E-Commerce Shipping: A Beginner's Guide
E-Commerce
If you sell goods on the internet, then you need to make those goods available to your customers.
That’s where shipping comes in. From pricing, packaging, tracking, and insurance, to shipping carriers, returns, and more, we’ll walk you through the basics of eCommerce shipping step by step.
This article contains the following content. It takes 8-10 minutes to read it in full. It is recommended to save it first.
- What is e-commerce?
- What is eCommerce Shipping?
- What is the difference between domestic shipping and international shipping?
- Eight steps to e-commerce shipping:
— Your shipping strategy
— Carriers and their services
— Understand shipping costs
— Define your shipping rates and speed
— Packaging, packaging and labeling
— Customs requirements (international shipments)
— Returns and Exchanges
— Start shipping
What is e-commerce?
E-commerce is the sale of goods or services over the Internet. It is also called online retail, e-tailing or online shopping.
When you visit an online store to buy a pair of shoes, you are engaging in e-commerce. In addition to the transaction of goods and services online, e-commerce also involves the transfer of money and data.
There are different types of e-commerce businesses:
Business to Consumer (B2C)
Business to Business (B2B)
There is also consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce, which occurs on online platforms where individuals sell goods directly to each other.
E-commerce is not only useful for large businesses, it also enables small and medium-sized businesses to enter a larger market.
E-commerce becomes a bigger player in the retail industry year after year, accounting for an increasing percentage of global sales.
What is eCommerce Shipping?
Shipping is an essential part of the e-commerce process as it delivers the products purchased online from the seller to the buyer. It ensures the physical transfer of the goods after the digital transaction.
However, e-commerce shipping involves inventory management, packaging, budgeting, scheduling, working with carriers, returns, exchanges, etc. To ship successfully, e-commerce businesses must have a good shipping strategy and maintain a good working relationship with their carriers.
What is the difference between domestic shipping and international shipping?
Transport can be domestic or international: across national borders to other countries and economic zones.
International shipping has an added layer of complexity, as packages must go through customs when leaving one country and must go through customs again before entering the destination country.
This may involve more cargo management requirements, paperwork preparation and costs.
How to Get Started with E-Commerce Shipping?
While carriers are responsible for moving your packages from A to B, there are still many aspects of your e-commerce business that you must pay attention to. Here are eight steps to take before you start shipping:
1. Create your eCommerce shipping strategy
A shipping strategy is a logistics plan tailored for your business.
It can range from your shipping pricing options, branding and the customer journey, to integrated logistics, etc. A strong strategy can help boost sales and grow your business.
Your eCommerce shipping strategy should cover the following topics:
- Destination: Where will you be shipping to?
- Carrier: Which shipping company will you choose? How much do they charge? What services do you need?
- Time: How quickly do you want your shipment to arrive?
- Costs and Pricing: What will your shipping pricing be? Who pays for it? Will you favor fast or affordable shipping, or a mix of both?
- Packaging and labeling: How will you package your goods for shipping? How will you label the packages?
- Customs Documents: What documents are required for international shipments? Do customs duties apply?
- Returns and Exchanges: What is your return and exchange policy?
- Technology: How would you like the shipping provider's technology support to integrate with your online store?
This is the starting point of your strategy.
Now let’s look at each topic in more detail.
2. Research shipping companies and their services
The primary purpose of a shipping company is to deliver packages within a specific time frame and at an agreed-upon price. However, e-commerce businesses often require additional services from carriers, which can include:
- Insurance: Covers packages lost or damaged during shipping.
- Package Tracking: The sender and recipient can track the progress of the shipment.
- Flexible delivery options for recipients: such as customizable delivery times, express delivery, weekend delivery, or local pickup.
- Consolidation: Grouping multiple packages in bulk to a specific destination to reduce costs or simplify customs clearance.
- Customs declaration: Help international goods to clear customs easily.
- Return services: from generating return labels to claiming tax refunds for international returns.
- Integrated online store functionality: APIs (application programming interfaces) integrate shipping functionality directly into online stores to provide real-time carrier rates, address verification, package tracking, or tariff calculators, etc.
- Enterprise Services: Get better customer support with your own dedicated account manager.
You may find a single carrier that meets all of your needs, or you may need a combination of carriers for different purposes, such as domestic, international, or returns.
3. Understand shipping costs
Before setting shipping rates for your customers, it's important to understand the factors that affect carrier shipping rates. The main factors are:
- Package size and weight: Does it fit in a standard envelope or package class? Is it oversized?
- Dimensional weight or packaging density: This is the size of an item relative to its weight.
- Origin and destination addresses: Long distance and cross-border shipping costs can increase.
Please keep in mind any other preferences or needs you may have, such as:
- Speed of delivery: For example, express vs. regular delivery.
- Additional carrier services: such as insurance, tracking, or customs brokerage.
- Customs charges: Such as duties, taxes, and any handling fees from the carrier.
Once you know these details, you can then look up rates from different carriers. When you have some sample rates, you can check the shipping costs associated with your products.
We will continue to introduce the factors that affect shipping costs later.
4. Set your shipping costs and delivery times
Once you find a cost-effective shipping arrangement with a carrier, you can then define e-commerce shipping rates for your customers. This will depend largely on your pricing strategy and who you want to pay the costs (whether it's you, your customers, or both).
Some common shipping rate settings are:
- Free Shipping: On purchases over a certain value.
- Flat-rate shipping: within a country or region.
- Real-time carrier rates: Calculated in real time during checkout in your online store.
- Express or Scheduled Delivery: Allow customers to choose delivery speed and cost.
- Free or discounted local delivery or pickup: From the carrier's pickup point.
5. Packaging materials, packaging forms and labels
There are three main areas to consider when preparing logistics for shipping your goods:
-
Packaging Materials
The materials used to package your merchandise can also serve as a branding opportunity and a chance to impress the recipient. Creative or environmentally conscious packaging can enhance the customer experience. -
package style
The way your shipment is packed is crucial for its safe arrival. Using the right size box, sealing it securely, and knowing how to pack fragile items with the right cushioning are some of the tricks you need to master. We’ll also cover some common packaging mistakes to help you avoid them. -
Label
Not only should a shipping label have the correct details, but its placement on the package is also important - usually on the largest or topmost flat surface. An incorrect or damaged label could cause delays to your package.
6. Customs requirements for international express shipments
If you send an e-commerce package across borders, it must clear customs in the destination country before it reaches the recipient. This means additional requirements for international shipments. In particular:
- Customs Paperwork: Do you need to provide additional documents or details with your shipment?
- Regulations: Does your company or product need to comply with regulations in the destination country?
- Duties and Taxes: Will your shipment be charged any import duties or sales taxes when it enters the destination country?
- Returns: If a customer requests a return or exchange, what is your process?
7. Returns and Exchanges
Domestic returns can be pretty straightforward – as long as you’re clear with your customer about who covers the costs.
International returns have additional complexities. If duties and taxes were paid, you may need to apply for a refund (tax drawback) from the destination country's customs office, and for duty exemption (duty reduction) when the goods re-enter your own country. International logistics operators can often help you with this process.
Just like shipping costs and delivery times, you can offer your customers a range of return options.
8. Start shipping
As with everything, the first step is always the hardest. Once you’ve made up your mind to start your e-commerce journey, it’s important to adjust your shipping strategy, track your shipments, and respond quickly to any delays or customer inquiries to get the best e-commerce shipping practices.
As your business grows, you may also want to explore more shipping features, such as:
- Set up a business account with your carrier—to get extra services or cheaper rates.
- Integrate shipping tools into your online store – such as more precise shipping options or inventory management.
This article is intended to provide general information about shipping. If you have detailed shipping requirements, please click Open an Account Now or consult your Account Manager. Please always check the rules and regulations of the country/region you are shipping to before shipping.
Original text from:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/KrrG2jLskpA0AmhSoOLuJg
English 
Chinese