When you run an ecommerce business, shipping is one of the most important things that you need to get right. Customers want fast shipping and they don’t want to pay a lot of money for it. In fact, if the shipping costs are too high, that can really put people off and it will have a big impact on sales. Even if people do buy your products, they won’t become repeat customers if they have to wait too long for their delivery. Unfortunately, a lot of new businesses make some simple mistakes with their shipping that cost them dearly. If you run an ecommerce business, make sure to avoid these common shipping mistakes. 

Poor Packaging Design

Your product packaging is important for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s an opportunity to build your brand and you need to think about what your packaging says about your product. However, many business owners focus too much on the branding side and forget about the practicality of packaging. The main function of packaging is to keep products safe in transit and if you don’t put that first when designing packaging, you will end up with a lot of products that arrive broken. This is a huge inconvenience to the customer and it also costs you a lot of money because you have to replace those products. 

Not Knowing As Much As Possible

Starting an eCommerce business means overseeing quite a few things. You’ll need to have as much information about all aspects of your company as you can. Your finances will be some of the more notable, and you’ll need to answer quite a few questions about this, especially when it comes to shipping.

That includes:

• What is landed cost?
• What are your profit margins?
• How do your costs break down?
• How can you make things more affordable?

The better you can answer these – among other eCommerce-related questions – the better you can make decisions going forward. You’ll have a more streamlined and profitable shipping and logistics network, which boosts your overall profits.

Paying For A Full Load When You Don’t Need It 

A small ecommerce company doesn’t ship that many products, so if you are paying for a full vehicle, you are wasting money. It’s not efficient to pay for a vehicle to take one trip just to ship a few of your small items. However, you can get around this if you use less-than-load freight shipping. Your items will be added to a delivery with items from other companies and all delivered in one trip, so the cost of the vehicle is shared and you save money. There are plenty of companies that do this and if you visit the Shiply website, you can get some quotes and find the best price. This is an effective way to reduce your shipping costs and those savings can be passed on to the customer. It’s also a more eco-friendly way of delivering products, which is a bonus because customers respond well to companies that make an effort to reduce their carbon footprint. 

Failing To Provide Options For Customers 

The majority of people want fast shipping, but some people will also prioritize the cost over the speed. It is important that you provide customers with different options for their shipping. You should always offer a fast option, which costs more, alongside a slower option that is free. If you don’t give people that option, some customers will feel that they are being forced to pay for fast shipping even if they would rather wait a few more days and save the money. 

If you make these common shipping mistakes, you will struggle to get repeat customers and your sales will take a big hit.