When people search for anything online, they often expect comparatively lower prices and hassle-free delivery. Almost all online shoppers expect them. For a seamless delivery process, you must have all the right shipping tools to add that delight to your customers’ experience.
Every step after a customer places an order comes under ‘shipping’. And it is a major responsibility of yours to leave no scope for any flaw.
So, let’s understand what all areas come under ‘shipping’ and how to make each of them flawless.
5 steps in shipping and ways to make them flawless
A proper delivery strategy needs you to focus on the following 5 steps in ‘shipping’. Every single step helps you build your brand’s image among customers.
1. Packaging
Immediately after a customer places an order, the first thing you have to take care of is ‘packaging’. No matter what the product is, its packaging is very important. A good packaging design serves two purposes: better protection of the product and better presentation.
So, try to design a very attractive packaging style. Take ideas from stylish designs of different leading brands. The more beautifully you present your product, the more it shows your brand in a good light.
Additionally, choose your packaging service provider keeping in mind various factors like cost, weight, customer service, and unique packaging ideas it provides.
Pro Tip: Minimalism in packaging is trending nowadays. So, the simpler you keep your packaging, the better it is.
RajaPack from the UK and Uline from Canada are some good options you can choose from. They give you all the items you need for packaging at the best prices possible.
2. Labelling
When you have only a few orders to complete, writing addresses manually is not a problem. However, as your business expands, it becomes tedious to manage manual labelling. Further, chances of errors increase when writing so many addresses manually.
So, automating this labelling task becomes more important with business expansion. The automation of labelling saves time and prevents errors.
For instance, Australia Post Shipping extension is a great extension for Australian e-store owners. This extension can help store owners generate labels in a predefined format for their store. And thus, you can manage the labelling process easily.
Also, when you have the label formats ready with you for printing and attaching, the cost of printing labels every time goes down greatly. It also validates your customers’ addresses. And suggests correct city names or zip codes for you to replace wrong entries with.
3. Shipment and shipment tracking
Once you pack the product and label it, shipment follows next. As more and more orders pour in, the more challenging it becomes to manage their shipment. Further, delays in deliveries also become common with an overwhelming count of orders. And the situation worsens further when a shipment goes missing.
So, look for a tool that lets customers choose the delivery date and time as per their wish. This will avoid confusion and complaints.
Also, it is important to look for a tool that reminds you of pending orders. And saves you from delays in deliveries.
Magento 2 Delivery Date Scheduler is an example is one such tool. It lets customers choose the delivery date and time of their choice. And it reminds you of pending orders so your deliveries are never late.
Another tool is the Magento 2 Australia Post Shipping module for Magento e-stores. It lets you track your orders you have dispatched. And helps you keep abreast of the whereabouts of your product every time.
So, you can see that such tools help you streamline your shipment process. And make shopping experience for customers better.
4. Reporting
A good reporting tool is a must for a proper analysis of expenses in the delivery process. If you can’t keep track of the overall shipping expenses, you can’t calculate profit margins. A tool must be there that not only gives the information about the shipping and payment methods a customer has chosen. Rather, it should give insight into:
- The most frequent shipment and payment methods customers use and their most frequent combination
- Reasons for cancellation of an order
- Average order processing time
- Counts of successful orders by shipment types, etc.
These insights help you plan an effective delivery strategy. As it eliminates the need for speculation about customers’ needs. Rather, you get to know exactly what customers need.
So, always look for such a tool to integrate into the backend of your e-store.
5. Reviews
After the successful completion of an order, the last area to focus on is reviews. Reading reviews is like standing in front of a mirror. Having a tool that allows customers to review your products is useful. As 90% of consumers read around 5-10 reviews before trusting a brand, review collection becomes the last but a crucial step.
Also, request them to take snaps of products they receive and share them online. This won’t only make them feel happy but also help expand your digital reach.
So, look out for a tool that not only helps you collect feedback but does more! The tool should also:
- Let customers write comments to point out problems with the product.
- Let customers shop straight from your Instagram or FB page through your feed.
For instance, Yotpo is a good survey tool you can use to collect product reviews. And incorporate them into your content strategy to think of a better future delivery strategy.
Conclusion
So, you see that the shipping tools are crucial for an online store. They assist you in making every step of shipment flawless. Further, they help you plan the most efficient delivery strategies for the future. These strategies help you earn more returns with less investment and effort. Thus, it is imperative for you to choose shipping tools discreetly. And make the best out of them.
Author Bio:
Maulik Shah is the founder and CEO of AppJetty, a fast-growing app and extension store for various technologies. He writes about multiple aspects of eCommerce technology and is enthusiastic about making online business management easy.
