There are thousands of new businesses started in the United States every year.
Many of these businesses are small and do not have many employees, meaning they must learn to perform tasks as efficiently as possible.
Thanks to impressive advancements in logistics, shipping orders to customers has never been easier. In 2022, over 21 billion parcels were shipped in America.
This article will teach new business owners the five most crucial packing and shipping tips they need to know to get their business off the ground:
1. Understand Shipping Costs
Many new businesses know that shipping costs are part of business in the digital age.
What most of them do not understand is what goes into shipping costs. Many factors impact the cost of shipping your orders to your customers. Shipping speed has a significant impact on the overall cost of shipping.
Consider how quickly your customers need their orders and how much it will cost to expedite delivery and decide whether you can shift those costs onto your customers.
Expedited delivery can be considered a convenience charge, in which case, the customer might pay more to get their orders faster.
Offer a standard, budget-friendly delivery fee and one for quicker delivery.
2. Bulk Buy Packaging
For businesses with frequent or high-volume orders, buying packaging in bulk is necessary.
Proper packaging materials can come at a premium but do not be tempted to skimp on packaging. Your products need to be protected during transit to prevent damage.
To prevent packaging materials from increasing overhead costs, buy packaging items like boxes, tape, and bubble wrap in bulk.
3. Use A Courier
New businesses often make the mistake of thinking they can handle the logistics of shipping their products to customers.
While it is not impossible, partnering with a reputable courier company is better. There are multiple shipping carriers you can work with when packing and shipping orders.
Many of these companies offer programs specifically tailored to the needs of small businesses in the area.
Visit shipping companies such as courierschicago.com for more information on what your new business needs and the various packages on offer to assist.
4. Offer Tracking
One of the primary concerns for most online shoppers is their orders going missing.
By offering tracking options on orders, you can effectively demonstrate transparency and accountability to your customers.
Larger shipping carriers often have tracking information readily available, so it is just a matter of tapping into that information as a resource. That will allow your customers to opt in for notifications on when their order is packaged, shipped, and out for delivery.
Offering a tracking service on all orders may mean extra administrative work as a business, but it will give your customers the peace of mind they need to purchase.
5. Free Shipping
Free shipping is the name of the game in the world of eCommerce.
Whenever possible, offer free shipping to your customers. While this is not often viable for all purchases, it is a good idea to implement it for your customers when they spend over a certain amount of money.
That is one of the most effective tactics used to increase online sales.
If you would like to offer free shipping on all purchases, include the cost of shipping in the base price of your products to avoid losing money.
To End
Small business shipping requires planning and attention to the needs of the customer.
Follow the above five tips and leverage flat-rate shipping as often as possible. Monitor shipping costs to maintain optimum profit margins without driving away customers with sudden price increases.
