3 Tips to Save Time and Money on Holiday Shipping.

Posted September 25, 2019

It’s that time of the year again. Holidays 2019 are around the corner!

The holiday season is a critical time for all eCommerce businesses. It’s the time of year when many online retailers make most of their sales to cover the entire year. Retailers wait for it, plan for it, and they bank big on it as it has a direct impact on their bottom line.

Shipping plays a very important part in online retail sales. Here are a few easy tips to help you Save Money on Holiday Shipping.

1. Use DIM Weight to Your Advantage

Try your best to package your products in correctly sized boxes. Make sure there isn’t too much empty space. Using DIM Weight correctly, you can actually save with smaller shipping boxes. Your savings from holiday shipping could be up to 50% or more as you save on the price of boxes and packing supplies as well as the DIM weight pricing.

If you can work with your manufacturer or vendor, consider redesigning your core products to have a smaller DIM weight. It will pay off in the long run. If you can’t do that, then definitely consider the size of your packaging. The bigger the dimensions of the packaging, the higher the DIM weight and its shipment cost.

2. Make up for the costs of “Free” Shipping

With Amazon and almost all online retail marketplaces offering FREE Shipping, customers now expect free shipping as a standard. Customers kind of know it, but at the time of shopping, they do not realize that there’s no such thing as free shipping. Free shipping costs are always factored into the price of most products that come with free shipping. So, offer free holiday shipping but make sure that you somehow factor the shipping costs into the price of your products. It may or may not work for you, as it all depends on the type of product you sell. For example, luxury goods sellers offer free shipping as standard because of their higher price points.

Analyze your product price points and shipping plans and then figure out how you can offer free shipping that is somewhat fast too. For example, if you sell your product for $23.95 and charge $5 for shipping, it is much better to price your product at $29.99 and offer Free Shipping. It is psychologically proven to be a better pricing strategy.

Related: Shipping and Reverse Logistics

3. Ship Customer Orders As Fast As Possible

The time taken to Pick, Pack and Ship customer orders will always dictate if you offer fast or slow shipping. If you take a day or two to pack your product and then drop them off at your shippers’, you have already wasted 2 days. You may now have to use expedited shipping so that your customer receives their package in about 2 to 3 days. That means it really takes 5 to 6 days for your customer to receive their package. That is simply unacceptable for most customers. Get the package out on the same day that it was ordered, and use cheaper regular shipping instead of expedited shipping and your product will reach your customer within 3 to 5 days. You save and your customer gets their product in the same or lesser number of days!

So, the quicker you ship orders out, the faster your customers receive their packages. Advertise your quicker order processing times on your online store. Let your customers know that you ship orders out the same day or multiple times a day and it will lead to more sales and directly affect your bottom line. Elite OPS offers same day shipping*.

Related: eCommerce Order Processing

Bonus Tip: Partner up with an eCommerce Order Fulfillment Provider

Elite OPS is a Full Service eCommerce Order Fulfillment Provider (3PL). We fulfill and drop ship thousands of products daily. Your eCommerce business can take advantage of our 20 year Order Fulfillment experience.

Save money on shipping with us. We get bulk discounts from shippers and shipping supply companies. We get a bigger volume shipping discount and our negotiated rates with UPS and FedEx are much lower than what any one eCommerce retailer could get. By passing on these cost savings to all of our clients (YES, We Pass the Savings on to ALL of Our Clients), we help them save money on shipping.

Bottom Line

As consumers demand better shipping that is free and fast, you must provide it or your competitors definitely will. These very easy to implement basic tips will ensure that your shipping costs are kept low and at the same time will get you more customers as their demands are met.

Contact Us to find out how we can start helping you save money on holiday shipping as well as other areas of eCommerce Order Fulfillment, Kitting and Assembly.