HOW MANY ORDERS WILL YOU SHIP TODAY AND HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE YOU TO PROCESS THOSE ORDERS?You tumble out of bed, grab a cup of last night’s coffee, log on to your website and see you had a good night. 20 orders. That’s the great thing about the web. Somebody’s always buying somewhere – even when you’re sleeping.
So, how you going to spend your day? Filling orders and running down to the UPS pick-up before the last brown truck leaves for the coast? And what about inventory? How many silver-plated nut bowls can you stack in the spare room?
Success comes fast on the web, especially when word of mouth gets out there, on a global scale, that your nut bowls are the best. So, are you prepared for success when it smacks you with 250 orders in a single day? This is definitely one of those “be-careful-what-you-wish-for” things.
Order Fulfillment: Fast and Right
I can go to the big box store up the road and buy a computer. And I walk out of the store with my new laptop play thing and start to download games as soon as I get home. So, in buying from you, 12 time zones away, I actually make a trade-off. Okay, I’ll buy from your online outlet, put off the buyer’s rush and wait “3 to 5 business days” for delivery. (Longest three days ever!) In exchange, you save me a few dollars over the box store’s price and deliver my goodie quickly and in perfect working order.
When you’re competing against the real world, where the buyer receives instant gratification from the purchase, you better make sure you deliver each order you get quickly and correctly – right product, in mint condition, within the delivery window. So, are ready for site success? Do you have a Plan B to follow when your product catches fire and becomes the next “must have?”
The long-term growth of your web-based business depends on repeat buyers. It costs you six times as much to add a new customer to the roster than it does to maintain a good relationship with an existing, satisfied buyer. So, S&H should be more than an item on your “to-do” list.
What Are the Options?
It depends on how to best use your time.
If you’re a one-man band operating out of your house, you do it all – shipping and handling included. And, if you’re only shipping 10 orders a day you can probably handle that.
First, open a business account with one of the big shipping companies – UPS, FedEx or some other carrier. These companies have accounts for small businesses that offer plenty of time-saving benefits- like free pick-up on your front porch.
Maintain meticulous order tracking records. You should be able to track all packages through your carrier account and address delays before they become a problem. Stay on top of each order throughout the purchase cycle.
Create a dedicated packing space – the place you keep all packing materials. Create a system that employs as much automation as possible: computer-generated shipping labels, database automation, automated pick-up notifications, auto-responders and other solutions. In fact, if you’re using a quality web host, give their “business solutions” professional a call to see how you can sync up your database with your order-processing procedures.
The other option is to use an order fulfillment house – a company that does nothing but fill orders for lots of different clients. Some of these businesses provide turnkey client care, providing telephone reps to take orders, packing, shipping, inventory storage and so on. In other words, you sign off on order fulfillment and put the time you spend each day tearing sheets of bubble wrap to more productive use – like marketing.
If you’ve got a good product that’s selling well, you should be spending more time on finding new products, marketing the site and integrating all promotional activities if you maintain a real word retail outlet.
Shipping and Handling: Best Practices
- It’s tempting, but don’t use shipping and handling to extend your margins on sales. There are lots of sellers charging $5.95 for shipping and handling when the actual cost is $2.50. Nobody’s fooling nobody.
- You aren’t in the shipping and handling business. You’re in retail. You sell products. Secure your margins on the product line and keep shipping costs low in the red-hot web marketplace.
- Reassure the buyer with regular, automated emails: order received (with order number and tracking info) should be in the buyer’s inbox almost immediately, shipping date, order shipped and a follow-up customer satisfaction request.
- Don’t back order. This infuriates many buyers and will certainly lead to a lot of order cancellations, costing you money and time. If you don’t have the product in the warehouse or garage, remove the item from the site until you receive product from the wholesaler. Or, at least notify the buyer that the item is on back order. Then, if they still want to order you won’t be dashing buyer expectations.
- Immediately notify the customer of any shipping delays and provide an opt-out link that makes it easy for the buyer to cancel the order. Remember, customer good will goes a long, long way toward business success and a customer who can return items quickly and easily, or a buyer who can cancel an order before it’s shipped, is a happy buyer. Even if you don’t make the sale this time, you’ve created invaluable good will. And that creates word of mouth success.
- Don’t make promises you can’t keep. A disappointed customer is a lost opportunity, and one you’re unlikely to recover. Exceed buyer expectations. You develop a client base that grows your site to real profitability and financial freedom faster. You also create positive webuzz – WOM marketing on a global scale.
Good client care keeps your business moving forward. You see the progress in the form of repeat buyers and buyers who recommend your site to their friends because they got it fast and right from you.
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