Same day shipping is one of the biggest buzz words in ecommerce. And that’s because customers love it! Today, some of the popular ecommerce titans like Amazon have created such a rapid fulfillment process. Thus the customer is getting accustomed to same day shipping.
Even though the idea sounds very fascinating, there are multiple factors that make same-day shipping so complex. You should be efficient in your backend processes and most importantly, know how to manage your order fulfillment. In addition to this, you need the assistance of a reliable and express shipping partner.
There are a number of reasons why today’s ecommerce businesses are eager for same day shipping. We’ll talk about it in the next section. But, before that if you’re wondering whether same day shipping makes sense to you, it does!
Same day shipping can be the difference between more sales and an idle business. It has the potential to help you retain your followers, in this ever competitive market landscape. All of this and other reasons make it mandatory for today’s businesses to leverage same day shipping. Because if you don’t, you can’t really expect the customers to come back to your business.
So, if you want to know what same day shipping is, and how you can leverage it for your business, you’re at the right place! Read to find out more!
What is Same Day Shipping?
As the name suggests, same day shipping is the phenomenon when you ship the order the very same day you receive it. After receiving the order, you dispatch it within a couple of hours, assign a courier and voila! Your order starts its journey in transit to the customer’s doorstep.
The goal of same day shipping is to deliver the parcel the very next day to your customer. This helps in faster order fulfillment and greater customer satisfaction. In today’s age nobody wants to wait for days to receive their parcel. Customers are eager to get a look and feel of the product they have ordered. And this is yet another reason that the logistics industry is experiencing such a boom in the market.
Every business’ goals then come down to serving their customer at the earliest. So, if you don’t do same day shipping, there is no way that you can deliver the next day. Even if you look at the market statistics, all of them suggest that today’s customers are eager to receive their orders the next day. And a large part of it has to do with customer satisfaction. Consider shipping as directly proportional to the satisfaction level of your customers. Thus, same day shipping and express delivery becomes the need of the hour in ecommerce.
Let us take you through the step by step process-
Receiving Orders
Receiving orders is one of the best arts for ecommerce. You are obviously overjoyed that your customers believe in you. But, this is also where all the trouble starts. Once you receive the orders, you have to take every step and be responsible. Because even the slightest mistake can disrupt the entire customer experience.
Picking and Packaging the Inventory
After receiving the order, you pick the inventory and keep it on your packaging station. Then you select the suitable packaging and star packaging your products. This activity is to be done within an hour or two of receiving your order. Because that is how you will be able to ship on the same day. To accomplish this, you need to have a sortd inventory. You must know exactly what is required and where you will find it in your warehouse. This is because, if you don’t have a seamless inventory management system, you will waste time finding products.
The reason we’re insisting on a fast picking and packaging process is because the next part is a little compex. It requires depending on the facilities of the courier services. Which is why you must be prepared at your level. While you package your inventory, don’t do it in haste. Make sure that you spend your time going through the essentials of packaging. Add dunnage wherever required and take special packaging into consideration for fragile items.
Assigning the Courier
Even if you do everything right about your order, doesn’t mean that it is going to be perfect. A large part of same day shipping relies on the efforts of the courier company. Therefore, you need to make sure that your courier partner is someone you can trust. When you receive the orders, you can assign the courier partner to it the very same day.
It depends on the time frame of the order as well. For example if you receive an order before 12 noon, you can assign a courier and the courier agent will be able to pick up the same day. However, if you receive an order around 8 pm, same day shipping might not be applicable. It depends on the pick up timings of your courier partners.
Therefore, you have to decide on the time cut off and inform the customer about the same. For example, Amazon does a really great job in this aspect. They tell you that if you order a product within the next few hours, you will receive the next day delivery of the product. You can do the same for your business as well.
Shipping the Parcel
As you assign a courier, make sure that you are absolutely ready with the package, attach all necessary shipping labels and keep your manifest ready. The part when the courier partner picks up the order from your doorstep is considered shipping. Now it entirely lies at the discretion of the courier company to ship your parcels quickly.
What Should You Do to Offer Same Day Shipping to Your Customers?
If you have to offer same day shipping to your customers, there are a few favors that you need to take care of. This will help you do the groundwork for the task. Remember that it is practically not possible to ship all orders the same day. Because as we highlighted, it has to do with the time you start receiving them.
Limit Yourself to Specific Pincodes
You can’t deliver to all areas the next day. No matter whether you’re express shipping your parcels, some areas are hard to reach. Moreover, it also depends on where you are shipping from. Therefore, make sure that you define clearly on your website the pincodes where you can do same day shipping.
Mention it on your shipping policy page and provide its link in the product pages. This way the customer will not have any fake expectations from your business. Suppose that you advertise ehavility that you ship the orders the same day on your website. Therefore, when a customer sees that they will understand that you can deliver to them almost the next day. What they will miss are the details around the shipping destination and origin. By mentioning it clearly you are removing any ambiguity from the minds of your customers.
Ship from Different Warehouses
Another thing you can do is ship from multiple warehouses. If you are receiving large enough orders from any one zone of the country, it might be a good idea to lay a base there. What we mean is you can hire a warehouse or leverage a 3PL warehouse in that area. This will help you ship the customer’s location in the shortest amount of time.
In addition to this, you will also be able to advance your business in wider geographical regions. If you’re a small business, renting an entire warehouse will not make a lot of sense. For this reason, you can simply make use of third party warehouses and fulfillment centres. This is where you are charged based on the number of products you keep in their warehouses.
Fix Your Same Day Shipping Timing Criteria
AS we’ve already mentioned, if you receive an order late night, you cannot do same day shipping. This is where you have to draw the line. Understand the feasible same day shipping hours. This you can do by talking to the respective courier company. Some courier companies send agents to pick up orders once in the morning and then in the evening. If that’s the case, you can do same day shipping of a large number of orders. Therefore, choose a courier partner that provides you with a facility. Also, inform the customer about the same.
Streamline Your Inventory Management Strategy
If your inventory is not streamlined, you cannot ship the same day. For same day shipping to take place effortlessly, make sure you have your inventory streamlined. Leverage technology for the task along with tools and techniques of inventory management.
Conclusion
Same day shipping can make you the apple of your customer’s eyes. But, you have to do it strategically and inform the customer about it. Don’t create unnecessary expectations in the areas where it is not possible to ship. And lastly, partner with a logistics platform like Dash101 that can help you ship with multiple courier partners effortlessly without raising your shipping costs.
