If you are a starting a business or you are simply fed up with your current shipping partner and are looking for options in the market, this article is for you.
The following points are important factors you should evaluate before choosing the right shipping partner for your business:
Price
This is probably the factor most evaluated when looking for any product or service. While price could initially be perceived as being the most important thing to consider, as most of the people look for the cheapest pricing every time, it is important to sit back and really put some thought on what a cheap price entails:
- Does the cheap price affect the service?
- Does it really fulfill your business needs? For example, does this shipping provider caters for businesses, or is it just general shipping?
- Does the service provide insurance, tracking, and reliability for the peace of mind of my clients and my own as a business owner?
If you are one of many small businesses that think that the office post would offer the best price for their services, you might find that now more than ever there are many shipping companies that offer competitive pricing, some even cheaper than post, and also cater specifically to e-commerce businesses and offer specialty services like apparel fulfillment.
In terms of pricing look for the following:
- Simple flat-rate pricing
- Compare pricing vs service
- Better pricing depending on the number of parcels sent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5MoMjdmLiI
Convenience & Scalability
This point is especially important for e-commerce business owners, where convenience plays a fundamental role. If you’re only starting a business and find yourself posting a couple of orders a week, you might not realize how time-consuming it is to manually process orders and even take the parcels to the post office. This might not seem important to you if you are just starting, but have you taken some time to consider what could happen if you start selling more? Will you be able to process the orders if they go from a few a week to dozens or more?
Find a courier delivery solution that caters for your business specific needs. A courier that picks you every parcel at no extra cost, regardless of the number of parcels sent. Choose a parcel delivery service that can be automated and that offers to streamline your shipping process, find couriers that offer free integrations to top e-commerce sites, such as eBay and Shopify and free some of your time to invest in growing your business even more!
In terms of convenience and scalability look for the following:
- Free parcel pick up regardless of quantity
- Free E-commerce Integrations with Top Sites
- Shipping Automation for Scalability
Eco-Friendly
Businesses tend to overlook their effects on the environment. According to Icct, in 2015 the pollutant emissions accounted from shipping were responsible for 2.6% of global emissions. International shipping accounts for almost 90% of the total CO2 emissions from ships every year. Fortunately, more and more businesses are looking for more sustainable ways to do business and help the environment at the same time.
Your costs do not need to be affected by this, on the contrary, this could be an opportunity to think of better ways of doing things, for example, improve packaging, where you might also be able to use recycled material for your packaging, use smaller or less packaging. In regards to shipping, you can choose to partner with a courier environmentally responsible that offers carbon neutral shipping and is certified by a third party.
From a marketing perspective, green marketing has proved to be very successful. You can even take advantage of this and communicate it to your audience, what your business stands for, and this will showcase your business as environmentally responsible and could bring more business in return. As a business owner, you have the power to choose, and the more people choose green companies the more there will be, take the time to do your research and take action.
In terms of eco-friendliness look for the following:
- Choose a carbon neutral courier service
- Use recycled materials for packaging
- Rethink your packaging
Hopefully, this tutorial will help you identify the right shipping partner(s) for your particular niche and business model. Following the tips above can help you avoid the many pitfalls choosing the wrong partner can create.
