We may be over the critical era of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the fallout for business has been a dramatic affair. Take shipping, for example. When the world reopened, shipping demand skyrocketed.
A reliable and fast shipping service is critical to your e-commerce brand. So you’ll need ways to navigate these global logistic challenges that so many businesses face now.
Here’s how you can secure fast shipping for your business and help it become your strongest competitive advantage.
Why Choose Fast Shipping? The Benefits
Fast shipping is any delivery timescale quicker than a standard (or default) shipping setting when you buy online. It often comes with a guarantee, too, so it’s a popular option with anyone who buys goods online in a hurry.
There are many motivations for customers choosing expedited shipping – perhaps to get a gift delivered before a birthday or to order those new sunglasses before heading off on vacation.
But does fast shipping offer added benefits to your business? The answer is yes, and here are some of the reasons why:
Customers Expect It
Customers have more choices when buying online, so they can be discerning about only picking brands that offer fast shipping.
Plus, big brands like Amazon have made quick delivery the norm in eCommerce. If you don’t offer free shipping, customers may begin emailing you to find out why they haven’t yet received their order.
You’ll Stand Out From Competitors
Though fast shipping is increasingly popular, many smaller companies still don’t offer it. That means you can get an edge over your competition. That could be valuable if you operate in a price-sensitive or crowded niche.
More Testimonials and Reviews
You’ll have happier customers if you impress them with a fast shipping service. That, in turn, means you’re more likely to get positive reviews and even some glowing testimonials.
How to Make Fast Shipping Your Business Priority?
You can see how powerful fast shipping can be for an e-commerce business. But how do you implement it? Here’s what you need to do to make it a business priority.
Make It Part of Your Branding and Marketing
Fast shipping is a selling point, so if you’re going to offer it, you need to consider how you will incorporate it into your branding and marketing.
Don’t hide it away in the small print or when the customer gets to the checkout. Add it to your homepage (above the fold) and any marketing material like ads or social media.
If you have an email list, let subscribers know that you’ll soon offer fast shipping on all your products.
Calculate Your Packaging and Shipping Fees
Calculating fulfillment can sometimes seem challenging, but at Shiptop, we’ve made e-commerce fulfillment easy to manage.
This page has more information on including our affordable fulfillment services as part of your e-commerce store.
Provide Multiple Shipping Options to Customers
It’s always a good idea to give your customers more than one option when it comes to shipping. Even something as simple as standard vs. fast could offer the choice your customers want.
Labeling these as value and premium is an excellent way to differentiate them and highlight the benefits each shipping option offers your customer.
Have Tracking in Place
Don’t forget that real-time tracking is a valuable tool for you and your customer.
It means you can better manage customer inquiries about a delivery, and a customer gets reassurance and information about when their order will arrive.
It gives the customer the time to arrange to be at home to accept the parcel (or organize an alternative arrangement like leaving the delivery with a trusted neighbor).
How to Optimize Your Shipping Process?
If you’re ready to introduce fast shipping, you’ll need to get a few things in place to ensure it’s working smoothly for your business. Here are the steps you’ll need to take:
Find a Fulfillment Partner
The main barrier to fast shipping is the proper logistics in place.
You’ll need a large, well-organized warehouse to ensure you can keep all products in stock and a sophisticated warehouse system to pack and despatch goods the same day as they are ordered.
After that, you’ll need a fast and reliable courier.
However, a more straightforward alternative is to use a fast shipping fulfillment service like the one we offer at Shiptop.
If you place an order before 1 pm PST, we fulfill them that day and use premium courier services, including UPS, Canada Post, and DHL. After 1 pm, we’ll fulfill orders the following day.
Our cost-effective services mean you can realize all the benefits of fast shipping without the expensive upfront setup costs.
Website Setup
Once you have your fulfillment service in place, it’s time to update your website to add your fast shipping option. Most modern e-commerce platforms make adding a new shipping option to your existing setup very straightforward.
Moreover, you may have the chance to integrate with your fulfillment solution—ours include Shopify and Amazon integration.
Managing Returns
When reorganizing your shipping, you’ll also need to ensure you factor in the cost and management of returns.
Returns are a fact of life in the eCommerce world, but the best way to tackle it is to have a straightforward returns policy and make it as easy as possible for your customer, such as offering return shipping labels when you send goods.
Free returns are also an excellent way to attract new customers and keep existing customers happy with your service.
Remember to plan how you will handle these goods when they return to the warehouse. You’ll need to think about inspections, processing refunds, and whether or not you’ll repackage the goods to restock in your warehouse.
Are You Ready for Best Shipping Solutions?
With record numbers of new e-commerce stores launching daily, you’ll need to stay ahead to grow your business.
Fast shipping is an excellent way to show your customers you’re a first-rate store, and you’ll win their loyalty.
Your first step to fast shipping is to organize your fulfillment services. Head here to request a custom quote from our team.