If you’re running a small business, shipping products may be a daily part of your life.
This digital world that we live in now has seen e-commerce grow into a multi-trillion-dollar business. Whether or not you work in e-commerce, you’ve felt its effects on shipping. People are now used to having products shipped to their homes, sometimes within a 24-hour period.
In this post, we’re going to give you some small business shipping tips. If you don’t prioritize shipping, you can lose customers to competitors that put extra effort into convenience. Keep reading and learn what you need to do to make sure you’re providing great shipping services without breaking the bank.
1. Understand Carriers And Price
Understanding shipping for businesses starts with understanding where the costs are coming from. There are 5 things that affect the price that you pay for shipping: speed, services, package size and weight, destination, and your shipping volume.
You’re going to pay more for an overnight delivery than a standard one. The same goes if you decide to add tracking or signature delivery. International shipping is more expensive than domestic and heavier shipments are more expensive than smaller ones.
If you’re shipping a lot with a single carrier, you may see some perks, like bulk shipping costs and lower individual rates. It’s also worth learning about local couriers and what they can provide.
2. Pack It Well
A good rule to live by is that it’s always cheaper to spend more to make the package impenetrable than to have it sent back damaged. If you flake out on packaging, the likelihood of whatever’s inside being damaged in transit goes way up. This isn’t just going to cost you money, it’s going to hurt your reputation.
Order the right packing materials – bubble wrap, tape, different-sized boxes, etc. – and you won’t see as many returned products.
3. Offer Free Delivery Over A Certain Amount
Two-thirds of all consumers expect free delivery on their packages. This is due to companies like Amazon that can afford to offer free shipping without hurting their bottom line. For small businesses, this isn’t a cost-effective thing to do.
One of the best solutions to this problem is to offer free delivery over a certain amount purchased. This will help you balance the shipping cost because you’ll be making more profit on the actual products you sell.
4. Branded Shipping
Branding is everything in 2022. If you want your company to stand out among the ever-growing crowd of similar small businesses, then you need to pull out all the stops, even with shipping.
By sending out your packages in branded shipping containers, you can do a lot to boost your branding and awareness around it. The more attractive it is, the more you’ll catch the consumer’s eye – this matters to people these days.
5. Thinking About Fulfillment
A growing small business might consider outsourcing its shipping to a fulfillment center. Not only does this make your company more scalable, but it allows you to focus on business management.
There’s no denying that shipping can be a time-consuming part of running a business, so if you can afford it, outsourcing can be extremely helpful.
Taking Small Business Shipping Tips To Heart
These are just a few key small business shipping tips that can help you save money and provide better shipping services to your customers. Take them to heart and always remember how important shipping is to the success of your small business.
If you found this helpful, come back again for more great business tips.
