In online commerce, shipping is one of the most important aspects. How come? According to Oberlo, free shipping is the most important factor that motivates people to shop online. The same-day shipping feature is also cited as a reason by 54% of consumers under the age of 25.
E-commerce fulfilment and shipping are crucial to the growth of your online business, so you must focus on improving it. If you focus on them, shipment and delivery success are more likely to yield financial rewards and customer loyalty benefits.
This guide outlines the eCommerce shipping process and how you can improve your eCommerce shipment strategy to improve product delivery, reduce overall costs, and grow your bottom line with the help of 3PL companies UK.
What is eCommerce shipping?
There are many aspects of running an eCommerce business, including sales, branding, product development, and shipping. It eventually becomes necessary for an eCommerce business to partner with a third-party logistics provider to effectively fulfil its shipping requirements.
It could continue if the entire business has an effective commercial strategy and effective commercial delivery, it could continue. By providing concrete solutions, 3PL manchester can assist an e-commerce business in meeting its challenges. They depend on your 3PL to provide them with the necessary solutions since their eCommerce business might fail without a consistent logistics strategy.
Once a consumer makes a purchase, eCommerce shipping refers to all processes involved in getting the product into that consumer’s hands. The objective of 3PL logistics companies UK is to ensure the satisfaction of your customers and their consumers while remaining cost-effective and simple.
What is the eCommerce shipping process?
Receiving the order
The first step you should take after receiving an order is to ensure you have enough stock to handle the order.
Partnering with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider will enable you to send inventory to an eCommerce order fulfilment centre or your manufacturer or supplier for purchase and delivery.
Your eCommerce platform can be easily integrated with order management or inventory management software to streamline the order management process. This way, you can keep track of your inventory and orders in one place.
Processing the order
Order processing involves verifying order data, ensuring it’s accurate (for example, verifying the address for shipping) and ensuring the items ordered are in stock. A significant amount of this process can be automated with technology to speed up the order processing stage. Customers can be notified that their orders are being processed in real-time once the order status is updated.
Fulfilling the order
The fulfilment stage can begin once the order has been processed. Preparing the order for shipping involves selecting the right items for the order.
Most eCommerce businesses outsource fulfilment to a 3PL or third-party logistics partner instead of self-fulfilling orders or drop shipping.
A third-party logistics company (third-party logistics provider) will handle your entire eCommerce fulfilment process, including warehousing, generating picking lists, packing boxes, and shipping orders.
Choosing the best 3PL for eCommerce will help you to save time, automate shipping, and lower logistics costs since there are many hidden costs to self-fulfilment and dropshipping.
Strategies for eCommerce shipping
You should consider offering your customers these 5 eCommerce shipping strategies:
- Same-day delivery: Customers can expect their orders to arrive the same day they are placed with this highly ambitious eCommerce delivery service. Partnering with a leading fulfilment eCommerce shipping company will help you offer same-day delivery.
- Overnight shipping: According to Statista, 18% of people want their orders delivered the next day, and overnight delivery has become more prevalent in recent years. Most eCommerce shippers and fulfilment services offer overnight delivery at various price points.
- 2-Day Shipping: 2-day shipping is still fast even though most brands offer same-day or next-day deliveries. A recent survey found that 44% of people were willing to wait two days for their orders. In that case, 2-day shipping may be a good option if you’re looking for speed and cost.
- Longer Shipping Times: The desire to receive items quickly is not surprising. Nonetheless, many people are willing to wait a few days: 21% of people are willing to wait three to four days, while 10% are willing to wait 7 to 10 days. However, only 2% of people are willing to wait between one and two weeks. E-commerce delivery times should be kept within one week.
- International shipping: Many brands offer international shipping rates through eCommerce. Generally, these rates are higher because shipping products over such a long distance is more expensive.
Calculating Ecommerce Shipping Costs
E-commerce shipping costs are affected by various factors. Consider these four factors when determining how much to charge customers for shipping.
Actual Weight vs Dimensional Weight
A package’s actual weight or dimensional weight is considered when calculating the carrier’s fees. Multiplying the package’s length, width, and height by a specific rate yields the package’s dimensional weight:
(Length x Width x Height) / Rate = Dimensional Weight
Think about the destination
Understandably, shipping becomes more expensive the further a package must travel. Due to this, customers in Manchester, the rest of the UK, and other countries may pay different shipping rates for orders placed with an eCommerce company in Los Angeles.
Check Different Carriers’ Costs
The shipping costs of the same shipment are often charged differently by e-commerce shipping companies. This is why you should shop around for the best price.
Include Handling Fees
Many fulfilment companies and e-commerce shipping companies charge handling fees. Shipping labels, orders picked and packed, and packages moved between modes of transportation are included in these fees. You’ll likely be charged a higher handling fee by eCommerce fulfilment services the farther your package must travel.
Tips to improve eCommerce shipping processes
- You must optimise your shipping processes to meet and exceed your customers’ expectations: Understand what customers expect today from eCommerce and how you can improve your shipping processes to meet and exceed them.
- The shipping ecosystem: Learn how shipping solutions and processes are integrated with selling, accounting, and other processes. It also includes examples of common shipping process flows for you to use as a benchmark.
- The physical environment: It is important to remember how your picking, packing, and fulfilment processes, as well as your tools, need to work in harmony with your selling and shipping platforms.
- Providers and technologies relevant to shipping: get guidance on each solution’s capabilities to optimise your shipping operations and examine the various software and services available with the help of 3PL eCommerce fulfilment UK.
- Bring it all together: check out how shipping ties together inventory management and customer management to grow your business holistically.
How can 3 PL Fulfilment help you?
Finding the best eCommerce fulfilment services or overcoming shipping hassles is challenging. Several companies exist that specialise in helping you discover how to ship faster and cost-effectively- many of which work with leading eCommerce platforms like 3PL Fulfillment.
It might be confusing to know why 3PL Fulfillment is your best e-commerce shipping solution. 3PL offers the speediest, most reliable, and most flexible service compared to other shipping solutions. Our success depends on the success of our users. You can ship packages around the world with 3PL, no matter if you’re a Fortune 100 company, a small neighbourhood store, or somewhere in the middle.
Final Thoughts
The shipping infrastructure of today wouldn’t exist if eCommerce shipping didn’t exist. Businesses can streamline shipping and provide a better customer experience by automating certain processes and reviewing data regularly. Sometimes, consumers can receive their orders within a few days of making them online.3PL Fulfillment helps you do just that. Discover how 3PL Fulfillment can simplify your shipping logistics by signing up for free or speaking with one of our eCommerce fulfilment providers.
