“Free shipping” is one of most fruitful and competitive e-commerce marketing offers to promote sales. Shipping overseas is expensive but e-commerce majors are able to offer free shipping all over the world. Most of online shoppers are living a fast life and therefore, they appreciate quick deliveries of their products. E-commerce studies suggested that some people are likely to pick the quicker delivering option over the some nominal factors like cost of shipping. The question is How and the answer is: Competitive Shipping.
Checklist for COMPETITIVE SHIPPING: 5 considerations1. Right Packaging: Dimensional weight over actual weight
Shipment bills consider the dimensional weight, i.e. calculated weight based on physical appearance of the package over the actual weight. Transporters consider the space occupied by product package not the weight of package. GoWebBaby Expert advice: Take your package to shippers who are willing to consider the actual weight of your package and provide various pricing plans. Go for right shippers according to weight and physical consideration of your product package.
2. Qualification for deals and services
All the shippers have certain offers for shipments, for example: U.S. Post offers discounts on delivery with free tracking facility for shipments reaching a residence. You can avail such offers by following GoWebBaby Expert advice: Pen down your regular demands and monthly shipment needs. Crack special discounted deal based on your needs with shippers.
3. Opponent’s Strategy analysis
Discovering what your competitors are doing is essential but not necessarily copying them. Analyze their shipping options and strategy to find the number of days before delivery, cost involved, number of shippers hired, and demands. GoWebBaby Expert advice: Plan your strategy to beat competitors on most variants but do not compromise on customer valued services like timely delivery. For example, if most of your competitors are paying $5,000 per month and delivering products in 2 days, it is a bad idea to pay $4,000 per month and deliver in 5 days. If you do this it will ultimately result in loss of customers and drowning e-commerce sales.
4. Customer Needs: urgency of product demand
It is clear that you should not compromise on timely deliveries, so should consider paying extra for a quicker deliver? The answer is ASK your customers. GoWebBaby Expert advice: Try the following to discover your consumer’s needs
- Request your customers to fill out feedback forms.
- Give them option of quicker deliver at a higher price.
- Check performance of premium delivery options.
- Use Apps like comScore which analyze customer’s online behavior.
5. Keep emergency options cost at your fingertips
There are times when you have to deliver unplanned products, which a common crisis in e-commerce business line. In emergency shipments, shippers demand surcharges. Some of the biggest shippers inflate the price of shipment with a surcharge of $300. Therefore it is a critical decision requiring quick action because of urgency of demand.
GoWebBaby Expert advice: Keep emergency shipping rates updated in your database to know, “the best pick in an instant when required”. Retain cash flow by saving money in shipments by creating a mutually benefiting bond with shippers. You can confirm addresses, locations and get exclusive pricing options.