If you’re into online sales, you should feel giddy these days. The pandemic has placed e-commerce in the front seat. With everyone afraid to move about and movement restrictions well in effect, having products delivered to your door is spot on.
Unfortunately, such a brilliant proposition is fine and dandy on paper. When it comes to product delivery execution, chances are every e-commerce company is going to run into issues. We need not look far in this regard. Amazon may be the biggest success story to come out of this pandemic. But it’s “urinating in bottles” driver’s mishaps recently show how the pandemic giant is also struggling when it comes to delivery.
When it comes to delivery, you’ll find that top of the list of things you need to contend with is cost. No matter the industry you’re in, shipping costs can certainly add up to impact your bottom line.
Lucky for you, there are brilliant ways to keep shipping costs at a minimum. Indeed, affordability in e-commerce delivery is never an impossible dream. With the right strategy and an endless desire to improve your operations, you should make it happen: Get those products to your customers without blowing your budget.
Offer Store Pick-up
You should take a page from big online sales companies. Amazon for one is offering people to buy online and have the products picked up at their choice Amazon stores. That idea can certainly save a lot of time.
So, you can have local customers drive to a chosen physical store. That is a win-win for both parties, for you and your customers. On your part, you save money and time as you just have your people deliver to a particular store. On the part of the customer, it’s also added convenience. They can pick up the product at their most convenient time.
It’s best you let customers book a product online and arrange a time to pick it up. By notifying you ahead of time, you can have the product ready in time for pick-up. Or you can factor lead times so everyone gets what they want.
Use Recycled Packaging Materials
For one, packing materials may not seem that expensive. Wait till you add it all up. One way for you to lower your costs and solve this puzzle is to rely on recycled materials. You can negotiate with a manufacturer or an inventory supplier who may just throw such products (cardboard boxes, shredded paper).
However, if you want to put a premium on aesthetics and quality, relying on secondhand used products may not be the best way to go. In this regard, a good way for you to save is to rely on high-quality wholesale product packaging boxes. They’re cheap for starters and best of all they’re durable and adheres to national shipper standards.
Include Your Shipping Cost in Pricing
One of the easiest ways to lose a sale is to add the shipping costs after the buyer has added to the cart. That can certainly be a turn-off for online buyers who want to make the most bang for their buck. A good way to keep everything seamless is to include your shipping in the pricing structure. Additionally, you can factor in small price increases all across your inventory to cushion added overhead costs in delivery.
Give Free Shipping
No doubt free shipping is a big come-on for everyone. Statistics show as many as 75% of online buyers are prone to buy online when free shipping is an option. Of course, you really can’t please everyone as the majority wants free shipping even for orders as low as $50. Definitely, it’s a long shot for business.
Still, that should tell you how powerful free shipping is. As such, you should incentivize it. Find ways your business can offer free shipping. You just have to be creative. For people who want free shipping for a $50 order, you may choose to offer free shipping if the customer orders 3 of a kind. So instead of a $50 order, you’re actually asking him to order $150 in one sitting. But that buyer could just convince his friends to buy with him to avail of the free shipping.
Work with Coordinated Delivery Services
Widen your horizons. It’s possible you may not find a favorable deal with your big delivery brands such as UPS and FedEx. Know, however, that these national players often work with regional ones to get the shipping done. For instance, UPS oft-times seek the help of US Parcel Services to complete a delivery.
Well, these services surely take a bit more time. But they’re a lot cheaper. In addition, you should find local players who may be able to work with you at lower prices. You really don’t know what you’ll find unless you ask.
