Free Shipping. Next Day Delivery. Same-day.
Just a few words that your shoppers love to see. What you charge for your shipping will also matter. Some customers will make a purchase decision based solely on your shipping options.
More people than ever do their shopping online, from groceries to last-minute gifts sand same-day flowers.
It is part of your job to do everything you can to ensure that the whole user experience of purchasing from you is smooth – and that includes delivery.
Process
Is your internal shipping process mess or smooth? The chances are you can take a look at a few ways that you can make improvements to the speed and quality of your shipping.
Having things pre-boxed is a great idea – make sure you have enough custom product packaging ready. Unless your products are made freshly – in which can, you’ll need to manage the customers’ expectations here.
Look for anything that elongates the shipping process, or adds cost on.
Storage
If you are a smaller enterprise, you are probably storing everything yourself. There may be a point that you need to hire a warehouse instead.
If you do go ahead with this, make sure that you use a reputable warehouse and can guarantee that you can talk to them whenever you need to.
Having excellent communication lines with your warehouse will mean you’ll know of any issues quickly and can take measures to fix the situation.
Technology
There is room to implement technology in your process. If you move to a warehouse for storage, then you are likely to find you need a little help finding some of the products.
Barcoding, wireless barcode scanners are going to be a super quick way of locating your stock. This will also help in the ability to keep track of everything in your warehouse, in transit, or delivered.
Courier
This can make a huge difference to service at the other end. Some couriers have a much better reputation and others, while some are just cheaper.
You should start by making a list of courier services that match what you are looking for in terms of speed, coverage, and price.
You should spend the time reading up reviews from both clients and customers of each of the couriers. Considerations:
- Reliability
- Service Type – regional, national, international
- Speed – if you promise next day delivery, can your company do that?
- Professionalism – branded van and uniform, or plain van and no uniform – as well as the manners of the delivery staff when customer-facing
- Special deliveries – same-day, overnight, oversized – those extras
- Cost – There may be hidden costs or reductions to be had, always have the final prices in writing before placing any orders
- Ease – if you are having trouble even getting quotes and conversations, can you trust them to do the job?
- Security – what measures do they take to ensure your goods remain safe while in their care
Tracking
There is nothing more frustrating than not knowing where your parcel is. Even more, if you have paid for standard 1-3 days shipping, but it is almost the end of day 3.
Implement an SMS service, or at the very least, an email service that updates the customer when the product is shipped and due to arrive.
Consider packing and shipping the cherry on the cake for both you and your customers.
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