When you buy a product online, it’s usually the seller’s goal to deliver the product to you as soon as possible. This is because the speed and cadence of fulfillment is directly related to your loyalty towards their brand or product. Every successful e-commerce operation is well aware of this.
While you may receive the product relatively quickly and neatly packaged, on the seller’s end, several deliberate steps are executed in order to ensure the fulfilment process is streamlined and efficient.
To be a successful e-commerce company, you must carefully plan every aspect of the shipping and fulfillment process. Each step of the ecommerce supply chain matters, but the shipping process is one of the most important steps for the customer and determines how they experience your brand.
This guide will show you the primary stages of the shipping process, how to set yours up, and what options you have to personalise the experience for your customer.
Why You Should be Intentional About Designing Your Shipping Process
Your shipping process affects your fulfillment speed, which is the time between when the order is placed to when it leaves your warehouse. Faster fulfillment means the product arrives at the customer’s address sooner, thus greatly increasing your customers satisfaction with your brand..
A simple and streamlined fulfilment process gives your customers the confidence to purchase from you in the future, since they know the process is simple and quick. In other words, a good fulfillment process has a positive impact on your customer retention rate.
What Does the Shipping Process Entail?
The shipping process includes:
Receiving the Order from the Customer
Once you receive an order, you need to check that you have the inventory in stock to process it. The starting point of this involves working closely with your supplier to purchase and receive inventory in advance, or send inventory to a fulfillment center if you partner with a third-party logistics company.
You can streamline this process by implementing an order management system or software to sync with your ecommerce platform. With this solution, you can track your inventory and orders in one place.
Processing the Order
Processing an order involves verifying the data, such as the shipping address, payment information and other customer credentials. This can be done manually or through automation, thus expediting this process. The customer is updated in real-time as the order is being processed.
Shipping the Order
After processing, the order can then be shipped by using the fastest and most cost-effective method based on the customer’s delivery address.
Several options are available for order fulfillment, such as self-fulfillment or dropshipping.
Many ecommerce businesses choose to outsource fulfillment to a third-party logistics partner. This takes a lot of the work out of your hands, such as the picking and packing process, warehousing, and shipping orders.
Both self-fulfillment and dropshipping have challenges and may have hidden costs, but partnering with a third-party logistics provider can save you time and money due to their economies of scale and specialisation in the shipping process. .
Primary Goals of the Shipping Process
The primary goal of the shipping process is to deliver a product to the customer as quickly and as safely as possible. With standard one-to two-day shipping offered by the major online retailers, customers have come to expect fast delivery.
It’s also important to reduce mistakes by shipping the right items. If you ship the wrong products to your customers, it not only adds time and costs, but it leaves a negative impression. In fact, your customer may not shop with you ever again.
Providing safe, fast delivery is the best way to ensure you have more repeat customers and a valuable professional relationship.
Building the Process
Select a Software Stack for Shipping
Several software options are available for shipping, such as Easyship, Aftership, Shippo, and Shipstation. Look into the features and capabilities of each to determine which is best for you.
For example, does the software send email or text notifications to the customer with tracking information? This is a handy feature that keeps the customer constantly updated and confident with your process, thus earning you loyalty with them.
Establish Your Verification Process
When you choose your software, ensure that you can use it to verify that the item you’re about to ship is the one the customer ordered. Most ecommerce and inventory management software have a verification system built in, but verification can also be done by confirming the product name, product category, SKU, or part number.
You should also verify the customer’s address to make sure the product actually reaches them. With platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce, you can get plugins for address verification. Shipping platforms like Shipstation also offer address verification.
In short, you must be sure the software you use offers efficiency and reliability to verify the order data before you ship.
Select Shipping Supplies
Shipping supplies will vary according to what you’re shipping. Some products are shipped in original packaging, such as computers, printers, televisions, and car seats. In this case, all you would do is put a shipping label on the product and it’s ready to go.
If you’re consolidating multiple products into one package, you need to make sure you have the appropriate box sizes and packaging materials handy. For example, fragile items may need bubble wrap or similar protection for shipping.
If you’re shipping products that are hazardous, dangerous, or restricted, such as perfume, you need to obtain the appropriate label to identify it.
Another thing to consider is adding a thank you card or free gift. Both are a nice surprise for your customer and go a long way in building brand loyalty.
Having the correct shipping supplies available can dramatically speed up the time between a customer placing an order and getting a notification that the order has shipped. The faster you can get an order out, the better.
Creating a Perfect Shipping Process
Ideal shipping processes include a fast order placement to delivery timeline and a positive customer experience. Many factors go into streamlining shipping, from verification tools to thank you notes to shipping services, all of which can be tailored to your needs.
With the right software stack, shipping and fulfillment companies, and shipping materials, you can nurture customer loyalty and satisfaction by giving your customer a positive, memorable experience shopping with your brand.
— Author Bio
Sidney Karanja
Sidney Karnaja is the founder of Savo Store, a logistics and procurement services provider that works with corporations, start-ups, and non-profits, to help them acquire and transport goods to their offices in Africa. Savo Store also operates a platform that allows individuals in Africa to shop hassle free at any U.S. retailer. Sidney founded Savo Store with the goal of eliminating some of the hurdles that plague cross-border transactions between Africa and the rest of the world.