Do You Have An E-commerce Business? A Few Options For Shipping Your Products
Posted on: 22 November 2017
If you have a business that operates on the Internet, without a physical place for your customers to visit, you need to have a way to get your products to the people who buy them. Depending on your products and where you are located, you have a few different options for this. When a customer places an order, consider the following to decide the best, and least expensive way, for them to receive what they bought:
Self-Delivery
If the customer is near you, it is possible to take the order to them. If they do not want you coming to their home, you can make arrangements to meet someplace public. When they live a bit further away, and making the drive to them would take up a couple of hours, you may want to set up a regular drop off date each month or so if you receive a number of orders from the same area. This option can be listed on your website, letting everyone know when you will be in town and where to meet you to pick up orders. It would be a good idea to take some extra products too, in case others show up or people want more than initially ordered.
Drop-Shipping
When you order your products online, all ready to be used, you may be able to have the manufacturer or warehouse ship directly to your customers. They will use your company name and address as the seller. The customers will pay the shipping fees, and you will not have to worry about packing things up and going to a shipping company to get them out. Many companies offer to drop-ship if you are a regular buyer from them.
Shipping Companies
The most common option is to use a shipping company to get your products out. This will involve packing up the products, labeling them appropriately, and either carting all the boxes and envelopes to the shopper or having them come and pick them up from you. This is often the fastest way of getting your products out when you are on top of the packaging. However, you will need to have all the packing supplies on hand and know how much the shipping will be so you can charge the customers correctly.
E-commerce can save you a lot of money. You won't have to have a large showroom for customers and may be able to keep your inventory to a minimum. The important thing is to choose the method that will get your products to the customers in a timely fashion. No one wants to have to wait around a week or more for something they bought. Try a few of the options until you have the one that makes the most sense for you and your customers.
Contact a company like Morningside Courier Systems for more information and assistance.
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