one more “how” to answer here: “How do I get started?”
The best way to start with Cubic is to find an appropriate vendor or aggregator and integrate their shipping app or API into your fulfillment process. We should warn you, however, that since Cubic is a relatively unknown program, it’s hard to find a platform that offers favorable pricing, let alone the shipping option itself.
Even some of the most popular tools, such as Shipstation, don’t offer commercial-level pricing for Cubic, so don’t decide on brand visibility alone.
We won’t pretend that we’re a perfect fit for every e-commerce retailer or 3PL outfit, but at eHub, we build our pricing structure so that we profit with you, not from you. In other words, if maximum access to the discounts of Cubic shipping is a significant factor in your decision, we’re probably worth a look.
While we can’t qualify you to sit on the throne of Asgard or claim the crown of England, we can help you significantly reduce your shipping costs (which is almost as good).
So, if you’d like to know more about the program or how it can save you 15% on car insurance shipping fees, give us a call.
In modern-day commerce, your closest rivals could be located anywhere in the world, and they could be anything from a small home-based business all the way up to a high-volume operation. As a small business, are you really ever going to get the same shipping rates, savings, and discounts as your larger, higher-volume competition?
Maybe not. However…
There are many different types of shipping software and lots of new ways you can optimize your small business shipping arrangements. In this post, we’re offering you a few key tips on the topic of small-business shipping. With this, we hope to inspire some new practices to help you on the path to lower shipping rates, better customer experience, and, ultimately, higher profits for your business.
Avoid Using a Single Carrier One of the most limiting things you can potentially do for your business is fail to accumulate many shipping options. Be prepared, as there’s a little leg work to do, and you need to have a solid understanding of your key parcel data—not just your volume but also your product weights, sizes, packaging, and any service-level agreement (SLA) requirements.
The more data you have, the more clearly you will be able to articulate your needs to potential shipping partners. You should try to obtain quotes, SLAs, and contracts for multiple carriers, including regional, national, and specialty shipping providers.
Don’t completely rely on any single carrier like UPS or FedEx. There are scenarios where each carrier makes the most sense, and it’s important for you to understand how they can work together.
Yes, it will take time, but in the long run, these efforts will be really beneficial.
Audits While this may not be the most appealing of tasks, it could be exceptionally fruitful in terms of the ROI. If you don’t already have a process in place to check your shipping invoices, then it’s time to get one! When you ship with guaranteed delivery options like overnight or 2-day, you’re entitled to a refund when they’re late. But the carriers aren’t going to do this for you.
A regular audit, such as monthly or quarterly at most, might not just reduce your shipping costs but also give you an indication of the service levels from a specific carrier. Either way, it’s a win-win.
Earlier in this post, we mentioned the importance of using shipping technology for your small business. Manual auditing could be time-consuming, but there are also many automated options that can save you time and money! LateShipment.com is just one of many options to consider.
Harness Small Business Shipping Technology It’s safe to say we all use technology in business. However, not everybody maximizes their use of technology in small business shipping. The best shipping software will help you manage your orders, check against multiple carriers for the cheapest shipping option, print labels, track packages, arrange pickups, and more!
Nowadays, all the top small business shipping software companies will offer seamless integrations with most of the popular e-commerce platforms, such as BigCommerce, Shopify, Amazon, Woo-Commerce, and many others.
With intelligent automation working for your business, you can realize a more streamlined, cost-effective, and less time-consuming approach to small business shipping.
Packaging At a time when consumers and companies alike are looking at ways to reduce their costs, reviewing your packaging is another essential task, and it’s something that’s firmly within your control.
According to a recent e-commerce survey, over 70% of consumers aged between 18 and 30 and over 60% of all shoppers state they are more likely to buy products from brands that use sustainable materials. Furthermore, another similar survey demonstrates that consumers tend to have a higher opinion of companies that use paper packaging instead of plastic or other unsustainable materials. The best thing is that eco-friendly packaging doesn’t always equal more expensive packaging, so it’s worth looking into.
Did you know that many carriers now give away free packaging?
For instance, USPS has hundreds of free shipping supplies on their site, as do DHL Express, FedEx, and UPS. All of these are worth a look!
Earlier in this post, we mentioned the importance of getting a handle on your data in order to rate shop across multiple carriers. You can go further by understanding how close your existing packaging is to cheaper rates if you were to make things ½” smaller or ½ lbs lighter.
Free Shipping Alternatives Regardless of the type or size of the products you sell, you might not always be able to afford to offer free shipping across your store. However, there are a few alternatives that you can still consider.
Minimum Order Thresholds One way of incentivizing customers who want free shipping is to set a minimum order value. This tactic often encourages people to order more and pushes up average order values while giving the customer a feeling of value in the process.
Offer a loyalty program with free shipping Many major brands are doing this, but it’s also highly applicable to smaller businesses. For your loyal customers who order from you regularly, offer them the option to pay a small annual or monthly fee in exchange for free delivery.
Consider a flat-rate cost of shipping The applicability of this depends on the size and type of products you sell. However, a flat-rate shipping charge provides customers with complete transparency with their shipping costs, making it easier for them to see the exact cost of their order. In many cases, this also acts as an incentive for customers to place larger orders as they try to take advantage of the fixed shipping cost.
Include the shipping cost in your price By including shipping costs in your prices, you can promote ‘free delivery’ as part of your offering. If you’ve implemented some of the earlier shipping tips for small businesses and optimized your company’s shipping operation, you can still offer value to your customers without having to cover the cost of shipping out of your own margins.
Bonus Tip – Reviews
People trust online reviews. One way smaller shippers can compete with their larger counterparts is by building up a quality online profile with lots of positive reviews. So, if you haven’t already optimized your shipping to include an insert or incentive for leaving a review, then doing so is a great idea!
Final Thoughts With poor or no planning, shipping can end up being complicated and costly, and it can heavily impact your reputation and the overall customer experience. For smaller businesses that don’t have the demand for volume shipping, getting the right partners, processing, and pricing in place is essential.
Online shipping is so much more than an operational process. It’s also an opportunity to build loyalty and improve your customer experience, and it can also be crucial to your profit margins. In some cases, the flexibility and strength of your online shopping options could also help you make a sale in the first place.
We hope you’ve been able to find at least a couple of shipping tips for your small business.
Have a question or want to know more? Let us know!
Shipping can make or break your business. More than 75% of shoppers consider even small shipping costs a deal breaker compared to free shipping.
That means you cannot afford to skimp on it. You have to be intentional with the kind of experience you and your would-be customers will have during the entire process of shipping. To keep your business shipping at the most efficient cost and service, using worthwhile shipping software is a good start.
The options are endless, but the search is worth the effort. Of course, you’ll have to consider your specific business needs to get a platform that serves you best. Other aspects of it can apply to almost every online business out there.
In this article, we’ll be looking at the top 5 concerns you should look into as far as your current shipping platform is concerned.
Take a look.
How Flexible Is It with Integrations?
Your shipping software isn’t the only system in your business. You must stay on top of your current e-commerce platform, manage your inventory, and ensure your books are in order. Think of the daily activities that are essential for the continued running of your business.
A good deal of them will need a platform of some sort, and each one of these platforms must work in harmony with the others. The same goes for your shipping software.
Can it plug into the existing ecosystem without much fuss? Spoiler alert – it should. That’s how you’ll realize its full importance as a tool, which is to make your work easier.
For some very specific integrations, the ideal platform should offer API access so that you can tweak everything down to your requirements.
Another way to make this work is with order aggregation like that provided by eHub. Your shopping cart, marketplaces, and website all connect to it, and it connects to your shipping software. That way, you don’t have to worry about managing many integrations.
Does It Offer Multi-Carrier Rate Shopping?
Customers expect free shipping and getting their products ASAP. They don’t care about the carrier service you use, but you should. Products going to inner zones should be using ground service. Outer zones may need something faster.
The USPS has the best rates for items under a pound—flat rate options. Depending on the package size, zone, and service level you need (how fast does it need to get there?), you need the most economical option. Does your software rate shop across carriers? An effective and efficient shipping program will rely on multiple carriers.
Your customers will be eager to know where their shopped items are. It’s only natural as they’ve paid for them. This is an opportunity for you as a merchant to show how committed you are to satisfying your customers.
What Are Its Track-Trace Capabilities?
Your customers will be eager to know where their shopped items are. It’s only natural as they’ve paid for them. This is an opportunity for you as a merchant to show how committed you are to satisfying your customers.
You can do that through your shipping software.
A good platform allows you to update your customer every step of the way – from the moment the item is shipped to being in transit and finally delivered.
But amid all this, returns are bound to be there. You also want a seamless process on the customer’s part and even your team.
For some platforms, it’s as simple as offering a return portal, printing the return label, and sending the item back to you. And that’s precisely what you’d want.
How Effective Is It in Managing Your Workflow?
As already mentioned, shipping software is a tool, and the sole purpose of a tool is to make your work easier. Part of making work more accessible is streamlining day-to-day operations from the time a customer places an order to the time the item is shipped out.
How good is your current platform with this?
Think of the documentation required in shipping an item – there are a lot of forms to fill and keep up with. Your shipping software should stand in for you. It helps keep all these documents in one place for easy retrieval when needed while eliminating a good deal of errors simultaneously.
Are you printing labels one at a time or in batches? Are you printing pack lists to make it easier to fill orders? Shipping software can be customized to your current process or utilized to make your process even more accessible. One way Essential Hub adds value is by educating, training, and optimizing customer shipping processes based on the platform they are using. Through this method, they save customers 20-30% in time every day. What would you do with an extra 2 hours?
What Are the Available Options for Shipping Rates?
Some platforms have limited options as far as rates are concerned. This means you have to make do with whatever the said platform has to offer.
This is certainly not the best way to go about it.
Having a custom pricing plan will work in your best interest. There are plenty of shipping platforms that offer this option. You should be able to rate shop, load custom rates, and manage your own shipping profile. Essential Hub is connected to multiple software options that do this.
Not every platform sells shipping the same way, but they would all have you believe that they offer the best rates. One way to check this is to take a typical package size, including weight and the exact delivery address, and shop it across platforms. That’s an excellent place to start when evaluating who offers the best rates.
Wrapping it Up
Shipping plays a significant role in most people’s purchase decisions, so ensuring everything runs smoothly should be a top priority for you as a merchant. Shipping software is a tool that will work to save you money, make you more efficient, and improve the customer experience.
Find one that works for your business using these tips. Essential Hub helps our customers evaluate the best software for their needs and how to implement that system best. Find out how today!
Your goal as an e-commerce brand should always be to stand out from the competition. The most common tactics to do this include improving your product, social media marketing, or optimizing your web design.
While these actions are significant, there’s one aspect of the buying process that brands take for granted: the unboxing experience.
Brands are so worried about landing new business that they don’t consider what happens when customers receive their orders. Done right; however, branded packaging can be a great way to boost retention and create loyal customers.
What is Unboxing?
“Unboxing” is when a customer opens up your order, the same way they’d open up a gift for their birthday or Christmas.
Not only does branded packaging offer an experience to the customer, it’s one of the best ways to promote your brand. Let’s understand why and what you can do to create an incredible unboxing experience.
Why Branded Packaging Matters to eCommerce
With so many brands competing for customers’ attention, branded packaging is the one investment that could make you stand out. Here’s why:
It Builds a Great First Impression
First impressions matter, and it’s no different for eCommerce brands.
One of the biggest obstacles in eCommerce is that you’re not there with the customer face-to-face. A great unboxing experience fills that gap by creating a powerful connection.
Branded packaging shows you value your customers’ satisfaction and go every step of the way to deliver. As a result, you’ll boost their perception of your brand.
It Creates Loyal Customers
The best customers are not the ones who only buy once from your store. They’re the ones who repeatedly come back to your store for more and drive repeat purchases.
Brands are so focused on landing new clients that they forget one thing: keeping their current customers happy. 41% of an eCommerce store’s sales come from only 8% of its customers.
Branded packaging is one of the most effective customer retention tactics. The reason why it works so well is that it drives emotion and makes the purchase feel unique — customers won’t feel like they’re just another sale.
It Generates Epic User-Generated Content (UGC)
User-generated content (or UGC) refers to any content created by a brand’s consumers. These can include:
Blog posts
Reviews & testimonials
Pictures on social media
And more
UGC is one of the most effective ways to promote your brand online. 79% of customers believe that UGC influences their buying decisions.
So, how does this relate to branded packaging? A memorable unboxing experience can be a goldmine when it comes to UGC. Customers love to publish unique boxes they get from brands, just like in this example:
In other words, it’s like getting free publicity for your business.
8 Ways You Can Create Incredible Branded Packaging
Now that you know why the unboxing experience matters, it’s time to take action. Here are eight ways that you can make your branded packaging stand out:
Provide a Handwritten Thank You Note
When it comes to engaging your customers, a simple word of gratitude goes a long way. One unique way to show customers they matter to you is through personalized thank you cards.
Use Inserts
Include inserts with every order. Tell a story about your brand, your product, or how much you care about the customer for ordering. When unboxing, the customer will never be more focused on your brand. Reinforce that with a branded insert that enhances their experience.
Give a Free Sample
Another way to surprise and delight customers is to give them more than they expect. You can do this by including free samples in your packaging. Adding free samples will make customers feel like they have more value for their money. After all, who can say no to free stuff?
Make Your Packaging Eco-Friendly
The modern customer expects brands to be sensible about social issues and adopt sustainable practices. It’s why you should make your package as eco-friendly as possible.
The best way to do this is to use recyclable material in your packaging. We’ll look at a great example of what this can look like below.
Include Discount Codes or Special Offers
To make customers feel special, you can add exclusive perks and coupons to your packaging. With redeemable vouchers, you can encourage customers to buy more and drive repeat purchases.
Add Branded Stickers Inside and Out
A low-cost way to spice up your packaging is to include various branded stickers on your box. Not only do stickers add a nice personal touch, but they can also be helpful to seal packages.
Use Colorful Packing Materials
Instead of the same boring packing materials, why don’t you mix it up and get colorful? If you need to protect the contents of a package, don’t just rely on brown craft paper – get creative!
Customize your Cardboard Box
One of the best materials we recommend for branded packaging is cardboard. It’s low-cost and easy to customize to reflect the look and feel of your brand.
Examples of Brands Killing It With Packaging
Do you need some examples of what a fantastic unboxing experience looks like for inspiration? Check out how these brands are maximizing their packaging to retain customers and deliver the best experience:
Glossier
Glossier is one of the leading brands in the beauty industry that sells various skincare and makeup products. They’re also a company that understands the importance of packaging.
One thing to note about its branded design is its slogan: “Skin first. Makeup Second. Smile Always.” It’s a fun way to show their personality and give customers something to post about on social media.
Jeni’s Ice Cream
Another excellent example of packaging done right is Jeni’s ice cream. What’s great about its packaging is that it builds excitement for the customer with one sentence:
“Ice cream inside — please open immediately.”
Jeni’s unboxing experience shows they pay attention to detail; we can tell their customers love it based on the testimonials on their box page.
Seed Phytonutrients
The goal of Seed Phytonutrients is to make natural body products that also respect the environment. They partner with American organic farmers to deliver the best products for their customers.
Their packaging does an excellent job of showcasing their eco-friendly values. Each of their packaging boxes and bottles is made of 100% recycled materials.
Seed Phytonutrients’ packaging shows that their actions are congruent with their values. They don’t just talk about respecting the environment — they’re actively doing it themselves.
Wrapping Up
Sometimes, it’s the little things that count. By focusing on creating an exceptional unboxing experience, you’ll make your brand stand out and leave customers hungry for more. Remember that branding isn’t the only thing to consider when creating packaging. If you want to turn packaging and shipping into an asset for your business, find out how eHub can help you today.
