Shipping Tutorial
Monday, October 20, 2008
Ahhh, shipping. Or more correctly, accurate and problem-free shipping. The elusive holy grail of many a frustrated and enraged etailer.
In my experience, shipping is the number one cause for angst and aggravation among etailers. We've talked more than a few clients off the ledge after dealing with a particularly odious shipping issue. Is there another issue that can reduce so many normally rational people to completely irrational and crazed behavior? I think not.
I hope that my own experiences in this area might help you come to some sort of peace with the hideous Shipping Beast.
There are several ways you can handle shipping.
• Free Shipping for all orders or after a particular dollar amount is reached.
• Incremental shipping that increases as the value of the order grows larger.
• Shipping by weight, ties in with above.
• Flat rate shipping - one rate regardless of amount spent.
• Real-time shipping via one or more of the major carriers. UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.
There are pros/cons to each of the methods above. This could turn into a very l-o-n-g article if I were to discuss each of these at length. So let's skip that and go right to the heart of the matter.
After using all methods at one time or another I've realized that flat rate shipping is the way to go. My own stress level has dropped greatly since I instituted the flat rate charge and customer service issues relating to shipping have completely vanished. No more queries or complaints, no more fretting over the shipping being off by $.05 or the much-loved refund as a result of the customer being overcharged by more than $1.00. No, now everyone pays the same. Regardless of how much they purchase.
One needs to consider the human psychology behind shipping costs and the consumer's purchase. When I offered free shipping, I found that order sizes dropped. I quickly realized that without a shipping cost to determine order size (oh, if I spend just $X amount more, the shipping is worth it) customers were spending less because they could order again later at no extra expense to themselves. This was actually costing me far more than I would have anticipated - I had counted on the free shipping drawing customers in and ordering copious quantities. Not so.
With the flat rate, orders are larger as the customer is encouraged to purchase more to make the shipping charge worth their while. My single unit orders have dropped dramatically as a result of this.
But leaving profit and order sizes out of the equation, consider this. What is your time worth? How many hours per day/week do you spend fretting and agonizing over shipping? Multiply that by your hourly rate and see what you come up with. I think you might be surprised. Be sure to count all the emails and phone calls you've had to send/make/receive in regards to shipping. How many times did you have to refund someone? How many times was the cart off by more than $.50? All this adds to your angst bank and can fester there before erupting one day when confronted by an irate customer who was overcharged for shipping.
You have a business to run, products to make and market, orders to ship. Fiddling with shipping shouldn't be something that is on your daily list of things to do.
If possible, I recommend a flat rate shipping module. Your life will be easier and customers will be happier. And you just might find that your order sizes increase and sales improve. But you'll definitely appreciate the drop in blood pressure that you're sure to experience...
Oh, and in case you didn't know, you can get FREE boxes from the USPS. Of course this requires using the USPS to ship your packages, but they are the fastest when it comes to getting your packages to where they need to go.
order USPS Priority Mail boxes
The savings in box purchasing will offset money lost from instituting the flat rate shipping. It all works together to create shipping nirvana...
In my experience, shipping is the number one cause for angst and aggravation among etailers. We've talked more than a few clients off the ledge after dealing with a particularly odious shipping issue. Is there another issue that can reduce so many normally rational people to completely irrational and crazed behavior? I think not.
I hope that my own experiences in this area might help you come to some sort of peace with the hideous Shipping Beast.
There are several ways you can handle shipping.
• Free Shipping for all orders or after a particular dollar amount is reached.
• Incremental shipping that increases as the value of the order grows larger.
• Shipping by weight, ties in with above.
• Flat rate shipping - one rate regardless of amount spent.
• Real-time shipping via one or more of the major carriers. UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.
There are pros/cons to each of the methods above. This could turn into a very l-o-n-g article if I were to discuss each of these at length. So let's skip that and go right to the heart of the matter.
After using all methods at one time or another I've realized that flat rate shipping is the way to go. My own stress level has dropped greatly since I instituted the flat rate charge and customer service issues relating to shipping have completely vanished. No more queries or complaints, no more fretting over the shipping being off by $.05 or the much-loved refund as a result of the customer being overcharged by more than $1.00. No, now everyone pays the same. Regardless of how much they purchase.
One needs to consider the human psychology behind shipping costs and the consumer's purchase. When I offered free shipping, I found that order sizes dropped. I quickly realized that without a shipping cost to determine order size (oh, if I spend just $X amount more, the shipping is worth it) customers were spending less because they could order again later at no extra expense to themselves. This was actually costing me far more than I would have anticipated - I had counted on the free shipping drawing customers in and ordering copious quantities. Not so.
With the flat rate, orders are larger as the customer is encouraged to purchase more to make the shipping charge worth their while. My single unit orders have dropped dramatically as a result of this.
But leaving profit and order sizes out of the equation, consider this. What is your time worth? How many hours per day/week do you spend fretting and agonizing over shipping? Multiply that by your hourly rate and see what you come up with. I think you might be surprised. Be sure to count all the emails and phone calls you've had to send/make/receive in regards to shipping. How many times did you have to refund someone? How many times was the cart off by more than $.50? All this adds to your angst bank and can fester there before erupting one day when confronted by an irate customer who was overcharged for shipping.
You have a business to run, products to make and market, orders to ship. Fiddling with shipping shouldn't be something that is on your daily list of things to do.
If possible, I recommend a flat rate shipping module. Your life will be easier and customers will be happier. And you just might find that your order sizes increase and sales improve. But you'll definitely appreciate the drop in blood pressure that you're sure to experience...
Oh, and in case you didn't know, you can get FREE boxes from the USPS. Of course this requires using the USPS to ship your packages, but they are the fastest when it comes to getting your packages to where they need to go.
order USPS Priority Mail boxes
The savings in box purchasing will offset money lost from instituting the flat rate shipping. It all works together to create shipping nirvana...
posted by cherie at
10:55 PM
