Raksna AnandEver thought of ecommerce shipping as a marketing tool? E-commerce brands often focus on various channels during the holiday season like marketing, website design, product variations, emails and social media. We’re here to say that e-commerce shipping is also a great marketing tool that e-commerce brands should consider.
E-commerce shipping is the last part of the pre-purchase customer journey before the buy button is clicked. Holiday buyers look at the shipping options and buy their gifts. Entice buyers with shipping and we’ll teach you how.
Ecommerce Shipping: The Ultimate Marketing tool
1. Free shipping, duh
90% of customers would shop online more often if free shipping is offered. (savemycent.com)
Free shipping would
- Improve conversion rate,
- Reduce cart abatement rates,
- Positive customer experience.
We understand that every business cannot offer free shipping. In that case, we suggest that you do the following
- Offer free shipping above a certain value,
- Offer free shipping on certain products only
- Offer free shipping only to members or email subscribers to make them feel exclusive
2. Ecommerce Shipping optionality
With shipping optionality in the play, brands offer freedom to customers to choose what they want in terms of shipping. There are many types of ecommerce shipping options that are trending right now.
- Expedited shipping – Expedited shipping is an umbrella term which has many options, which are two-day delivery, same-day delivery, and overnight shipping. 54% of consumers under the age of 25 state that same-day shipping is crucial when shopping online. (Walker Sanders)
Many customers who opt for expedited shipping often are willing to pay extra for faster shipping options. These expedited shipping solutions are practically a way to reduce cart abandonment rates and increase conversion rates.
- Local delivery – Local delivery is when a product is delivered from your local store to the customer’s doorstep. It is a great option for brands to acquire local customers.
- International shipping
- Eco-friendly shipping options – Gen Z and the millennials are obsessed with sustainability and knowing good for the earth. Eco-friendly shipping options opt for biodegradable packaging, carbon offset programs, and recyclable packages. Often, these eco-friendly shipping methods take much time to reach the customer as they opt for ground shipping. But customers are still considering eco-friendly shipping in order to save the world.
A Statista study says that product packaging accounts for the greatest portion of greenhouse gas emissions in the e-commerce industry. There are options to increase shipping efficiency and reduce unwanted packaging boxes,
- Pack orders efficiently,
- Let customers know that you are practicing sustainable shipping methods,
- Allow customers to offset carbon at checkout,
- Consolidate orders,
- Promote the use of reusing and recycling packages,
- Opt for eco-friendly shipping and fulfillment partners,
- Reduce returns.
3. Gifting options
With the holiday season, festive cheers would be everywhere. Even the brand’s website would be decorated with festive elements to set the holiday mood. Why not offer that gift-wrapping option in your e-commerce shipping as well? This saves enormous time for your customers and time is everything during the holiday season. Your customers or people in general would want to spend their time with their loved ones. You are supporting that by reducing the time for them to wrap gifts. Provide multiple gift-wrapping options in your ecommerce shipping.
4. Personalized notes
A personalized note is also a time-saving element which you can use as a part of your shipping process. Gifts are often bought from e-commerce brands and this customizable personal note when given as an option would add a personal touch to your entire product and improve customer satisfaction.
5. Estimated delivery date
8 out of 10 shoppers agree that the more valuable their package, the more important it is to have an accurate EDD. (Forbes)
Customers are often anxious about their products being delivered on time. Especially during the holiday season, the anxiety peaks. In order to alleviate this anxiety, estimated delivery dates should be specified.
Mentioning the holiday shipping deadlines would also be helpful in this case, as it gives a real-time scenario of what’s going on in the shipping industry as well. Shipping deadline is the latest date in which you can ship your packages and send them their way to the customers to reach them on time. In order to reduce anxiety or obliviousness, brands can offer shipping.
6. Shipping cost calculator
Factors to consider:
- Dimension
- Weight
- Destination
- Type of shipping
- Supply chain disruptions
- Shipping deadlines
Various shipping costs for various types of shipping services could be displayed in order to give a real-time image of how much shipping costs for the customer. A customer on a budget would be able to get a clear idea of what type of service he or she wants.
7. Customisable packaging
Oreo’s ColorFilled campaign is the best example to depict how important customizable packaging is. Oreo ran a campaign called the ColorFilled campaign where customers had the liberty to choose packaging of their own and they even designed packaging of their own. Oreo announced that this would be a limited edition. Oreo being Oreo, their fan base felt crazy and ordered a lot of products from Oreo. This campaign was a huge hit. Customizable packaging is one competitive advantage you can use in terms of ecommerce shipping to further nudge customers into converting.
The customer journey does not end after the buy button. The phase after the ‘buy button click’ is called the post-purchase phase. Brands often overlook the post-purchase part. Right from the mail which says ‘your order has been placed’ to delivering the product, sets the stage for retention.
Retaining old customers costs less than acquiring new ones. Shipping happens through 3rd party logistics partners. Brands should assume responsibility for any shipping mishaps even though they’re not responsible for anything which happens after the product has been shipped. Taking up responsibility offers a very big competitive advantage in terms of offering last-minute delivery delight.
Final word
While e-commerce brands do a lot of things to drive traffic to their website, the elements in the website clearly play an important role in pushing the customers towards converting. E-commerce brands often offer discounts, spin-the-wheel offers, customized coupons, and gift bundles in order to lure customers to convert. But shipping is the last touch point or the last element that you can add to further improve the conversion rate. When customers find the shipping Options they want and when the package arrives the way they want, customers click the buy button.
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