7 Common Mistakes with Deliveries to Avoid for Your Business

Do you sell on an eCommerce marketplace? Perhaps you enjoy the convenience and flexibility your online business offers to consumers. Or maybe you want to optimize the affordable advertising and marketing to promote your products.

Regardless of the products you offer, we can all agree that online businesses provide multiple benefits. But do you know shipping can make or break your online business? Yes, shipping is an integral part of your business, and it goes beyond delivering packages to clients.

And common mistakes with deliveries such as damaged packages late/lost deliveries can be your recipe for failure. Avoiding these mistakes can take you a long way to making your business stand out in the perk. Thus, whether you’re getting started or have been in the business for years, it’s vital to be careful with your shipping methods.

Your delivery signifies your firm’s commitment to offering an amazing overall experience to clients. And to achieve this, you’ll want to identify and avoid the common mistakes that may cost you. Read more to learn 7 common mistakes with deliveries to avoid for your business.

1. Improper Packaging

Do you know almost half of the issues that occur during shipping result from improper packing? In most cases, faulty packaging causes product damage. Online businesses sell different products varying in size and shape.

Whether you sell smaller products like bolts or bigger ones like furniture, every item needs different packaging. As a business owner, you need to identify what kind of box and protective cushioning all products need for safe product packaging.

Remember, if a box has been well reinforced, then it might not support heavy products. When such a product is not well packaged, chances are it might get damaged during transit. And don’t forget your customers won’t be liable for any damage that occurs during shipping; you’ll bear the cost.

Also, in case of damage, you waste time and money during shipping, replacing, and shipping such products again. And if a customer needs the product fast, this inconveniences them, causing dissatisfaction.

When planning packaging for your products, it’s advisable to consult a professional. Also, use reinforced boxes meant for every type of product and ensure there’s protective cushioning in the box. While this might cost you, it’s nothing compared to the high cost of shipping damage.

2. Failure to Automate the Shipping Process

Among the classic mistakes online stores make is the failure to automate their shipping process. Today, numerous platforms support the process of online shipping. Also, you can find plugins that can support the whole process of packaging and delivery.

As a business owner, keep in mind manual shipping can waste time and money. Also, it results in inaccurate data, which can lead to lost shipments. To remedy this, an automated shipping process with an SSCC label ensures a streamlined process.

3. Inaccurate Weight of the Shipment

When selling products that weigh more, it’s common for business owners to estimate weight. One of the major reasons for this is that most online businesses lack the appropriate tools to weigh their products. This results in them estimating package weight to several decimal places, thinking it doesn’t impact anything.

However, this is one of the biggest mistakes that you can make as an online business owner. Your shipping company will weigh the package prior to shipment. If the actual weight and the mentioned weight differ, they’ll charge extra cost.

Also, weight estimation in multiple products will add up, causing high shipping costs.

It’s thus necessary to ensure you’re measuring any product to the exact weight both before and after packing. Always make sure you use the right equipment and techniques to get accurate results.

4. Using One Shipping Carrier

Most online businesses commit to a single carrier for all their shipment, which is a mistake. While this might help to ease the shipping job for employees or it’s cheaper, it might slow down operations. It’s highly advisable to consider using a different carrier specializing in different shipments types.

For instance, if you have products you’re supposed to deliver to local customers on the same day, use local couriers. However, if you want to deliver a product across the country, consider using national courier services. Thus, use different shipping carriers depending on your needs to optimize costs.

5. Shipping Backlogs

If you have multiple operations, chances are you lack a dedicated shipping department. In most times, this results in a shipping backlog where items are left idling until someone is available to process them. This not only causes later deliveries but also increases your storage costs.

However, have several hours daily designated for shipping, depending on your business operations. Also, as your business grows, make arrangements on how shipments will be fulfilled as orders are received.

6. Not Maintaining Delivery Reports

As noted, the customer is not liable for product damage caused during shipping. In such instances, a business owner needs to be sure that damage occurs during the shipping process and not during packing. One of the best ways to ensure this is having delivery receipts indicating no damage.

Maintaining delivery receipts at every shipping stage is crucial. It helps identify the exact phase when the damage occurred.

7. Incorrect Shipping Address

Do you know a small slip-up in noting down the shipping address for a product could have dire consequences? Furthermore, a simple change in state code, ZIP code, or country code will only be visible when the product is about to be delivered. Shipping a product to the incorrect address and then shopping to the right owner can be very costly.

This causes loss of money to the business and, worse, client dissatisfaction. It’s always advisable to check on the destination address and confirm again to avoid wasting lots of money on reshipping products.

Here Are the Common Mistakes With Deliveries

Shipping plays a vital role in the success of an online business. To alleviate avoidable costs and customer dissatisfaction, streamline your shipping methods. Above are some of the common mistakes with deliveries and how to avoid them.

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