 Today we're talking top-notch shipping tips for your online store here on The Journey. Look, you put a lot of effort into making sure that the customer experience is a great one, that they're happy. You approve the images, you tweak your store, you write the emails you do it all. And with some thought and some planning, you can give yourself some time back, some well deserved time back. And that's a good thing because shipping is arguably the biggest time suck and a key part of your business. Shipping both the logistics and the pricing can stress even the most seasoned entrepreneurs out. And we get it, shipping is hard. It can be complicated and messy. But hey, don't worry, small business shipping doesn't have to be a struggle. Running the operations of an e-commerce business takes a considerable amount of effort, especially if you're doing it alone. And that's why it's so important to map out a defined shipping strategy. Since the world of shipping and fulfillment can seem complex, when you're not that familiar with it, we're here, M&I, to take the agony out of shipping with shipping tips and strategies to move your e-commerce efforts forward. Starting with, hey, take advantage of free shipping supplies. Hello, environmentally friendly. Most shipping companies offer free shipping materials, which definitely helps reduce the stress of it all and the overhead. You can choose from boxes, envelopes, padded envelope pouches, you name it, you can order it. And UPS, USPS, FedEx are some of the most common shipping providers with free shipping material options. And your customers will appreciate having the full information about their final charges, especially if you alert them of shipping charges early on during the order placement and checkout process. Surprising your shoppers with the extra charges adds a block to their purchasing flow, causing a not so nice experience. So not sure what shipping options to offer? Let's take a look at some of the pros and cons to each of the options. So starting with free shipping. On average, 55% of shoppers abandon their shopping cart due to unexpected added costs during checkout. Guilty. Increase the cost of your store's items to help offset the cost of shipping. Just make sure if you're going to do that, increase the cost of the store's items. If you're going to do that, make sure it isn't just this drastic increase as significantly higher costs will throw customers off. Another shipping option you have at your disposal is flat rate shipping. This allows you to customize shipping rates to the dimensions of flat rate boxes, which can help keep costs in check. On the customer's end, they'll appreciate that there is no major surprise when it comes to checkout provided you prominently advertise the flat rate. And you'll need to do some number crunching to determine your average per package shipping cost. So you can identify an appropriate flat rate. And this is critical because it helps you land a number that makes sure that you don't underestimate and have to overpay and don't overestimate. So the customer has to overpay and consider pairing flat rates with free shipping. You can do this by charging a flat rate for smaller purchase totals and offering free shipping above a certain total, thus enjoying the best of both worlds. And it might entice that user to spend an extra $10 to get free shipping on their entire order. Another shipping option is carrier calculated shipping. Now how this works under this model, your customer pays the same rate for shipping and handling that you, your company would pay if you shouldered the bill. Now these rates vary depending on the carrier, of course, what's being shipped, its size, its weight, and where it's being shipped, the location. Now you would need to utilize shopping cart function that provides these up to date shipping quotes from various carriers. Now the obvious perk of this model is that your business passes on the cost of shipping to consumers. So these costs don't eat into your margins. This shipping strategy tends to work best for companies that aren't competing heavily on price. So experiment with those surchargers and discounts. And if you want your customers to pay for packaging and other fulfillment costs, then consider adding a surcharge to carriers projected shipping rates. You want to stand out from your competitors, consider offering a discount, perhaps on qualifying orders again on the carriers rates. All right, that's a great segue nearly. Now we want to talk about offering free shipping on promotions. I love these. So if you don't want to commit to fully free shipping for your online store, that's cool, I get it. The shipping promotions is another way to go. If you choose to offer free shipping, make sure you advertise it. That always catches my eye when I'm doing some online shopping. And so advertise it. You can do this on your social media channels and it will help to increase conversion rates. Now to maximize your profitability, you could offer free shipping once the order reaches a total amount. This gets me every time with Sephora. I go on there just to get a little bit more, I don't know, shampoo or some brow stuff. And then I notice the shipping costs and then they let me know how much more to spend. What do you think I'm going to do? I'm going to spend more so I get the free shipping. So this free shipping threshold will encourage buyers to add another item or in my case, four more items. And in the case that the minimum price is not met yet, you can select a fallback that is charged. And hey, we've all been there. The shirt doesn't fit or you wanted lime green and not alligator green or they sent you the wrong brow stuff. You never know. Put yourself in the customer's shoes and make sure that you've spelled out a clear return policy. So their mind is at ease in the event that they have to return a product. The rule here is to prepare for the worst case scenario by outlining expectations ahead of time so that those customers understand your policies clearly. Those policies will serve as a helpful playbook and can even be a chance for you to wow your customers and just help them understand that in the event that something doesn't go right, it probably won't. But if it does, I've got your back. And don't forget to include return labels. Scan based return labels are a special kind of return label that you're not charged for unless the customer uses it. So think of it as a pay one shift. And this option adds a few cents to your upfront label cost and it makes it a much better experience for your customers. So just consider including return labels for that. See, shipping is not so scary. Take the time to arm yourself with these shipping tips and you'll be a power shipper in no time. I think I'm going to update my LinkedIn profile and make myself my professional title a power shipper. But anyways, saving all of those hours and dollars opens up a world of possibility to focus on other key aspects of your business. All right, Neil, I'm going to check your LinkedIn later, but for now that's a wrap. You just learned top not shipping tips for your online store. Be sure to like this video, comment below with your favorite tip. Hey, make sure you subscribe to this channel and ring that bell so you get these episodes first. This is The Journey and we'll see you next time.