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In the world of eCommerce, efficient shipping is a key element of success.
The right shipping tools can significantly impact your ability to deliver products promptly, intact, and ready for your customers, all without eroding your profit margins.
From choosing the right boxes to utilizing advanced shipping technology, here are the seven essential eCommerce shipping tools that every entrepreneur should have in their toolkit.
Discover these must-have tips to streamline your eCommerce shipping process and enhance customer satisfaction.
1. Choosing the Best Boxes for Your Products
When it comes to shipping products, choosing the right boxes is crucial. The size, strength, and durability of your boxes can greatly impact the safety of your products during transit.
Ensure that your boxes are just large enough to fit your products and require only the necessary amount of packing material to prevent movement during transit.
It’s imperative to only use new boxes, as these will provide the highest level of structural integrity throughout the shipping journey.
By selecting the appropriate boxes for your products, you can minimize the risk of damage and ensure customer satisfaction upon delivery.
Source: Wikipedia
2. The Importance of Quality Packaging Materials
In addition to choosing the right boxes, using high quality packaging materials, or dunnage, is equally important.
Packing paper, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, foam inserts, and air pillows provide an extra layer of protection for fragile items, preventing them from shifting or breaking during transit.
The type of packaging material you use should depend on the items that you are shipping.
Eco-friendly versions of these materials are increasingly more affordable and readily available, helping to minimize your business’ overall environmental impact.
Remember to use the appropriate amount of dunnage to protect your products without overstuffing the box.
3. Strong Packing Tape: Holding It All Together
To ensure that your packages remain securely sealed throughout their journey, investing in strong packing tape is essential.
Ordinary tape may not withstand the rigors of shipping, leading to potential package failures and damaged products.
By using high-quality packing tape, you can have peace of mind knowing that your packages will arrive intact and in the same condition as when they left your warehouse.
Always double layer your tape along the seams of your box. For additional support, especially with heavier boxes, consider using plastic straps or banding to reinforce the packaging further.
4. Measuring Up with an Accurate Tape Measure
A package’s dimensions play a significant role in determining its base shipping costs. Accuracy when measuring these dimensions is crucial every time you ship.
An accurate tape measure allows you to measure the dimensions of your products precisely, helping you avoid unexpected shipping fees or delays due to remeasures during the shipping journey.
Most standard manual tape measures that measure by 1cm or 1/16th of an inch increments should be effective. Laser tape measures, while potentially the most accurate, do require a clean line of sight and cannot be used on surfaces that can absorb or reflect the beam.
5. Weighing the Benefits of a Reliable Shipping Scale
A reliable shipping scale is a valuable tool for eCommerce entrepreneurs.
It allows you to accurately weigh your packages, ensuring that you select the appropriate shipping method and get accurate rates when obtaining quotes.
Shipping scales are generally more reliable and accurate in their measurements than consumer-use scales, such as kitchen or bathroom scales.
They often feature tare functions, detachable displays, and other functions that make them uniquely suited to shipping.
By having a shipping scale on hand, you can avoid overpaying for shipping or underestimating the weight of your packages, which can lead to delays or additional fees.
6. Streamlining Shipping with a Thermal Label Printer
Printing labels is an essential part of an efficient shipping process.
A thermal label printer offers several advantages over traditional inkjet or laser printers. It uses heat to produce high-quality, smudge-free labels, eliminating the need for ink cartridges or toners.
Thermal labels are also more durable and resistant to fading, ensuring that your shipping labels remain legible throughout the entire shipping journey.
Additionally, most thermal label printers can pair directly with shipping management platforms like ClickShip to offer a smoother order fulfillment process.
7. Leveraging ClickShip for Enhanced Shipping Efficiency
ClickShip is an all-in-one shipping platform that can revolutionize your eCommerce shipping process.
With ClickShip, you can easily compare shipping rates from different carriers, print shipping labels, track packages, and manage your shipments—all in one place.
ClickShip’s platform integrates seamlessly with the marketplaces, giving you access to discounted rates on parcel and pallet shipping from the most trusted carriers in North America.
It also offers a robust suite of shipping and fulfillment tools to help streamline your order management, all for zero upfront or monthly fees!
Contact one of our shipping experts and make ClickShip an essential part of your eCommerce shipping toolkit today.
Written by Brandon Draga
Brandon Draga is a full-time content writer at Freightcom, the leading shipping solution for businesses in Canada. When Brandon is not writing content to help businesses with their shipping needs, he can be found at local skate parks or writing fantasy novels.
