Save time and money with an automated shipping and booking flow
Jonas Raaschou
The advantages of automated shipping: you save time. You avoid mistakes. You save money over time. You gain time that you can use to grow your business.
Shipping and order management can be some of the most time-consuming elements of running a webshop. Picking and packing the products, choosing the right carrier, printing shipping labels, preparing invoices and withdrawing money from customers’ accounts are time-consuming processes that must be done correctly. Making mistakes can lead to discontented customers and troublesome finishing operations.
In this blogpost I’ll show you three ways to automate your shipping process and avoid mistakes.
We all know the most common challenges of e-commerce. One of the things that must work is shipping. New studies show an expected change in purchasing behaviour and volume. Therefore it’s very important to have the shipping flow under control.
The advantages of automated shipping:
- You save time
- You avoid mistakes
- You save money over time
- You gain time that you can use to grow your business
What does automation mean?
Automation means getting rid of manual processes in a working procedure. At Webshipper we optimise shipping in order to save time. A typical automation could be to print the shipping label or prepare digital customs paperwork automatically.
Perhaps you want a specific price on your parcel, where the product’s weight, price, or destination is taken into consideration. The options are endless, and it’s all about making it easier for you to get through the orders of the day.
As a webshop owner you can optimise your shipping process with these three automations.
1. Print shipping labels automatically
Make your system print a shipping label automatically when you pack a parcel.
This can be done in many ways. The important thing is to reduce time-consuming tasks in more systems and handle them in only one place.
Webshipper has a barcode on every pick list that can be scanned with a hand scanner or a smartphone. When the barcode is scanned, the order is fulfilled, and the shipping label is printed automatically. If your e-shop is connected too, you’ll also be able to take the money from your customer’s credit card right away.
What does that mean for you?
In this way you’ve carried out a process in one system that normally is handled in three or more systems. Most webshops will gain 1–3 minutes per order.
By printing and fulfilling the order automatically, you’ve avoided:
- preparing the shipping label manually
- entering the order in the books
- fulfilling the order in your webshop system.
It’s worth noting that there are no limits. If you wish to print a delivery note or return label, that could be an obvious optimisation process too.
2. Set up smart rules
Set up smart rules that are dependent on the product’s type, price, weight, and destination – and thereby offer the correct type of shipping at the correct rate.
What’s in it for you? By setting up smart rules you can offer your customers more flexibility, because you can offer exactly the type of shipping that fits their needs.
Convenience? A lot of customers are willing to pay a little extra for convenience. So why not offer a wider range of delivery methods, without cheating yourself?
If you want to offer free shipping, only give away whichever is the cheapest shipping method for you. Shipping to a home address, at the weekend or at night, is more expensive, but many will be willing to pay the price for this option.
If you want to know more about how smart rules can optimize your checkout you can read more about it here “Boost your online checkout“
3. Send track and trace emails automatically
When you’ve fulfilled and shipped an order, it’s important to tell your customer. The better the information, the safer your customer feels. We recommend sending an automatic email the moment the order is shipped. The email should contain short copy and tracking information. Many webshops count on their carriers to send tracking information to their customers, but not all do so as a matter of course. Automate this step in the process and you will save time and avoid mistakes.
If you send your own tracking emails, you can add your logo and relevant copy. Your customer will feel safe and will be more inclined to buy from you again.
Automate your tracking emails because:
- it saves you time
- it keeps your customers well-informed
- customised emails strengthen your brand and make you appear more serious.
The whole point of automation is that with a relatively small investment you can remove time-consuming and annoying processes. In the long run it saves you time, money, and resources. Those resources can instead be used to make your business grow.
Read more about tracking and notifications here.