Bedste praksis for e-handelsforsendelse i feriesæsonen

Posted 2 flere år ago ved Hasan Nabulsi

The holiday season is officially upon us. Before ecommerce merchants can partake in the season’s celebrations with everyone else, de skal forberede deres virksomhed til ferien. En af de nøglebrikker, der skal prioriteres på denne tid af året, er shipping.

Mens suset med salg i løbet af sæsonen kan se godt ud på et regneark, de er i sidste ende meningsløse, hvis du ikke kan levere pålidelige forsendelsestjenester. Uden en god forsendelsesoplevelse, dine kunder vil potentielt tage andre steder hen næste år. Du skal sørge for, at din forsendelsespraksis er op til standarden.

At hjælpe, vi dækker flere håndterbare trin, du kan tage nu for at sikre, at forsendelse er en sjov oplevelse for både dig og dine kunder, hele sæsonen lang!

Opret synlige ferieforsendelses- og returpolitikker

Det første skridt til at få dine kunder og personale afstemt efter forsendelsesforventninger er at skabe en detaljeret ferieforsendelse og returret. Nogle aspekter, du gerne vil tage højde for, inkluderer:

Mulige opfyldelsesforsinkelser
I løbet af ferien, du og/eller dit opfyldelsesteam kan blive overvældet af antallet af ordrer, der skal pakkes og sendes for at blive afsendt. Dette gælder især, når du forsøger at udføre ordrer internt.

I din ferieforsendelsespolitik, du ønsker at imødegå mulige forsinkelser i at få ordrer afsendt eller give en forventet opfyldelsestidslinje, så du og/eller dit team har en rimelig frist at følge. Den vej, kunder er ikke forvirrede, hvis de ser, at deres ordrer ikke er blevet afsendt endnu.

Frister for juleforsendelse
En af de vigtigste bekymringer for kunderne er, at de er i stand til at få deres gaver inden jul. Større nationale luftfartsselskaber som f.eks USPS og FedEx har allerede annonceret de sidste dage til afsendelse varer inden jul. Du vil gerne indarbejde disse datoer i dine politikker, så kunderne ved, hvornår de skal afgive deres ordrer for at modtage produkter i tide. Plus, oprettelse af en klar tidslinje hjælper dit team med at vide, hvornår det skal give pakker til transportører.

Sidste dage til at starte returneringer
Når du skriver en returpolitik, you should give customers ample time to make returns. The industry standard is 30-days, but many people buy gifts months before the actual holiday. Giving an extended amount of time during the holiday season is more common—and kinder. This makes people feel more comfortable buying products on or before Black Friday because they know they can return them after the holiday season.

After crafting holiday shipping and return policies, you should make sure they are visible to customers before they make a purchase. Placer din forsendelses- og returpolitik øverst på dine produktsider for at sikre, at de bliver set. Du kan også inkludere dine politikker i hele din e-handelsbutik, herunder din hjemmeside, FAQ side, og kontakt os siden.

Klare og synlige politikker hjælper med at forhindre kundeforvirring og begrænse anmodninger sendt til din e-mail-indbakke eller kundeserviceteam.

Denne butik har en dedikeret forsendelsesnyhedsside, som er tilgængelig fra enhver side på deres websted

Brug automatisering til at øge effektiviteten i løbet af ferien

Effektivitet er navnet på spillet, når det kommer til feriefragt. Men at stole på manuelle processer for at opfylde ordrer kan være en opskrift på katastrofe.

En tilstrømning af ordrer i løbet af helligdagene kan resultere i forkert mærkning af pakker, den forkerte operatørtjeneste er valgt til en pakke, eller nogen, der bruger for meget tid på monotone opgaver, som at udskrive forsendelsesetiketter frem for at arbejde med andre nøgleopgaver.

E-handel forsendelsesværktøjer, såsom Shippo, giver dig mulighed for at importere ordrer og lave dine egne hvis-så-funktioner, så de korrekte forsendelsesetiketter tildeles og udskrives automatisk. Du kunne sætte ind, "Hvis denne ordre vejer mindre end et vist antal pund, så mærker vi det automatisk for denne specifikke forsendelsesservice fra denne specifikke fragtfirma."

Ved at opsætte simple automatiseringsteknikker i din arbejdsgang, du kunne få pakker ud af døren 50% hurtigere end du kunne ved manuelt at indtaste oplysninger for hver pakke.

Leverage Shipping Label Discounts When Possible

Every aspect of life has been affected by inflation, including shipping for your ecommerce business. This is compounded by the fact that major carriers, inklusive USPS, have announced peak season surcharges for the third year in a row.

Raising the cost of shipping can result in customers abandoning their cart in search of a cheaper competitor. alternativt, if you choose to eat those shipping costs as a business, you could have a slimmer profit margin at what should be the most profitable time of the year.

The state of the economy shouldn’t force your ecommerce business into an ultimatum. High shipping costs can be remedied by taking advantage of discounts on shipping labels when possible. Multi-carrier shipping software often comes with discounted rates on popular shipping services, namely USPS and UPS.

These savings can be significant for certain shipments. To get the best deal, run all your shipments through an integrated multi-carrier platform to ensure you never miss out.

With discounted shipping labels, you can pass those savings onto your customers and use cheaper holiday shipping as a competitive advantage.

Hvis du sælger online med Ecwid by Lightspeed, du er heldig: you can buy discounted shipping labels right in your Ecwid admin. You can also print them immediately, significantly reducing time spent managing shipping labels. Købe, Print, and stick shipping labels on your parcels in a matter of minutes. The rest is easy—just drop your parcels at the nearest post office.

Buy shipping labels while you manage your orders in Ecwid admin

Buying discounted shipping labels from Ecwid admin is available for Ecwid sellers from USA, Tyskland, Belgien, og Holland. If you are from another country, you can buy shipping labels using apps from Ecwid App Market.

Diversify Your Carrier-Mix

There is power in choice. Picking carriers to ship with during the holiday can be difficult, but the good part is that you have many to choose from. While some merchants prefer to stick to one carrier to maximize volume discounts, there are downsides to this shipping strategy.

For en, the carrier is experiencing issues, your packages can get delayed—sometimes indefinitely. This can seriously impede your ability to retain customers year after year.

Plus, you won’t know if you’re getting the best deal on shipping since each carrier has their own way of calculating costs based on weight, størrelse, and distance the package will travel. If you have products of varying parameters, you may need to vary your shipping carrier accordingly.

Endelig, not all carriers offer the same services. While some may offer day-definite next-day shipping, others may not. I løbet af ferien, customers may be willing to pay more for expedited shipping. You want to make sure you’re able to offer it.

By having a diverse carrier mix, you can ensure you’re offering your customers the lowest possible rates while delivering their products exactly when they want them. This will ultimately give them greater peace of mind, making it more likely that they’ll buy from you in the future.

You also don’t need to just stick with major national carriers. Regional carriers may also be a great option when shipping to local customers, potentially shipping faster for less.

Use Order Tracking Pages To Re-Engage and Cross-Sell to Customers

I løbet af feriesæsonen, many people mostly spend money on gifts for others. Faktisk, just last year, det National Retail Federation found that Americans planned to spend almost a thousand dollars on holiday gifts or other related items.

You want to capitalize on the fact that consumers are the most willing to spend money right now. One way you can take advantage of holiday spending is to advertise through order tracking pages. It’s estimated that consumers look at order tracking pages 3.5 times per order. I nogle tilfælde, four or five times per order!

I løbet af ferien, customers will look at order tracking pages even more frequently to determine if their gifts will arrive in time.

Using the space on your order tracking page effectively, you can update your customers on their package’s whereabouts, highlight certain promotions/sales you’re running, and suggest similar items to those they already bought.

You can also use order tracking pages to re-engage customers by:

Including a reply-to email and sharing your return/refund policy
Including product tutorials
Including links to your social media accounts
Including links to sites where they can review your products

Ecwid sellers can customize order tracking pages using shipment tracking apps, såsom Aftership og TrackFree. These apps allow you to track your shipments and make your shipping process transparent to your customers. That is the key to creating a great post-purchase experience.

Use order tracking pages to promote your other products to customers

For at opsummere

These are just some of the best practices regarding shipping during the holiday season. If you fulfill orders in-house, you’ll also want to consider hiring seasonal workers to account for the increased demand for packing and fulfillment. If you work with a 3PL or fulfillment center, you’ll want to be sure they’re up to date with your holiday shipping and return policies.

About The Author

Hasan is the Content Marketing Marketing Manager for Shippo. He specializes in writing, udvikler sig, and producing various forms of content with a focus on helping ecommerce merchants better understand how to use shipping as a competitive advantage.