Photo Source: Australia Post
Australia Post has recently launched its new Shipster subscription service, providing free shipping for online orders of over $25 at more than 40 different retailers across Australia. Available for people living in metropolitan Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, this new service has been setup to compete with Amazon Prime’s entry into Australia and with an initial price of $6.95 for the first 3 months, it looks set to shake up Australia’s online e-commerce landscape. But what does it mean for Australian small businesses?
Keeping the cost of shipping low is essential for any small business that sells their goods online, according to a recent Temando survey around 70% of consumers will abandon an online shopping cart if the cost of shipping is too high, so smaller businesses are going to have to decrease their shipping costs if they want to compete with the larger retailers who can offer Shipster’s ‘free’ shipping service. Here’s a few quick tips on how you can reduce your business’ shipping costs.
Optimize Your Packaging Making sure your packaging and boxes are the right size for your goods will also help you save money on shipping. Most delivery companies charge not just for the weight of a package, but for their cubic weight as well. This means that any empty, wasted space in packages you send is wasted money so optimizing your packaging to ensure as little wasted space as possible is crucial to keeping costs down.
Provide Options Modern consumers demand convenience and options when it comes to online shopping, and with 85% of consumers expecting multiple shipping options when ordering online, it’s important that businesses give them delivery options when they reach the checkout. This means providing option for same day, express and regular delivery and adjusting your pricing for each service accordingly. Not only will this increase customer satisfaction, it can also help you save money on shipping if you have the right pricing model.
Decrease Returns Returns are another factor that can have a big impact on your shipping costs. If you are constantly picking up and re-sending out orders that have been returned, it can not only reflect poorly on your business’s brand but also have a big impact on its bottom line. The most common reasons for items being returned are incorrect sizing, goods arriving broken or damaged and goods not looking the same as they did online. Making sure your sizing measurements are accurate, taking care when packing orders and ensuring online photos are reflective of a product are all good ways to reduce returns.
The Use Of An Aggregator Shipping aggregators can be a good way to decrease your shipping costs. Rather than rely on one shipping company for all your packages, an aggregator will allow you to instantly get quotes on price and delivery time for each of your orders from various different companies and services. This allows you to choose from a variety of different pricing options and depending on the situation select the best option that will work for you and for the .