One of the biggest changes in recent years, and one which shows no sign of slowing, in the way that we shop is the continued growth of online shopping. From platforms like Amazon and Etsy, to supermarket deliveries and the rise of independent sellers attracting a curated customer, online shopping is now becoming the preferred option in retail and wholesale for many shoppers and businesses sourcing goods.
Shipping and Online Shopping
Online shopping is now more than a growing trend, it is now a mainstream way for customers to choose their goods. As customer expectations change and develop, this puts demands and challenges on the sellers to have great logistical and delivery support to keep up with demand and meet the expectations of their customers. The challenge for sellers is to ensure they have a practical, efficient and cost-effective way to get their goods to their customers, no matter the size of the order or the location of the customer across the globe.
Whether it is one parcel or a succession of pallets of goods that need to be shipped, the expectation from online customers is that the process will be smooth, effective, and often fast, and that delivery can be made anywhere in the world. Here are some great ways to ensure you are succeeding in shipping with your ecommerce options:
Set your Expectations
When a purchaser buys goods from your website, whether it is for one small item, or a large heavy wholesale order they will want to know in advance not only the shipping costs, but also how quickly the goods can be delivered. This requires a lot of information to be available in an easy to read and understandable way on your website. This is helpful to the customer and will reduce the amount customer service enquiries you may receive making the process quick and easy.
Customer Choice
Offering a choice or range of shipping options gives confidence to a customer that you can efficiently deliver their items at the time they need. This is especially important when dealing with business customers who may have deadlines of their own to meet. Offering fast delivery at a premium cost ensures you won’t lose a sale if the end customer needs the order quickly and offering a non-urgent option at a lower or included cost will ensure your pricing is competitive if the customer is looking at other options.
Offer Support
Some deliveries, especially those around the world, can be complex and include import, export and country specific challenges. So, if you are shipping around the world try and offer as much information about your product is reasonable to make meeting the requirements of countries as easy as possible. Have an email address, phone number or online chat available for quick questions or complex orders to ensure you can meet the needs of the customer quickly. In addition, you may wish to offer shipping updates to the online customer account so they can log in for themselves and keep up to date with the progress of their order.
Partner with Experts
Once the order has been placed then the logistics of getting that order to the customer starts. The best way to ensure seamless and effective shipping in the UK or across the world is to partner with a strong, experienced shipping company like Equator Worldwide who can ensure you have all the information you need to offer great options to your customers and then be trusted to deliver your goods as expected.
Ecommerce Opportunities
Offering your goods for sale online offers huge opportunities for retailers and wholesalers but the logistics to ensure great and cost-effective delivery can be a challenge. To reduce customer questions and even complaints about delivery ensure you give realistic timelines, costs and information as soon as possible to the customer and then ensure you choose a reliable shipping partner to deliver your goods to the end customer.
To speak to a global shipping and fulfilment expert and get all the information you need to offer great logistical and delivery options to your customers, while keeping your costs at a minimum, speak to a member of the Equator Worldwide team today.