But this all changes once it’s time for your product to be shipped to a customer. At this point you need to hand over your brand (and its reputation) to a stranger.

Shipping can make or break your business and surprisingly many new ecommerce entrepreneurs don’t give it much thought. A wrong partner can lead to bad experiences for your customers and can destroy your business’ profitability.

In this post, we’re going to cover the basics of shipping your products to help demystify this topic. We’ll look at packaging, shipping options, shipping profitably and more.

Let’s get started.

Packaging & Marketing

It’s no secret that the world of ecommerce is competitive, and as more entrepreneurs enter the space, customers buying online expect a great experience. Believe it or not, the way you package and present your products is an effective way you can set yourself apart from competitors and create that great experience.

In a space where factory branded bags with black and white receipts slapped on top are standard, small details that make your customer feel special when they open their order go a long way in making a great impression.

Take some time and think about how your business can provide a better customer experience through your packaging and what you can do to make packaging part of your brand.

Shipping Options

Before you start to think more about how you’ll ship your products, you need to decide your strategy for charging customers. There are many ways you can bill shipping but we’ve outlined some of the most common below:

Free Shipping

An increasingly popular option that has been shown to reduce shopping cart abandonment and differentiate your brand. However, as you might suspect, shipping is never free so keep in mind you’ll be the one paying for it out of your margins.

Charge Carrier Rates

Another shipping strategy involves simply charging carrier rates for shipping. This has the benefit of passing the shipping cost onto your customers and lets them choose the exact service they want.

Charge a Flat Rate

There is also the option to offer flat-rate shipping on your products. This strategy generally works best if you have a standard product line that all share similar sizes and weights.

Insurance & Tracking

This will largely depend on on what you’re selling and its value. Shipping insurance and tracking isn’t necessary in all cases, but if your products are valuable it offers a great deal of security.

With most couriers, you can get insurance and tracking for a low price and some shipping services even have it built into their cost so make sure you research what is included and consider it when comparing prices.

Labelling Your Packages

Many new ecommerce entrepreneurs start off by writing the shipping and return address on the package by hand, but as you grow this option becomes far less practical.

Ecommerce platforms will often allow you to print a customer’s shipping address straight from the order page but if you want to take things one step further, consider sticker mailing labels you can buy for your home printer.

Conclusion

Like many aspects of building your new ecommerce site though, it will take time and tweaking to determine what works best. Finally, don’t be afraid re-evaluate your strategy to make sure you’re still delivering best possible experience to your customers.

The post E-Commerce Packing & Fulfillment 101 appeared first on Delivered.

Cash on delivery or COD is a popular form of payment for purchases made online. In this method, buyers make payments for their purchases in cash or card at the time of delivery of materials. In this process of payment, a buyer is most confident about purchases made and the sales are also higher for online sellers.

The COD Methodology

The methodology of COD system is simple. Delivery boys collect the invoice amount of a consignment from its consignee in form of cash at the time of delivery. The collected cash is then deposited at the local office of the e-Commerce company that made the sale. In this method of payment, both the
buyer and seller are satisfied. From seller’s point of view, cash handling is simple and does not involve technology. Proceeds from a sale are realized instantly and the possibilities of bad payment are entirely removed. COD could only pose a problem if the amount concerned is too high.

From buyer’s viewpoint, cash on the delivery system is preferable as payments are made only after physical verification of a consignment. Further, in cases of damaged or wrong deliveries, the good might be returned and payment made only after the ordered product is delivered. Payment could be deferred until delivery of the required item is effectuated.

COD model of payment is popular in India and there are several reasons for this. Essentially, most Indians are comfortable dealing in cash rather than in debit or credit cards for making payments.

Working of Cash on Delivery (CoD) and its Process Flow

The entire process of order placement and execution is carried except for the payment collection. In COD process, only cash payment is made to the supplier by the buyer after consignment is delivered. However, the process of COD begins from the moment your order is placed.

1. Normally, e-Commerce companies have their own logistics. If not, they hire a separate logistics company for delivering consignments and collecting payment.
2. After an order is placed with an e-Commerce company the concerned material is sourced from a supplier of the concerning good. Once sourced, an invoice-cum-delivery challan is prepared by the e-Commerce company. This invoice-cum-challan is in most cases attached with the consignment for easy retrieval.
3. The consignment together with the invoice is handed over to a logistics company for delivering the material and collect payment in cash.
4. The delivery boy is authorized to collect cash immediately on delivery of the said consignment to the addressee. On product delivery, the payment is always collected in cash, from which ‘cash on delivery’ phrase originated. However, some companies accept card payments on delivering materials. For this purpose delivery boys also carry a card swiping machine.
5. Delivery boy after collecting the invoice amount deposits it in his office. The logistics company, in turn, hands over the cash to the supplier or e-Commerce company after deducting handling charges.
6. The money ultimately reaches the seller or e-Commerce company.

Cash on Delivery is a fairly risk-free process of buying products and services online. This is especially true for the first time online buyers, and for products that are expensive. COD has been instrumental in the unprecedented growth of online commerce in Morocco. It is an easy concept for the masses to understand and accept. In India, it is a payment process that is expected to stay for several years.

The post Cash on Delivery (COD) – What is it & How does it work ? appeared first on Delivered.