What do the over 21 million ecommerce businesses have in common?
Apart from, well, doing business on the internet, they all have to figure out a way to ship orders to their customers. As an ecommerce business owner, you know that shipping can make or break your business. If you aren’t able to get orders to the customer’s doorstep quickly, efficiently, and in one piece, a storm awaits you.
While having a handle on shipping can be challenging, the good news is it’s not impossible. You can build an ecommerce shipping strategy that works for your business.
In this article, we are fleshing out the various ecommerce shipping options at your disposal.
Using a Shipping Service Provider/Courier
One of the most preferred shipping methods by small ecommerce business owners is the use of a courier or third-party shipping service provider. This is a company that’s set up to offer local, national, and even international shipping. The company has the equipment, personnel, technology, and expertise to offer effective shipping services.
What an ecommerce business owner needs to do is look around for a shipping service provider that best suits their needs. This is because there are now thousands of shipping service providers.
When looking for a provider, you want to ensure their charges suit your budget but also don’t ignore their reliability and infrastructure. You want a company that’s able to handle a growing need for shipping services; otherwise, you will need to find another provider that can keep up with a higher shipping volume.
You might also want to consider whether the company providers other related services that can benefit your company, such as retail sustainability solutions.
In-House Shipping for Local Deliveries
While ecommerce opens up local and national borders, it’s not a must to sell your products nationally or globally. In fact, a vast majority of ecommerce businesses sell to local communities.
If you’re targeting a small locality, you can build an in-house shipping infrastructure. For example, you can hire a team of people to work as delivery people. Once an order comes in, a delivery person is dispatched to the ordering address. They can make use of the public transportation network or a business bike or van.
Drop-shipping involves selling products that aren’t under your storage. Another company that offers drop-shipping services stores your products. Once your business receives an order, you notify the drop-shipper, who then processes and fulfills the order. The drop-shipper is responsible for packaging the product for shipping.
Drop-shipping is advantageous for newly-established ecommerce businesses in a couple of ways. First, you don’t have to worry about getting storage for your inventory, so warehousing costs are effectively out of your expenses.
Second, a drop-shipper handles most elements of the supply chain. You won’t worry about coordinating various players in the chain, which reduces your workload.
Your Ecommerce Shipping Options
Shipping is central to the operations of any ecommerce business. There are different ways to approach it, including working with a courier, doing it in-house, and drop-shipping. It’s your responsibility to choose the method that best suits your business.
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