E-commerce is the most competitive industry with low entry barriers; that’s why 90 out of 100 e-commerce businesses fail in the first four months. Most of the time, the reasons behind their failure are common mistakes, and they are unaware of their consequences. Shipping is one of them as it is a crucial part of e-commerce, and if you are making mistakes in it, it can seriously affect your business.
If you want to know more about the common ecommerce mistakes to avoid, then read this guide.
5 Common Ecommerce Shipping Mistakes
Here are some of the typical e-commerce shipping mistakes given below.
- Late deliveries to customers
- Neglecting branding on packaging
- Lack of an effective shipment strategy
- Incorrect packaging and labeling
- Incorrect addresses
Late Deliveries to Customers
Most businesses offer next-day delivery, and people are now used to it. If your business model is different and you are not delivering your product the next day to the customer’s doorstep, it can be a bad strategy for the future business.
When a customer receives his products late, he moves to those who deliver quickly. So whether your delivery carrier is not suitable or your inventory management needs to be better, you must improve to generate revenue.
Neglecting Branding on Packaging
Branding is the identity of your business. Using your brand name and logo on the packaging is essential so people can easily differentiate between your product and others. It is also a way to leave a lasting impression on the customer’s mind so that he can remember your brand name and logo. And when people remember your product, there is a high chance of reordering. So if you ignore your business branding, you are not good for your business. Furthermore, you can use ecommerce packaging ideas
to enhance your packaging.
Lack of Effective Shipment Strategy
Strategies are crucial because you can efficiently deal with any situation with a good plan. And when it comes to shipment strategy, let me tell you if you have an effective system, it can make your e-commerce successful.
Notably, most small and medium-sized businesses do not want to spend their budget on strategies and are looking for shortcuts to success. They should have noticed that creating an outline will help them determine the best delivery time or when you can offer free shipping.
For instance: You can add the shipping cost to your product’s price and offer free shipping to the customer.
Incorrect Packaging and Labeling
Use suitable packaging for your products because if you use proper packaging, it may protect your products. For instance, if your product has large size and heavy weight, you can use corrugated mailer boxes for the packaging, or if you are shipping a lightweight or small size product, you can use cardboard boxes; these will also protect your product. Interestingly they are eco-friendly and recyclable.
Lastly, remember to use the correct labeling with the packaging. For instance, if you are shipping a fragile product, you can use a handle with care or a “Fragile item” label so the carrier will take extra care of it. Although the charges for the different care packages are more than usual, it’s good to pay more instead of a replaced product.
Incorrect Addresses
Due to high-scale increases in the e-commerce platform, sometimes, someone else receives your package, and this happens due to the mistakes in the receiver address. It will affect your business in two ways: a delay in delivery or you may have to send another product to the customer.
Suppose the receiving person chooses not to return the product. In that case, you would have to spend money sending a new product to your customer while losing money on the previous order. So it is good to double-check the address to avoid any inconvenience.
Conclusion
On-time delivery is a must to satisfy your customers. So if your inventory management needs to be corrected or your shipping carrier needs to deliver the product on time, it is better to settle it timely. You can make strategies for your work so that everybody knows what or when to do so the delivery will not affect.
Branding includes your business name and logo, so remember to add your branding on the package so everybody can distinguish between your products and others. Another common mistake that businesses need to correct is incorrect packaging and labeling, which means they need to use suitable packaging for their products and labels; as a result, customers receive broken products and have to return them.
Lastly, double-check the shipping address so the product will ship to the correct customer’s address, and you will not face any consequences.