3 Shipping Tips to Help Make this Holiday Season your Best Ever!
As the holidays approach, most e-commerce businesses are getting prepared for their busiest season of the year. Getting orders faster than you can ship them may seem like a problem most businesses would like to have, but your response can be the difference between growing through repeat customers and losing their future orders to a competitor in the fast paced world of e-commerce. We hear from many businesses that have added more people to the warehouse to help with fulfillment during the holidays, but changing the way that you print your shipping labels can make a big difference to your efficiency and scalability this season.
Tip #1: Print Packing Slips & Labels Together
The first tip to creating a more manageable holiday season is printing your packing list/invoice and shipping label together on a professional all in one form. This option presents some immediate advantages over a 4 x 6 shipping label. You will see an immediate improvement in overall efficiency when you remove the need to match up a packing list from one system and a shipping label from another. Many businesses have people assigned to only this task during their busiest season to keep up with demand. With the packing list/invoice attached to the shipping label, your shipping department will be able to focus on packing up your shipments as fast as possible without fear of sending the wrong item to the wrong person. The improved accuracy of the all in one form is an added bonus that saves everyone time by eliminating the need to correct mistakes down the line.
TrueShip's Label Form combines a shipping label, packing list and message card on a single 8.5" x 11" sheet
Tip #2: Use USPS Flat Rate Boxes for Simple Shipping
Our second tip is to utilize the many new Flat Rate boxes and Cubic pricing options from the U.S. Postal Service to streamline your shipping this holiday season. “If it fits, it ships” gives you an immediate idea how these unique options can save your shipping department time and energy this season. If you have not considered any of the many Flat Rate boxes or Cubic pricing options, it is time to give them another look. There are so many available shapes and sizes for Flat Rate pricing with the Post Office now that most items sold online today can probably fit in one of them.
USPS Priority Mail and Express Mail Flat Rate Boxes offer big discounts for heavier packages going to residential customers. They also offer huge potential time savings. With Flat Rate boxes and Cubic pricing, there is no need to weigh your shipments one by one anymore. In TrueShip, you can assign a default box weight or attach standard weights to your items and run large batches of shipments without worrying about the exact weight. If the package is less than 70 pounds, it is the same price every time with the Flat Rate options from the Post Office.
Tip #3: Multi-Carrier Software Can Save Time for High Volume Shippers
Our last tip relates to sellers using multiple carriers to ship their packages. If you are using different platforms for each carrier, then a multi-carrier system like TrueShip’s ReadyShipper can save your business lots of time and energy. TrueShip’s ReadyShipper gives you one system for all your UPS, FedEx and USPS shipping labels. It’s quick and easy to set up ReadyShipper with your preferred carriers, including your Stamps.com account, and you can start printing labels for each carrier from one interface. TrueShip even built in the ability to set up basic rules for all your imported orders to default to the correct carrier and shipping method automatically. This opens up the possibility for batch processing your shipments in one large run, instead of having to run them one by one.
TrueShip’s ReadyShipper works seamlessly with Stamps.com and the company offers a free 14 day trial.
Contact TrueShip directly for more information at 877-818-7447 or trueship.sales@trueship.com.