5 Practical Things To Know About Business Shipping Services

The two largest door-to-door shipping companies in the U.S. deliver over 34 million packages a day across the country daily. That doesn’t even take into consideration holidays when that number rises. With that many packages exchanging hands, making sure you are sending and receiving goods is important, especially for businesses.

Lost or delayed packages, customer service issues, and rising shipping costs make business shipping services a must for guaranteeing packages are sent and received on time and in good condition.

As you look into getting your merchandise into the intended hands through a shipping or distribution company, read on. These 5 tips will get you started on what you should know about small business shipping.

1. Business Shipping Services: Cost

The cost of shipping a package contains a lot of factors. The speed at which you need your package delivered, utilizing 2-day shipping or standard shipping has the first effect. Some shipping services offer memberships that will allow quicker delivery time depending.

The weight and shipping volume, or measurement, of the package also determine the cost. Oddly shaped boxes might have an extra fee attached. With heavier boxes, you may want to consider looking into flat-rate shipping, as long as your items can fit into a box.

The distance from point A to B can also make shipping costs higher. If you are shipping from a production plant in one city and need to ship the product to another close by, you may want to consider investing in your own delivery truck.

2. Packaging

Customers of small businesses expect solid packaging. Opening up a well-packed product, containing custom branding, adds to the experience.

Determining the right box or package for the job is crucial as well. You don’t want to stick something fragile in a flimsy box, but you also don’t need a box for something that could go in a strong mailer envelope.

3. Schedule

With the advent of 1 or 2-day shipping, customers are expecting products faster. Having a set schedule where your clients know they will be receiving their products and always getting them out on time can go a long way to offsetting frustration with longer shipping times.

Some smaller businesses send all their packages out on the same day each week. Others ship daily. Communication with your consumers is a good business practice.

4. Utilize 3rd Party Shippers

If you’ve never heard of drop-shipping services and you don’t know what is freight forwarding, you should become acquainted with these terms. Using 3rd party shippers to handle your inventory or move product could be more cost-effective if you are needing lots moved, or you are shipping overseas.

5. Customer Service

Locating missing or late packages, providing tracking numbers, and possibly reshipping product is all part of good customer service, even if you aren’t responsible. Sending emails letting them know their order has been shipped and delivered is part of keeping your clients happy.

Think Outside the Box

When considering business shipping services, you don’t have to just go with the status quo. As you’ve learned, there’s a lot of different ways that you can ship and receive packages that could save you time, money and help raise your customer service.

If you found this article helpful, you can find more like it in our Business section.