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Proper Shipping Procedures for Online Companies

E-commerce is becoming a bigger and bigger part of today’s marketplace. If you are one of the many companies joining it by becoming online-based, it is imperative that you know how to properly ship things in the mail. One of the main reasons to learn to do so correctly is that it makes your company look good in the eyes of your customers. While they probably won’t notice if you do send it correctly, they absolutely will if it isn’t and will, therefore, form a negative opinion of you and therefore stop using your services.

First, before you even start the shipping mail order business, shop around, do some research to figure out what shipping methods and companies you will use. Research every detail including box sizes, shipping supplies, and the packing process itself. You should also look into whether or not your company is eligible for lower shipping rates with your chosen shipping service. And finalize the research by calculating the total cost of shipping with any given shipping company. You can find such calculation tools online.

This research stage will involve becoming familiarized with both domestic and international shipping procedures. They are decidedly different, with international shipping having more complex regulations. Its complexity will make it tempting to just deliver domestically. You are well advised to not exclude international shipping since it gives you access to much more profit. You will want to know these things so you can get things flowing right away when the orders come in.

Second, you can build up customer love for your business by providing incentives to shop with you. You can do this with things like providing coupon codes are offering free shipping. When you first start these things, it may seem like a bad idea because it is cutting down your profit on each order. However, you will find that customers will almost always be willing to buy more from you if you provide these incentives. On the other hand, if you don’t provide any money-saving incentives at all, customers will notice and you will lose them.

Third, be as clear with your customers about your shipping procedures and policies as possible. Great customer service in every aspect is a valued trait in the eyes of customers, particularly where their orders are concerned. Make sure there they are never confused about your procedures or never have a hard time figuring your company out. This is a great way to lose customers fast.

Fourth, package the order as quickly as possible after it is ordered. Most customers have promptness as one of their top values when it comes to an online company.

Fifth, include stuff that with customers peace of mind about the order such as shipping notifications and tracking information. This will mean less call from irate customers who want to know where in the world their order is.

This is a brief summary of these areas, but they are indeed the primary areas you will want to remember when it comes to shipping from your online company.

Gift Exchanges Can Actually Be Useful

When I go to different White Elephant gift exchanges each year, I’m always interested in the dynamics surrounding them. Sometimes, people have wildly different rules. Other times, you’ll notice things like a theme to the gifts, a dollar limit, or the likes. My favorites are the ones where you’re encouraged to bring unique, useful items only (meaning no gag gifts, used items, gift cards, etc.). A lot of people like the gag gift thing, but it’s just for me.

This year I’m going to a gift exchange and will be bringing along a bottle of nice tequila as my gift. It’ll be highly sought afters simply because most people don’t splurge on these items on their own any other time of the year. But it also fits within the gift exchange’s proposed budget and theme, so I thought what the heck, let’s do it.

But I’ve been thinking of ideas for other things and figured I’d share them here. Some fall under the category of food and kitchen stuff, others fall under shipping supplies, but they all tend to be a bit unique and, because of that, they should be gifts people will appreciate. At the very least, you want the recipient to feel like they can use their gift and enjoy it.

Moving straps

I told you my list would be a bit off the radar for normal gift exchange ideas. But moving straps are just useful enough to fit into a gift exchange, especially if the gifts are supposed to be things that are unique ideas or something most people wouldn’t think of bringing. Sure, you could probably find something more useful than shipping supplies, but why bother when this is quite handy?

Subscription boxes for food delivery

A trial of these is usually free in the first place, but if you can get a month’s subscription free to a service like Hello Fresh, go for it. You’ll be impressed at how many people fight over the gift since it’s enticing, new, different, and no one paid for it (or set up the subscription). All they’ll have to do from there is fill in their email information.

A nice set of salt and pepper grinders

Look, there are some seriously cool salt and pepper grinders out there that I would love for my own home. And you know what they say: bring a gift that you’d love to open yourself. That way, if you end up with your own gift, well, it’s all yours and you wanted it anyway!

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