Are you selling online with Shopify?
Want to reduce your shipping costs?
If you answered yes to either of these questions – you need to read on.
(Not using Shopify? Check out our review of the three best WooCommerce shipping plugins.)
Cheap (or free) shipping is a primary factor impacting the purchasing decision of your ecommerce customers. So many of your customers are shopping online because it’s cheap and convenient and the cost of shipping is one of the only barriers to overcome. Paying for shipping seems like an extra cost of shopping.
Paying excessive shipping fees is neither convenient nor cheap.
A recent study from Usability Sciences found:
56% of all shoppers browsed for products, but only 19% placed an item in their cart. The most cited reason… “I can’t find what I’m looking for.” Of this 19%, only 7% of shoppers completed their transaction. The most cited reason for this second level of abandonment was, “the shipping costs and options were unacceptable.”
A few simple updates to your Shopify shipping process will keep your loyal customers happy (and completing their orders).
We’ve got two mega easy ways to reduce your Shopify shipping costs. You’ll save yourself considerable time and money by implementing these two simple steps.
#1. Set a shipping strategy to minimise your losses
Do the maths on your shipping and handling. Some due diligence before setting your postage strategy will only benefit your business.
You’ll save hundreds of dollars.
You’ll save hours of your valuable time.
You’ll save yourself from the constant headache of balancing product and shipping costs.
Shopify allows you to fully customise your flat rate shipping options based on package size and weight. Investing time in this initial set up will reduce possible losses for you in the future.
If you’re using the advanced Shopify plan or Shopify Shipping, you can set a real time shipping calculator. You’ll have the option to implement calculated shipping on your website so your online store customers can see accurate shipping cost estimates.
There are hundreds of shipping calculators you can choose from – We even have our own calculator that aggregates prices from our courier partners.
Setting a shipping strategy is a huge task, but your time investment pays off. Reducing your losses, maximising profits and keeping your customers is worth the few hours it takes.
You can learn all about setting a profitable shipping and postage strategy in our dedicated article.
#2. Optimise your packaging to reduce costs
When it comes to reducing shipping costs- size definitely matters.
Whether you’re using a customised calculator or setting your own flat rate for shipping, costs are dependent on the size and weight of your packages.
You’re going to have to do a bit of research to find the best size package for your products. Once you have the package sizes nailed, you won’t have to think about it again.
Choose protective materials to help keep your package nice and safe (air bags and environmentally friendly packing peanuts work well). If you can protect your product on all sides and it’s nice and snuggly fitted, you have a good chance of preventing damage and keeping costs low.
Avoid packages that are big enough to allow your product to slip around.
We’ve said it before in our shipping heavy items article – products packaged poorly are risky and expensive. Your package might break, and your courier is at greater risk of injury.
Learn to package your products in the right way – you will save yourself plenty of dollars in the long run.
Do some research on the best packaging for your product – if you’re after more inspiration, check out our guide on how to pimp out your ecommerce packaging.
This info isn’t just limited to Shopify – you can apply this knowledge to any ecommerce platform you use.
If your business needs to set a postage strategy that will save you time and money, download our Shipping Made Easy guide.
