Top e-commerce shipping mistakes committed by the seller

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E-commerce shipping is already a complex subject and committing mistakes here can cost you a fortune. Packaging, pricing, and delivery logistics are the three fear factors which are driving e-commerce owners crazy.

Save your online business from sinking in this cut-throat e-commerce age. The potential mistakes involved in e-commerce shipping can cost massive damage to your profitability and brand reputation.

Customer complaints can smash your e-commerce business in no time while you are focusing only on selling your products.

These e-commerce shipping mistakes may cost you big if you don’t get them right at the earliest.

1. Relying only on one carrier

courier box

Are you relying on one carrier partner?

Order processing and shipping is one of the vital parts of the online business.

When Amazon introduced one-day delivery option, there had been a noticeable shift to Amazon.

People want convenience. One of the significant barriers of e-commerce is customers have to wait for several days to receive their product.

Is your carrier providing convenient delivery options as your customers expecting?

Is your carrier partner competent enough to handle all your shipments at one go? Even during the festive season?

Is your carrier partner providing a delivery location where your customers reside?

If your answer is no, then it is high time to consider services from multiple courier partner.

2. Poor packaging

toy in a box

The packaging doesn’t only pack and protect your product but also builds your brand’s image and identity.

Packaging determines how much your carrier will be charging for the shipment.

We can say that packaging that you send to your customers’ home is a form of communication.

It is very much understandable that not every company can afford to customize their packaging which represents the brand.

However, you could still manage to meet the basic requirement for e-commerce packaging.

Make sure you use a package that fits the product.

Include safety measures inside the box.

Use consistent packaging material for your products.

In the case of fragile products, mention on the box. Put additional safety measures so that the product is not damaged in transit.

Avoid cheap packaging to avoid the product damage in transit.

In e-commerce, the packaging is the first impression of what is inside and the first feeling your customers get when they receive your product.

Tip:

Invest in customer unboxing experience. Make your customers feel as if they are opening a present.

Concentrating on customer experience will surely pay out dividends.

3. Inaccurate shipment weight

volumetric weight

It is one of the significant issues e-commerce retailers face while shipping their products with a carrier.

Due to lack of proper weighing equipment, it becomes difficult to calculate the accurate weight of the package.

If the weight doesn’t match with the carrier partner, you may end up paying extra for the shipment.

The dimensional weight of the package has a significant impact on how much you are going to pay to the carrier.

Learn how to calculate volumetric weight for packaging your shipment.

Length x height x width / 5000 (for centimeters)

Length x height x width / 305 (for inches)

Normally volumetric weight is a pricing technique used by shipping companies to ensure that they don’t lose money and calculate the actual weight of the package.

4. Incorrect addresses

delivery boy

An incomplete or incorrect address may result in delivery failure.

The shipment could be delivered to the wrong address or return to the origin.

The upset customer in return, want delivery at the earliest and you will be paying for it.

You can avoid such errors by simply verifying the address with the customers.

By doing this, you can also save yourself from the fake orders.

5. Fail to listen to specific customer requests

When your customers give you specific shipping requirement, do listen to them.

If your customers need shipments during a specific time, give them that option.

Some customers need gift wrapping for their orders, especially during festivals and for birthdays.

Customer may request you to hide the product pricing when they are sending gifts.

And many more.

When your customers are requesting something specific requirements, do fulfil them.

It might be a one-minute job for you, but the receiver may have a significant impact from that.

Pay attention to these value-adding services as they might create an adverse impact when goes wrong.

6. Manual shipping process

packaging

You can manually fulfill all your orders, create shipping labels all day or automate the process with logistics technology.

The choice remains yours.

I highly recommend e-commerce shipping software to integrate with your online store.

With automated shipping solutions, you stop doing all the shipping related tasks manually and focus on the core business.

Make your product packaging look more professional by just sticking the auto-printed shipment labels.

With e-commerce shipping software, you save your valuable time.

1. You can manage orders and shipping

2. Save time, money and resources

3. Find shipping options quickly

4. Lower shipping rates

5. Bulk printing options

6. Effective return management

7. Fetch orders from multiple sales channels at a single place

8. Integrated multiple courier partners

7. No transparency about shipping costs

calculator

Keep it very clear for your customers how much you are going to charge for shipment.

It is recommended to provide shipping charges on the product page itself rather than displaying it at a later stage (at the checkout page). Customers hate that.

Providing transparency about shipping charges helps to reduce abandoned cart.

If your current checkout does not give our customers a clear picture of additional shipping costs, you need to fix this up.

8. Offering only one shipping option to customers

Let your customers choose when they want their shipment.

Sellers, understand that what your customers really value is “choice”.

Buyers want more control over when they want the order; they are willing even to pay more to receive the shipment as per their requirement.

Then why to be too rigid?

Give your customers the freedom to select the delivery options.

delivery options

image source: Amazon.in

Moreover, shipping date and time is valuable for your customers.

Tell your customers when the product will be available to them with regards to each shipping options. This will give your customers more clarity about what choice is the most suitable for them.

9. No clear explanation about shipping and return process

An unclear shipping and return policy may frustrate your customer or even result in the loss of sale.

Your customers will not wait until they browse through your website and find return policy.

They want to be sure that if they don’t like the product, they have an option to return or exchange the product quickly.

Returns are the vital part of e-commerce customer experience.

Keep the shipping and return policy visible. Such visibility gives your customers a sense of reliability and makes easy for them to make a purchase decision.

10. You end up spending your major time following up with the carrier

Are you spending half of your time on following up on delivery and return statuses with the carrier partner?

Then it is high time for you to realise the need for effective logistics software solution.

iThink Logistics not only provide the software solution but also take care to maximize your delivery with least returns at one go.

Save your time and cost with the complete logistics software solutions where you have your logistics team to handle the logistics operations on your behalf.

Get your delivery right at the first time. Reduce returns with (Non-Delivery Reports) NDR.

Manage your COD remittances and billing efficiently.

You need not worry about pickup return request.

Final words

Fortunately, most of these e-commerce shipping mistakes are easy to avoid.

You need to plan and take proper care to make sure that you don’t commit any such mistakes and make your delivery process smooth with the highest rate of successful delivery and customer satisfaction while not affecting your profitability.

So, what are you thinking?

If you are committing any such mistakes, this article is an alarm for you to get them right.

You are running an e-commerce store and must be juggling with too many things.

If you want to streamline your shipping process and avoid these common mistakes, we highly recommend trying India’s best e-commerce logistics software solution.

Looking for an e-commerce shipping solution? Get started with iThink Logistics