More and more people are shopping online, which makes retailers compete for their attention. This is why shipping speed is so important to consumers. The shipping of orders is by far the most expensive part of doing business, but home delivery service is a necessary evil. To sell goods and services, retailers must get them to customers quickly.
With the rise of online shopping, shipping speed has become a big deal. The best marketplaces make it easy for shoppers to get their orders quickly. Most online purchases today seem to be sent out within two days.
Shipping speed is important for getting new customers, but the numbers are even more important for getting people to stick with your brand. Many online shoppers say that the speed of shipping is one reason why they will buy from the same e-commerce brands again.
How fast do ships go?
This is the time it takes for a package to get from the warehouse or point of origin to its final destination. This is true for all industries. Distance, like whether a customer is in the U.S. or another country, is often what determines how fast an eCommerce order will be sent.
In the shipping business, speeds are measured in terms of time, such as “one day,” “two days,” and so on.
Shipping Time vs. Time to Process
In shipping speeds, you can see how long it takes the carrier to deliver the order to its final destination. When you get an order, the time it takes to get it ready is your business’s processing time. When your shipping company gets the order, it’s no longer being worked on.
Even if customers already know this, it’s better to explain the difference between processing and shipping times than to assume they do. This is especially important if it takes more than a few business days to process your products.
In their shipping policy, they explain in detail how long most handmade items take to make. Each product has a different list of processing times. They also tell you that processing times change during sales and holidays.
Why fast shipping is important
Customers today want fast delivery and are even willing to pay more for it. Most orders from US e-commerce brands are sent out in two to three business days, and the companies work hard to keep this delivery time.
Fast shipping increases the number of people who buy something online. Sixty-nine percent of people say that fast delivery is a reason why they buy more online. In the mind of the consumer, faster shipping speed makes the brand seem more professional and on time.
An order can be canceled if it is late by more than one day. When things aren’t delivered on time, most customers look for something else. Most websites have a lot of things to choose from.
Here are some reasons why it’s so important to ship quickly.
- The most important thing about it
- Every day, there are more and more items and stores that sell them in e-commerce. So, merchants let customers filter many features to keep and improve their relationships with customers. Fast delivery stands out from all the other options. Speed of delivery is the most important thing to customers.
More trust from customers
How quickly an item is shipped affects how confident a customer is in the company. Most of the time, customers can track their packages online. So, fast shipping makes customers less afraid. This will help you get along better with your customers.
Higher visibility of listings
Every day, more and more products and stores join the eCommerce market. At stores, customers can already filter items through a variety of options to make their shopping easier. Most of the time, fast delivery is the most popular feature. Customers can choose how quickly they want their packages to arrive by using the filtering options at big stores like eBay.
Makes people less afraid
Fast shipping policies always come with a guaranteed date of delivery. In some cities, Amazon Prime members can get their packages within 24 hours of ordering. As part of the eBay Guaranteed Delivery program, customers can find out how long it will take for their order to arrive between one and four days after they place it.
Because of these programs, customers have more faith in retailers and can buy anything because they know they will get it quickly and reliably.
increases the likelihood of good reviews
Customer service includes things like getting goods or services to people quickly, sending them in a reliable way, and making sure everything goes smoothly. Customer reviews on eBay show that many people like how easy it is to buy and ship things from the store.
Because there is a direct link between reviews and conversion rates, fast shipping is also an important factor in getting people to buy.
Customers who are willing to pay more are drawn to it.
There’s no doubt that customers care about fast delivery. Most people are willing to pay more to get something the same day. Retailers that offer same-day delivery have an 85% competitive advantage over their rivals. The speed of delivery can even affect how loyal a customer is.
People are willing to pay more for faster service, so they will give you more money. So, fast delivery makes it possible for eCommerce businesses to compete in markets that are already full.
Fast shipping makes customers happy, makes them more likely to buy again, and raises the profile of a business. Fast delivery also increases conversion rates because it makes customers happier.
Companies that sell to consumers must give their customers the option of fast shipping if they want to meet their needs. Because of this, not only will profit margins go up, but customers will stay with the company and sales will go up.
Lessen the number of customers who abandon their shopping carts
People can leave their shopping carts for a number of reasons, such as unexpected shipping costs or problems with the site. But checkouts that tell you how much shipping will cost and how long it will take to get to you convert better than checkouts that don’t. By doing this, you can at least clear up any confusion about how it should be given.
If you add shipping speeds, your checkout will be less likely to be left because it builds trust and gives a sense of certainty.
By telling your customers this information ahead of time, you set their expectations and make it clear when they can expect their shipment. This makes them less likely to cancel their order if they don’t like the shipping terms.
This is the first way to get customers to come back and the first way to boost sales and income. If you don’t include them at checkout, you risk losing customers to your competitors.
Better for the customer
Customers today expect to have up-to-date information at their fingertips, which means they want to know everything about their online purchases. How do customers know when their packages will show up? There is also the fear of missing a delivery, of packages being stolen, especially if they are expensive, of packages getting lost in transit, or of someone else picking up a surprise package, like a birthday present.
You can give your customers more information and clarity by giving them options for shipping speed during checkout, as well as tracking options and the ability to connect with Shop or another package service.
Less people will ask customer service about the status of their orders and deliveries. If your customers have a better experience, they will have fewer questions about delivery, which means your customer service team will have less to do. If your customers have a better time in your store, they are more likely to come back and buy from you again.
How Shipping Speeds Fit into Your Shipping Plan
If a customer decides to buy your products, the first thing they will want to know is how much delivery will cost and when it will arrive.
Shipping is a lever that can affect your business as a whole, whether you’re making a new strategy or changing an old one. In your shipping strategy, the speed of shipping should be just as important as the shipping methods you offer and the prices you charge.
You could charge your customers for shipping, or you could offer free shipping. Even if shipping is free, your customers will know what they’re paying and how long it will take for them to get their packages.
If you offer different ways to ship, like curbside pickup or local delivery, you should do the same. If you don’t, you may see fewer sales.
You can tell your customers how much shipping will cost and how long it will take anywhere you talk about shipping policies. This will make them feel more comfortable about buying from you.
Customers also expect to get a message after making an online purchase that tells them when they will get their purchases. Usually, this is taken care of by sending an email after the purchase with a summary of the purchase, the price of the product, any shipping costs, and an estimated date of delivery.
Keeping up a faster shipping rate
- Check the paperwork to make sure the shipment details are correct.
- Make sure the package can go through international borders.
- Get ready for bad weather and any other problems that might come up.
- Choose a transportation company you can trust.
- Let the customer know where their package is.
Top Shipping Options for Online Shopping
Shipping is free.
There’s no doubt that free shipping seems like the simplest idea, and since Amazon started offering it for orders over $25, it’s become a huge hit.
Among the benefits of free shipping are:
- It’s easy for customers to understand.
- The needs of the customer are met.
- When a customer reaches your checkout funnel, it helps your conversion rates.
- Your clients may get free shipping, but you don’t.
- You still have to pay the carrier a fee, so you’ll need to make sure that each order brings in enough money to cover the shipping costs.
Before you offer free shipping, you need to know what it will do to your bottom line. If you lose money on every sale, even if you make more sales, your bottom line won’t go up.
Free shipping works best when you only offer it on orders that will make you enough money to cover the shipping costs. For example, you could exclude products that are too heavy or bulky to qualify for free shipping or set a free shipping threshold that makes sense for your business.
Shipping with a flat rate or table rate
Flat-rate or table-rate shipping is a great way to get around some of the problems that come with free shipping.
A flat rate for shipping would be $10, no matter how much the order is. Table-rate shipping is a little more complicated, but it doesn’t have to be any more complicated.
In some places, like the United Kingdom, it’s better to use a table rate than a live rate. Merchants with fulfillment centers in London might charge customers close to the city a certain amount, say $5 per order, with rates going up to $10, $15, etc. as customers move farther away.
You could also charge based on how much the order is worth ($10 for orders up to $50, $5 for orders up to $100, and nothing for orders over $100). You could also set different rates for different product groups or based on the weight of the order.
Rates from a Carrier in Real Time
If you want the best rate possible while still covering your costs, you might want to get live rates from a carrier like UPS, FedEx, or DHL.
You can be sure you’re giving your customer the best shipping option possible if you charge them exactly what you expect to be charged by the carrier. However, this makes it harder to use this method as a promotion (the rates may vary significantly depending on what they order and how far away their warehouse is from your warehouse).
If your competitors offer live rates, it may be important to do so as well. You don’t have to connect to UPS and show what UPS returns for each order.
You can add a surcharge to the shipping charge to cover things like packaging and fulfillment costs. You could also lower the rate you get back to be more competitive with the others in your market.
Mixed and Different Strategies
Even though these three methods are often used and popular, it can be very effective to think outside the box and combine them. So, your need for money can be balanced with your chances to promote.
Offering free standard shipping (with no delivery guarantees or a range of delivery guarantees, like 5–10 business days) along with other expedited shipping options (like 3-5 day delivery at a table rate based on order value) and live shipping rates for Second Day and Overnight delivery would be a great example.
What to Do During Shipping Delays
Shipments can sometimes be late. Peak times, bad weather, and an increase in the number of online purchases can all cause shipping carriers to have too many packages to deliver on time. What should we do? Communication is important. If you talk about what’s going on, your customers will feel more at ease buying from you.
Customer service needs to tell them what’s going on and how any delays might affect them. Once you start telling your customers about shipping times, you should keep telling them about their orders, including any delays.
If you don’t do this, you risk losing the customers’ trust and loyalty to your brand that you built up before they bought your product. Also, here are some other things you can do:
- Be proactive in how you tell people about the delay. If you know when it will end, be clear about which areas are affected. Add a message to checkout pages that lets shoppers know about possible delays before they buy something.
- Utilize your communication channels: Most customers have their eyes in more than one place at once, so a message posted on the website won’t be seen by those who don’t go there often. Share delayed information on your site, in your emails, and on social media to cover all your bases.
- Talk to other stores: Keep an eye on what other companies like yours are doing to deal with delays that are out of their control.
Conclusion
Shipping needs to happen quickly in today’s markets, and two-day shipping has become the norm. In addition to fast shipping, eCommerce customers want to know what’s going on with their orders.
Most brands outsource fulfillment so they can offer two-day shipping across the country because they have a big footprint and need a lot of people to handle it.