Selecting the Right Delivery Methods for Your E-commerce Store

When you first start up your brand-new e-commerce store, you will have any number of difficult decisions to make—many of which you may not be fully informed on. One of these could be working out where to store and how to deliver your products.

Within this decision, there are multiple sub-categories. For example, the packaging you choose will affect a product’s durability and appearance while the warehouse you opt for could affect how quickly and effectively you can distribute goods. 

This short guide should help inform those decisions, as well give some tips that will remove some uncertainties. 

Packaging

As mentioned, packaging is vitally important for anybody operating an e-commerce store. This is because, without a high-street shelf presence, there is only one impression that your packaging makes and that is the one when it arrives at your customer’s door. 

A beaten up, flimsy or ugly piece of packaging will immediately make a customer question whether they have made a good decision trading with your business. Sturdy, quality packaging, however, will fill your clients with confidence. This is especially important for ensuring customer satisfaction remains high and can even have a knock-on positive effect if your product ends up being unboxed—an ongoing YouTube phenomenon—by an influencer.

Fulfillment Services

To keep shipping costs down, to prevent the need to hire your own warehouse, and to put shipping responsibilities in the hands of the experts, you may consider enlisting the help of a product fulfillment company. These companies will store your product in their own warehouses with rapid turnaround times—the same day that your product arrives with them it can be put on shelves and be ready for shipping. 

A quality fulfillment service will take responsibility for damages, further reducing pressure on yourself, and reach vast swathes of the country in a matter of days. 

Promises to Your Customers

When deciding your shipping and storage methods you should consider what promises you are going to make to your customers. If you only intend to post your product out with an estimated waiting time of 5-10 days, you must not advertise that it will be with a customer in 1-2 days.

This sounds obvious, but failing to accurately advertise how long an average shipment will take could land you in a lot of trouble. Delays can be unavoidable, but if you are knowingly using false advertising then you could face action by the Federal Trade Commission. 

Space and Money

Another key consideration for which delivery method your business chooses is how much space you already have and how much money you wish to spend. 

Spending more on quality shipping services will enhance your reputation, but to begin with you simply might not have the financial capability to do so. That is why outsourcing your logistics to fulfillment services could be a wise move, as could only shipping to local areas to begin with. 

E-commerce stores are experiencing a boom that shows no sign of stopping. To ride the wave, make sure you are doing everything you can to get your products to customers safely, securely, and on time.