The Right Way to Set Up Ecommerce Shipping.
Illustrated Best Practices for Top Internet Retailers Who Need Unparalleled Shipping Capacity.
01
How to read this based on who you are
The four personas: from the traditional logistics crew, to the green (fresh, new, ready to learn) ecommerce operations team tasked with shipping carrier diversification, implementation, and consumer-facing impact. Check out the matrix below and remember which one you are as you flip through this white paper.
So what do you do?
I’m a logistics director at an enterprise
I’m a logistics director at a moonshot D2C
I’m an operations manager at a medium-large brand
I’m a logistics director at an enterprise
And remember, while we’ve noticed clear trends based on years-in-business and with more mature organizations trending towards consumer-first priorities versus their own shipping profitability, this guide serves as a toolkit not a formula.
Generally speaking, top internet retailers and high-growth digital ecommerce brands who flourish beyond 100,000 U.S. based ecommerce orders per quarter are highly driven by these key performance indicators (KPIs):
- CVR
- Cart Abandon Rate
- Repeat Customer Rate
- Average Shipping Profit Margin per Package Shipped
- Carrier Bill Accuracy
- Average Delivery Days per Carrier
- Exception Rate
- Average Delivery Days per Carrier
- Time to Ship
- Order Accuracy Rate
After prescribing to the imperatives mentioned in this white paper, each of the four personas mentioned should be able to sleep more easily!
02
Three pillars to winning the high-volume shipping game
Your system for offering free shipping
If you run an online or omnichannel business that includes ecommerce , then there is one golden rule: always offer free shipping.
Offering free shipping is a great way to turn shoppers into buyers.
Here are two ways to offer free shipping
Free shipping on qualified orders.
A strong portion of top internet retailers offer free shipping on qualified orders. This is typically an attractive offer that increases average order value (AOV). If you’re a t-shirt brand with a $40 AOV, you might offer free shipping on orders of $60 or more to encourage customers to buy two shirts.
Pro-tip: Look at advanced ecommerce shop apps from ecommerce developers like Bold Commerce to display conditional dynamic messaging that encourages customers to add more products to their cart to meet a free-shipping threshold.
Another option is non-express shipping on all orders.
Full stop. If a frictionless buying experience is your goal, offer free non-express shipping on all orders.
Don’t forget: Sacrificing on shipping service-level in order to subsidize the free shipping for the consumer may lead to a lower repeat purchase rate.
How to display every shipping option at checkout
In a perfect world, we’d all have an endless stream of consumers flowing from shoppers to buyers and none of us would ever have to worry about conversion metrics. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Ecommerce checkout needs to be optimized to reduce friction.
Top internet retailers are shifting their shipping carrier service messaging
Past
In the past, top internet retailers ‘drank the kool-aid’ served by the biggest shipping carriers in the USA. At the time, brands presented ‘FedEx Ground’, ‘UPS Ground’ or ‘FedEx Overnight Late AM’ with the same exact naming convention as the logistics companies that sold those services B2B from the shipping carrier to the brand. At this point, the online purchase experience was building, not yet built, and the post-purchase landscape was the quasi-utility worker that is a uniformed FedEx or UPS delivery-person.
Present
Today, there are four major incumbents including three publicly owned shipping carrier companies (UPS, FedEx, and DHL) plus the USPS (listed separately because they are a government agency). In addition to the big four, there are 10+ regional ecommerce parcel delivery companies that have eaten 30% of total ecommerce parcel volume.1 What does this mean for brands? There is more than one way to offer 2-day shipping, slow-shipping, and next-day shipping. What does this mean for consumers? They either need to familiarize themselves with ‘On Trac West Coast Regional 1-2 day delivery’ or the company they’re buying from needs to adjust their messaging to ‘Express Shipping.’ When you put yourself in the shoes of your target customer, which do you prefer? Brands that are completely confident display expected Delivery Days (‘Express Shipping, 2 Days’), and the best of the best show real-time date-of-delivery estimates (‘Express Shipping, 2 Days, Estimated arrival on ##/##/####+2 days)
Best way to brand your shipping at checkout
How ecommerce managers should position their shipping methods to decrease their cart abandon rate and increase their conversions.
03
The right way to message your
shipping FAQs
Clear messaging reduces sales friction. It sounds simple, but for many direct to consumer retailers it’s not. Ecommerce shop messaging needs to replicate and improve upon the function of a trained and skilled in-store retail salesperson.
There are two questions your shipping FAQ needs to answer,
before your consumer needs to scroll at all:
“How much will shipping cost?”
“When will my order arrive?”
Pro-tip 1: Include key information right on your product page.
Pro-tip 2: Include answers by standard, express, and rush (domestic and international)
How ecommerce managers and their support teams should position the details of their click-to-deliver time.
Showing above information on the product page itself is much easier to find than a buried FAQ page.
Resources
Perfecting Your Footwear Shipping Strategy for Growth
Delivery and ecommerce have been evolving side by side for many decades. The pandemic sped everything up and large ecommerce companies that could previously afford to do things the old way are quickly finding that they need to adapt or get eaten by the competition.
Shipping APIs Explained for Ecommerce Apparel Brands
Delivery and ecommerce have been evolving side by side for many decades. The pandemic sped everything up and large ecommerce companies that could previously afford to do things the old way are quickly finding that they need to adapt or get eaten by the competition.
How to Choose the Right Shipping Carrier for Your Apparel Brand
Delivery and ecommerce have been evolving side by side for many decades. The pandemic sped everything up and large ecommerce companies that could previously afford to do things the old way are quickly finding that they need to adapt or get eaten by the competition.