Shipping charges may seem like a small cost. However, they may be a significant expense for any business. At the same time, making sure your shipping is operating smoothly is essential for your business, especially if you deal in eCommerce. In this article, we look at how you can cut your eCommerce shipping costs.
Optimize Packaging
Packaging costs can be a significant expense for eCommerce businesses, but there are several ways you can save on these costs:
- Use Smaller Packaging: Use smaller packaging whenever possible. This not only reduces packaging costs but also reduces shipping costs since smaller packages are typically lighter and require less space.
- Use Cost-Effective Packaging Materials: Use packaging materials that are cost-effective, such as recycled or biodegradable materials, that are also durable enough to protect your products during shipping.
- Reuse Packaging Materials: Consider reusing packaging materials to save on costs. If you receive products in boxes, for example, you can reuse those boxes to ship out your own products. This can also be an environmentally-friendly approach.
- Negotiate with Suppliers: Negotiate with your packaging suppliers for better pricing or discounts for bulk purchases. If you can commit to buying a large amount of packaging materials, you may be able to negotiate better prices.
- Automate Packaging: Automating your packaging process can also save on costs in the long run. This may involve investing in packaging equipment that can package products more efficiently or using software that can optimize the packaging process.
Overall, the key to saving on packaging costs is to find a balance between cost-effectiveness and product protection. You want to ensure that your products arrive at their destination safely, while also keeping your costs as low as possible.
Decrease Return Rates
Every time a product is returned, it incurs additional shipping costs for your business. By reducing the number of returns, you can save on shipping costs in many ways:
- Lowering Restocking Costs: Restocking a returned item can be costly, especially if it requires additional handling, repackaging, or refurbishment. By reducing the number of returns, you can lower your restocking costs.
- Decreasing Customer Service Costs: Processing returns and handling customer inquiries related to returns can be time-consuming and costly. By reducing the number of returns, you can decrease your customer service costs.
- Improving Customer Satisfaction: Returns can negatively impact customer satisfaction, which can lead to negative reviews, reduced customer loyalty, and ultimately, lower sales. By reducing the number of returns, you can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, leading to more repeat business and positive reviews.
To reduce returns, consider the following strategies:
- Accurate Product Descriptions: Provide accurate product descriptions, including detailed information about size, material, and features, to ensure that customers know what they are purchasing.
- Clear Product Images: Provide clear, high-quality images of your products from multiple angles to help customers get a better understanding of the product.
- Detailed Size Charts: Provide detailed size charts that are easy to understand and accurate to help customers choose the right size.
- Offering Live Chat Support: Offering live chat support can help customers get answers to their questions quickly, reducing the likelihood of returns due to confusion or misinformation.
- Providing Excellent Customer Service: Provide excellent customer service to help customers feel supported and satisfied with their purchase, reducing the likelihood of returns due to dissatisfaction or frustration.
By reducing returns, you can improve your eCommerce business’s bottom line and improve customer satisfaction at the same time.
Offering free shipping
Offering free shipping can benefit your eCommerce business in several ways:
- Increase in Sales: Offering free shipping can attract more customers to your online store and encourage them to make a purchase. Research has shown that customers are more likely to buy from an online store that offers free shipping.
- Competitive Advantage: Offering free shipping can give your eCommerce business a competitive advantage over other businesses that do not offer it. Customers are more likely to choose your store over others because of the added benefit of free shipping.
- Increased Customer Loyalty: Offering free shipping can lead to increased customer loyalty. Customers who have had a positive experience with your store and received free shipping are more likely to return for future purchases.
- Higher Average Order Value: Offering free shipping can also lead to higher average order values. Customers are more likely to add additional items to their cart to reach the free shipping threshold, leading to larger orders.
- Reduced Cart Abandonment: High shipping costs can be a common reason for cart abandonment. By offering free shipping, you can reduce the number of abandoned carts and increase your conversion rates.
However, it’s important to ensure that offering free shipping is financially sustainable for your business. You may want to consider offering free shipping above a certain order value or only for certain products to avoid negatively impacting your bottom line.
Use an eCommerce Shipping Platform
There are many benefits that come with using an eCommerce shipping platform. This might come with some major advantages over traditional forms of shipping such as simply using your local post office. We at ParcelDirect.ie are committed to being Ireland’s leading provider of eCommerce shipping services. We are able to offer our customers the following benefits which help with cutting costs of eCommerce shipping:
- Super-Low Shipping Rates: We have some of the lowest shipping rates for small businesses, both domestic and international. These rates are often lower than what you would be able to get on your own, especially if you are a small business. Our website can be used to get a quote in just a few clicks!
- Shipping Integrations: A successful eCommerce platform like ParcelDirect.ie offers integrations with popular shopping cart plugins, which can help you automate your shipping process and save time and money on shipping. ParcelDirect’s integrated API works in the background, making it possible for you to process orders and print off labels in bulk.
- Pre-Pay System: eCommerce platforms such as ParcelDirect allow you to set up shipping rules based on factors such as weight, destination, and shipping method. This can help you save on shipping costs by automatically choosing the most cost-effective shipping method for each order. The PrePay system likewise helps you save time by topping up your account to avoid having to make payment separately for each shipment.
Overall, using ParcelDirect eCommerce platform can help you save on shipping costs and streamline your shipping process, which can help you focus on growing your business.