Ecommerce Shipping Mistakes Are Costing You Sales
Ecommerce shipping mistakes can cost an organization dearly, but the good news is it is relatively easy to fix and, as you are aware, things can get a little wild around the holidays.
Like that time Jimmy fulfilled an order for a BB gun by stuffing it in an oversized box with no padding or labeling. Cue the angry customer missing Christmas morning mayhem! Oops.
Especially when Marie slapped a “Fragile” sticker on the purple vase before sending it on its merry way! Let’s just say that the purple vase didn’t arrive in pristine condition.
Every organization has made all the cringe-worthy ecommerce shipping mistakes over the years. We all learned the hard way how these blunders end up costing us in lost customers, poor reviews, and additional shipping costs (to make it right).
Avoid the most common ecommerce shipping mistakes that will torpedo your operations, business, and customer satisfaction levels:
Are you looking to optimize your ecommerce shipping capabilities? We can help you think through your options.
Common Ecommerce Shipping Mistakes:
Using the Wrong Box Size
Styrofoam peanuts for padding? Groundbreaking stuff here, people! If your product is rattling around in a huge box like a forgotten sock in the dryer, it’s time to reevaluate. Oversized boxes waste money and materials. Undersized boxes lead to damaged products that customers won’t accept. Take a few seconds to find the perfect fit. With today’s cubing technology, auto baggers, package on demand technologies and software, there is absolutely no reason for your orders to go out in oversized shippers and excess dunnage.
Likewise, many of today’s consumers are sensitive to sustainability concerns. Nothing screams to your customers louder “We Don’t Care About the Environment,” than not optimizing shipper sizes. By the way, with today’s DIM rules, this will cost you a small fortune.
Ignoring Weight
You sell dumbbells online but keep stuffing them in flimsy envelopes to save a buck on postage,. The package rips open mid-transit, scattering the heavy metal weights all over. Not a great look. Make sure to factor weight into your packaging and shipping decisions. Otherwise, gravity will take its revenge.
Put It in A Bag
Look at your SKU and order profiles. If it fits both in physical characteristics (not fragile, etc.) and in volume, putting it in polybags will likely save you a considerable amount of money. With today’s DIM costing from all the carriers, polybags take up the least amount of cube and have the lowest costs to ship.
Using today’s auto baggers, this process is easily automated and can provide a return on investment (ROI) in under a year. Packing is often labor intensive and riddled with errors. By automating the process, labor, errors, and damage is eliminated and provides lower shipping costs.
Ecommerce Shipping Mistakes – Missing Delivery Deadlines
Your customer wanted their order by Friday. But you dropped the ball and didn’t ship it out until the following Monday. Now they have to spend the weekend staring longingly at tracking updates instead of using their sweet new product.
By reviewing your operations and delivery promises, there are always ways to improve throughput, productivity, and performance while reducing your labor. This often starts with discussing and reviewing your existing state with a trusted integrator (such as Conveyco)… click to schedule a free consultation now.
Don’t cut it close on order deadlines. Get shipments out the door ASAP to keep clients happy.
Sending Without Labels
Oops, you were in such a rush that Jimmy forgot to slap a shipping label on the box before sending it on its way. Good luck figuring out where the heck that missing order went! Always double check for proper labeling during the shipping process.
Utilizing a PandA (print and apply labeling system) in your shipping operations will not only assure accuracy but will also increase your throughput speed and reduce your existing labor costs.
Don’t let unlabeled packages vanish into the abyss.
Skipping Product Protection
Paper, bubble wrap and packing peanuts too boring for you? Decide to toss an item in a box and call it a day. Then boom – customer receives a shattered or damaged product that would make Picasso cry. Whether you are wrapping, void fill or cushioning, you want to make sure you use the right materials (paper, peanuts, bubble wrap, foam, custom packages, and other options that meet your inventory needs and customers expectations.
Likewise, should this be done manually, semi-automated or fully automated? Every organization needs to do a financial analysis to see where the return on investment (ROI) lays. How much labor, damage, packaging material costs, additional shipping costs, customer retention, bad reviews all must go into this equation.
Take the time to protect items with proper protection during shipping. Otherwise, Negative Nellie will trash you in online reviews negatively impacting your sales.
Common ecommerce shipping mistakes – Ignoring Restrictions
That fancy lithium-battery powered gadget seemed innocuous enough. So, you ignored all those pesky shipping restrictions around hazardous materials. But when a plane had to make an emergency landing due to the undeclared battery, you realized the error of your ways. Don’t ignore shipping regulations on restricted, hazardous, or dangerous goods. Safety first!
So fellow ecommerce shippers, learn from other’s mistakes! Follow shipping best practices, even during the hustle and bustle of peak seasons. Taking those extra seconds to package and ship diligently will save you headaches (and money!) down the road.
Ecommerce shipping mistakes can absolutely ruin or propel an organization to success. Let the data tell you what to do.
In moving forward with an automated solution for your order fulfillment needs, it’s crucial that you RightFIT your operations. Which option is right for you will depend on your goals, your facility’s footprint, the available floor space, vertical height, throughput requirements, and the unique characteristics of your inventory.
A trusted systems integrator can guide you to the right solution and design the perfect system for your needs. Contact us today to speak with a member of the Conveyco Team.
