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Last Updated on December 20, 2016 by Work In My Pajamas
These days, the life blood of any highly successful retail business is shipping. Modern retail is not something that only exists in brick and mortar stores. Instead, an ever increasing chunk of the market is online sales. According to market data, online sales accounted for nearly $342 billion in 2015. If a company does not have shipping, it will miss out on a lot of potential profit. With that in mind, here are some simple shipping ideas that can help your business.
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Use One of the Big Three
As far as shipping goes, you generally have three choices if you want to send out shipments in high volume for affordable prices. Your choices of course include the USPS, UPS and FedEx. In fact, you may want to outsource most of the process to one of these shipping partners. It can be very advantageous. For example, the United States Postal Service already has a high tech and easy to use tracking program that can allow customers to track their packages from the moment you drop them off with the postal service to the moment they reach their mailboxes.
Organize Your Inventory
Managing shipping also means managing your warehouse efficiently. To do that, you need to provide your employees with the tools necessary to easily and safely manage inventory. Some of that inventory can be quite heavy and very difficult or even dangerous to move without assistance. Some companies, like Garland’s Inc., know how important it is to take care when moving around merchandise. One tool that can allow a warehouse employee to move a pallet of inventory that weighs hundreds of pounds with ease is a pallet jack.
Utilize E-Mail Shipping Updates
When customers are more informed on the status of their shipment, their satisfaction is higher. One easy way to accomplish this is by sending shipping updates directly to the customer’s e-mail. They should be made aware of when their products ship and should be supplied with the tracking number so they can quickly check up on the package’s journey.
Offer Economy Shipping Options
High shipping charges are something that can scare away customers to your competitors. Make sure you make economy shipping options available to customers. They are likely to be willing to wait a few more days to pay less in shipping. Also consider offering free shipping for large purchases. It’s great suggestive selling.
Shipping is one of the most important things in business today. A good deal of the market now exists online, and that is only made possible through the availability of shipping. Put a lot of thought and strategy into how you manage shipping for your company.
Beautifully written Rachelle! : )