October 5, 2014
In our last post, we heard from a popular nutraceutical business, Shredz, and learned how outsourced shipping creates extra time and business opportunities that can lead to significant growth.
Here, we’ll examine how shipping impacts branding and customer satisfaction and we’ll look at ways to use this to your advantage.
Improving your brand and customer satisfaction
We won’t waste time talking about the value of customer satisfaction. You already know it matters. But one thing you may have overlooked is the role shipping plays in your relationship with consumers.
It’s not something we think about all the time, but it’s true – you can really make or break your business over shipping practices. At the very least, customers need to be able to trust that they’ll receive orders on time. But there’s potential to exceed their expectations, and with so few brands taking advantage of the opportunity to wow their buyers, it’s a no-brainer opportunity to make your mark and build your brand’s reputation.
The first step is to ensure fast shipping.
In the early days of ecommerce, consumers viewed quick shipping as a perk. In the age of Amazon Prime, it is an expectation. Even if you’re only shipping a few orders
at a time, making a trip to the post office every day can be burdensome. And if you’re shipping a significant volume, it quickly becomes too much of a time consuming task to handle yourself. Unfortunately, customers aren’t thinking about the how the messy logistics of shipping can affect your day, and they aren’t very sympathetic to delays; all they want is for their order to arrive – preferably yesterday.
If you’re worried about meeting demand in a timely fashion, remember that automated carrier options accessible through a distribution partner improve on-
time or early delivery accuracy and offer the distribution power to meet buyers’ expectations. With a shipping partner at your side, you won’t risk receiving orders that require next-day shipping on a day when you can’t accommodate a mid- afternoon post office trip. Instead, your shipping needs are automatically handled, no matter the frequency or volume.
The second step is the wow factor.
It’s important to appreciate that fulfillment is more than a logistical responsibility. It’s actually an opportunity for branding. Merchants are sometimes wary of losing the personal touch that comes with DIY shipping so they avoid engaging a shipping partner. Fortunately, this worry simply does not need to be an issue. A good logistics company will allow you to use your brand’s custom packaging, marketing inserts, special rewards, and other tailored details. As you know, these are the things that demonstrate your company’s values and connect you with shoppers in a way that inspires them to buy from you again. Better yet, all of these things are still possible while working with a fulfillment partner.
In our next post, we’ll go over a few ways to increase your sales conversion rate using shipping deals. We’ve also combined the entire series into a handy guide, which you can download for free.