E-Commerce shipping and logistics strategy.

E-Commerce enterprises are primarily selling physical products. And for this industry, shipping and logistics are the powers of business success.

Why did I say that? Think back to the times you shopped online. In addition to product quality and price, what do you care about? Is it the shipping cost, the shipping time, or even the worry about the shipping process?

Surely the common mentality of online shoppers is to expect to receive the product as soon as possible, the shipping process is fast and safe, and especially the shipping cost is reasonable.

If you have grasped this psychology of customers, then why don't you boost your sales by improving your online store delivery? Fulfill your online store's physical delivery capabilities with new technologies and solutions!

The importance of shipping and logistics for an E-Commerce store.

1. E-commerce delivery and logistics are the keys to success in this field.

Although Internet can assist businesses in increasing their exports, effective product transportation is essential for both domestic and cross-border e-commerce.

Different modes of transport but all play an important role in ensuring that orders are fulfilled efficiently.

Inefficient logistics will cause bad effects for businesses such as raising the expenses of doing business online, especially for small businesses. Especially, in many developing countries, poor logistics continue to be a barrier to the expansion of cross-border e-commerce of physical goods.

Online trading is driving the delivery market. The number of shipping units of express services and goods is increasing.
As it has been shown that transportation not only fulfills the purpose of bringing goods from seller to buyer but also plays an important role in consumer decision-making.

Furthermore, the shipping experience has a significant impact on your business as it affects customer loyalty. Most shoppers will return to the same online store after a positive delivery experience.

2. Shipping price and time are great factors that affect customers buying decisions in E-commerce delivery.

Although the shipping cost is not too large, it also affects a lot of customers' purchasing decisions. Sometimes customers hesitate or even give up on a purchase just because of the shipping costs.

Especially for orders with a low total value but the shipping costs are quite high. In that case, there is a big chance that the customer will change their mind and stop buying, or maybe they will find another store or another way to save more.

Besides, there is one more thing that also greatly affects the purchasing decision of customers, which is the shipping time. Everyone wants to receive their order as soon as possible. Most of them want same-day or next-day delivery.

That's why they often go to popular sales places like Amazon and Alibaba to expect to receive goods soon. These expectations are not likely to diminish anytime soon but may increase in the future.

According to data from the survey of UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper, a lot of customers want short delivery times for their orders.

30% of internet orders are delivered to a different address instead of the first location

63% think delivery speed is a major factor

77% are willing to pay more for faster shipping.

There are many other statistics about e-commerce logistics and shipping that you can refer to in this survey here.

E-commerce delivery has come a long way since the early days of online shopping. Most websites offer a wide range of options to attract customers. When the e-commerce market is growing, customers' requirements and expectations about service and prices are also changing and increasing. Therefore, online stores need to change business methods as well as logistics services accordingly.

Useful e-commerce shipping and logistics strategies

Once you understand the importance of shipping and logistics to an e-commerce store, the next thing we need to do is find the right and useful strategies to improve this. Refer to some of the strategies we've researched and compiled below!

1. Free shipping

Free shipping seems to be the strategy that most people will think of first. It is the simplest and is gaining popularity. Especially, it is often included in promotions or sales campaigns to attract customers and motivate them to buy more. For example, free shipping for orders over $300, free shipping for purchases of 3 or more products, etc.

The effectiveness of this strategy cannot be denied. But why is it so effective? Do you remember I just talked about the effect of shipping price on customer purchasing decisions above? This campaign solves customers' concerns about shipping costs and brings great benefits:

It's simple to explain to clients.

It responds to the needs of the customer.

It contributes to the store's increased sales.

It boosts conversion rates for customers who make it through your checkout process.

It's a good strategy, but you need to be careful when using it because "free shipping" is for the customer, but not for you.

You need to calculate and apply the right items or campaigns to ensure that you still make a profit after paying the shipping unit. No matter what strategy is applied, the ultimate goal is still a profitable business!

2. Convenient and variety of carrier options

Because of the cheap cost, you may only offer one carrier. However, many consumers are dissatisfied due to delivery delays or techniques.

Customers may be enticed to go to another store where their favorite carrier is available rather than purchase your product as a result of this. Or simply because they want another carrier, not the one you provide.

Therefore, try to provide diverse carriers for customers to choose from. Do not lose potential customers when you can completely satisfy their small needs. E-commerce shipping is a small but very important part of the success of your business.

3. Market your brand smartly on your shipping packaging

Packaging is an effective cheap marketing tool, a secondary marketing tool of many business enterprises. Not only acting as a product storage container, but the information image of the business on the package also helps to position the brand in the subconscious of customers. So, let customers, their friends, their relatives, or anyone who can know your brand through Shipping packaging.

Either way, you have to pack the product to send to the customer. Why don't you use shipping packaging bearing your store's brand?

4. New solutions for e-commerce delivery

Estimate the time and shipping cost:

People are becoming accustomed to having information at their fingertips. For example, I recently placed an order for a face wash machine from Sweeden. I'm curious as to when it'll come.

It's becoming more crucial to have an estimated number of delivery days or expected delivery dates. Once you've got that, you'll have greater leverage when it comes to upselling speedier services.

Same for the shipping fee, give it to your customer from the beginning if possible.

Schedule In-store pickup and collect points:

Think about it, not every customer is far away from you, and not all of them want home delivery and have to wait a few days for their order.

Many customers want to go directly to the store to receive the goods after placing an order. This saves on shipping costs, and importantly, they don't have to wait and can get the item sooner.

If there is supply, there must be demand. That's the reason why more and more stores besides the usual online sales method, quickly caught up with the trend and added the form of "Buy online, pick up in-store".

This sales method has become more and more popular in recent times and meets the needs of many customers. Save time and save shipping costs for both customers and stores.

So, is there any tool that can help stores with this relatively new sales method? Of course yes, PrestaHero provides the "Store pick up and local delivery" - an effective PrestaShop module to help store owners in supporting customers to shop online and schedule a pick-up at the store reasonably.

There are many great features that this module can bring to your store, you can learn more here!

Shipping and logistics are important factors to consider in the sales process. The utilities and solutions in sending and receiving goods are small, but bring satisfaction and a great shopping experience to customers. Always provide the best customer service and refer to our recommendations above. We hope that they can give you a hand in your store's success.