The eCommerce industry has been growing sporadically due to several factors such as evolving technology, rising internet users, improving infrastructure, and emphasis on digitization which has boosted the growth of online shoppers. The estimated size of the global eCommerce market in 2022 is $5.7 trillion. It is anticipated that this number will increase over the next few years, indicating how valuable borderless eCommerce is turning out to be for online merchants.
Knowing the needs of your customers and the market and serving them likewise is the first step towards achieving success in an eCommerce business, but planning and strategizing your eCommerce shipping is more important than any other element in the online business.
As an eCommerce store owner, your priority should be to know the basic shipping methods which are used in eCommerce, and which shipping method is an ideal fit for your business type. Apart from that, this blog will briefly discuss several other aspects of eCommerce shipping solutions such as the best strategies and approaches to include in your eCommerce business.
Understanding eCommerce Shipping
eCommerce shipping involves several stages such as:
- Keeping a timely check on the inventory to ensure the product availability
- Order processing
- Picking and packaging the purchased product at warehouses
- Handling shipping labels
- Return order management in case of product return
What is the process involved in eCommerce shipping?
The order confirmation is the first step in eCommerce shipping which is done by the seller soon after checking inventory for the availability of the ordered merchandise. After the order confirmation, the order processing is initiated which involves picking, packaging, and preparing the order for shipment.
Once the order gets ready to be shipped, your courier partner company would pick up the parcel from your location and move it to the central warehouse or a hub. Central hubs are large storage facilities located at strategic locations to facilitate the quick and easy movement of merchandise to various deliverable locations. Depending upon the type of distribution model, the consignment is thus moved from a central hub to the nearest warehouses for last-mile delivery.
Last-mile delivery is the final step in eCommerce shipping which involves delivering the merchandise to the customer’s doorstep from the nearest warehouse.
5 Different Shipping Methods in eCommerce That You Should Know About
- Two-Day Shipping
Two-day shipping is in great demand in recent times, and eCommerce giants such as Amazon have already been catering to the needs of their prime members by providing them with 2-day shipping services within a confined time frame. It involves deliveries within the next two business days.
- Same-Day Shipping
One of the fastest shipping methods involves express delivery to the customer by the vendor. It involves highly coordinated logistics planning through the use of sophisticated technology, infrastructure, and mode of transportation.
- Expedited Delivery
An expedited delivery is an accelerated delivery, faster than a standard ground delivery. Providing expedited deliveries to your customers can help you in cutting down the incidences of cart abandonment by partnering with a reliable shipping and logistics partner such as NimbusPost. They offer same-day, two-day, and hyperlocal eCommerce shipping solutions to eCommerce businesses across 29,000+ pin codes in the country, by integrating with 27+ leading courier partners and eCommerce marketplaces like Amazon and channels such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, etc.
- Flat Rate Shipping
The size, shape, and weight of a shipment affect standard shipping costs, but flat-rate shipping eliminates these variations. If you are a seller wanting to ship bulky consignments to distant locations, flat-rate shipping is the best choice for you.
- Freight Shipping
Freight is any cargo that is transported across international borders via air, land, and sea. Any shipment larger than 30 in x 30 in x 30 in or weighing more than 150 pounds is considered freight.
The Best Shipping Strategy to Implement for Your eCommerce Shipping
- Offering transparency in your shipping policies
The best possible thing that you could do in optimizing your eCommerce shipping business is to provide clear and comprehensive details about the policies which you offer and the terms and conditions associated with them. Communicate every little information about your shipping policies with your customers like shipping rate, carrier services, shipping zone information, etc, via your website.
- Maintaining constant dialogue with your customers regarding the delivery update
Never try to panic your customer by abandoning them right after the order is placed, keep them informed about every single update and live status of the order they have placed with your company. This can be done by constantly updating them via WhatsApp, SMS, or e-mail about the current status of their parcel.
Keeping them posted about any likely delay in the shipment will further reduce the chances of frustration caused, by unexpected circumstances.
- Provide alternatives to help them suit their needs
As a service provider, you should never forget that you have the burden of addressing the needs and demands of a diverse base of customers who have different expectations in the business. Therefore, it is always important for you to offer as many options as possible in shipping. For instance, make express, expedited, same-day, and two-day delivery options available for customers, in addition to providing clear details of the benefits and rates available with each shipping option.
Conclusion
While the future holds a lot of potential for the constantly evolving eCommerce industry, the rapidly evolving eCommerce shipping and logistics business will ensure the success of online commerce worldwide. Therefore, it becomes necessary for shipping companies to ensure the betterment of their services in the national and global markets to make things easy for their potential customer base.
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