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E-commerce users are expected to rise by a whopping 4.9 million by 2025, highlighting the impact of digital buying and selling in today's market. There are a few different elements that need to come together to establish a successful E-commerce business.
One such element is shipping. Whether your customers buy your products online or physically, shipping operations run full-time to get the products to them safely and on time.
We've come up with nine handy shipping tips to help you maximize your E-commerce profits by optimizing your shipping operations in every way possible. Let's find out what they are and how you can make the most of them.
The equipment you use for shipping processes are the most crucial pillars of your operations. Shipping is a continuous process. You need equipment that can run for prolonged periods while producing optimal output.
Conduct a review of your entire shipping framework to see how every piece of equipment works and how it can be enhanced to improve performance and productivity. Work toward enhancing the battery intelligence of the equipment to unlock their full potential.
By studying the cell chemistry of the batteries of your shipping machinery, you can use targeted analytics to unlock their range, power, and faster-charging potential. This helps you unlock better performance securely.
Similarly, it works to enhance battery life by up to 30% through:
The goal should be to not only give automotive OEMs, fleet operators, and battery asset financiers unprecedented access to battery data but also the ability to manage, optimize, and enhance battery performance during the machine’s life.
It directly helps in creating a seamless flow of operations of shipping processes, achieving better productivity and maximizing profits.
Once you've worked toward unlocking the full potential of your shipping machinery, the next step should be toward creating an equipment management solution. It takes your equipment management from clunky spreadsheets to an all-in-one solution.
It centralizes your machine management to give you better control and freedom to operate them. Some of the most prominent benefits of equipment management are listed below:
Having a central system managing your equipment tasks makes it easier to create and follow a seamless workflow for your shipping procedures. It keeps everything under one roof and gives you greater freedom to manage tasks on the go.
51% of the workforce reports performing repetitive tasks for at least two hours every workday. This is why 73% of senior executives in companies aim to increase their investment in automation technology.
Automating repetitive tasks has a plethora of benefits that directly help your shipping processes. It:
It's important to automate shipping processes mindfully. Because many tasks require human input to achieve desired outputs. You shouldn't simply automate all processes.
The ideal way to go about this is to consider the amount of human input needed in every task and automate it accordingly. This creates a seamless blend of automation and employee input in your shipping operations.
The weight of the product is not the weight at which it is shipped. When you ship products in your E-commerce business, you do so with some packing materials. They are:
If the product is prone to breakage, then you add some safety materials, such as:
All these items add to the weight of your product when it's shipped. This directly affects the rate at which shipping costs are calculated.
So, always factor in the weight at which you ship and not the weight the product simply is. You should specify the net weight of the product and the weight at which it'll be shipped to avoid misunderstandings with your shipping associates and customers.
Decide on a flat rate with your shipping associate to avoid any confusion or problems. Pick a rate beforehand regardless of how often or sparsely you should your products. Many new entrepreneurs make the mistake of picking shipping costs that are meant for occasional shipping.
They do so because their business is new and just taking off. They don't have very many orders. They feel as though having a full-time shipping plan is simply wasted money as they don't have the orders to justify it.
This works to your detriment because you cannot assume that you will not receive orders. Work on the assumption that the amount of orders you receive is only going to increase in the future. And you need to have a full-fledged shipping plan in place for that.
Having a flat rate decided in advance with your shipping partner allows you to ship as many products as you need without worrying about the shipping costs going overboard.
A staggering 85% of customers demand shipping transparency on the products they buy. Hiding shipping costs from them until the last minute can turn them away from you.
Instead, be transparent about them from the get-go. Allow the customer to consider the full price they'll have to pay when deciding whether to buy your product or not. This may seem counterintuitive but it works in earning their trust.
They see that you're being honest and transparent about the total amount they'll have to pay and helping them make an informed decision.
PRO TIP: offer an explanation of your shipping cost calculation based on location and time of the year to help the customer understand what they're paying. This contributes toward that transparency and helps the customer understand your process. In other words, they can see where their money goes in facilitating shipping.
You cannot really ship products as and when you receive an order and factor in the shipping one by one. You need to create a strategy for different kinds of shipping needs. These will include:
Every topic listed above has several subtopics of its own that help you determine every aspect of your shipping scene. This helps you identify the exact amount of resources you need to deploy to create a seamless flow of shipping operations.
You’re able to avoid contingencies and be prepared for bigger shipping operations. You’ll also be able to expand your services when you have a solid foundation in a laid-out policy.
Safeguard your shipping operations with the safety net of insurance. They cover everything from the moment the package leaves you until it reaches the customer, meaning you can rest assured that if anything goes wrong in the process, you will be compensated.
Carriers do offer insurance services in addition but the wiser way will be to opt for a third-party insurance. This is because third parties often offer the insurance at significantly lower rates.
At the end of the day, you should consider all the options you have before picking an insurance provider for your shipping processes.
An excellent way to negotiate shipping costs with your customers is to offer them the option to choose the shipping service they want. This works two-fold:
This approach gives customers choice and justifies what they pay for. More importantly, it sets a good foundation of trust between you and your clients.
Shipping is an indispensable part of any E-commerce business. You simply cannot rely on straightforwardly shipping your products to your customers and turn in a profit.
You need to come up with a comprehensive shipping strategy to get control of every aspect of it. Unlock the full potential of your machinery and manage them well to ensure a seamless workflow.
Incorporate automation to avoid repetitive tasks. Take note of the net weight and packaged weight when factoring in costs. And secure your operations with an insurance service to safeguard them.
Let us know in the comments what you think are the best ways to maximize profits in shipping tasks.
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