Shipping costs: The elephant in the ecommerce room
Running an e-commerce store means shipping your products is a major focus of your business strategy, so it is especially important to make smart decisions about what you offer your customers. Retail customer trends indicate that your shipping options can make or break a sale.
A Pitney Bowes consumer survey released late last year found that shipping was a major factor for 80 percent of consumers when considering whether to make a purchase, and 49 percent actually changed their minds at the point of sale due to shipping costs.
Offering affordable shipping isn't always as simple as it seems, as there may be hidden fees for merchants when working with parcel shipping services. John Haber, founder and CEO of shipping and logistics consulting firm Spend Management Experts, told Practical Ecommerce that it's important to closely examine your invoices to determine if this is the case. He explained that this could be due to improperly manifesting a package, which will result in extra fees that will inevitably be passed on to the consumer.
To avoid overcharging customers, Ecommerce Times suggested integrating real-time rates that reflect the products being shipped rather than the cost of the items. In turn, this will encourage more shoppers to make purchases, driving up sales and increasing your profits.
