2023 Holiday Shipping Tips for E-Commerce Stores

Another holiday season is around the corner. With Black Friday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas sales, you might want to binge shop at your favorite e-commerce platform, but you need to pay attention to some things before you commit.

Online Shopping & Shipping Greatly Increases During the Holiday Season

Many online salesmen, especially those new to the market, view e-commerce activities during the holidays as business as usual. This couldn’t be farther from the truth, especially regarding e-commerce shipping. They assume that their usual arrangements, shipping rates, and timelines would work, leaving the bulk of the planning to their carriers. This is unwise as holiday logistics tend to be entirely different, and it’s not enough to be hands-off during the delivery process.

Importance of Proper Preparation for Shipping Online Holiday Shopping Orders

Traffic, a strained supply line, and customer expectations cause timelines to be delayed or unpredictable. That, coupled with increased demand and reduced supply, can lead to most online merchants being unable to meet their promises. Hence, there is a need for new shipping strategies for the holiday season. Here are some Holiday Shipping Tips for e-commerce stores that will alleviate your headaches this holiday season.

1. Buy Supplies Early

One of the best shipping tips is to buy as many supplies as early as possible. To avoid supply chain delays, purchasing your holiday merchandise months before the holiday is a better option. This will help you avoid late shipping, higher shipping rates, and price increases due to increased demand. Staying ahead of issues like this makes your business seem more reliable and trustworthy than your competitors.

2. Update or Automate Your Workflow

Succeeding as an e-commerce merchant during the holiday season requires you to quickly respond to and manage above-average traffic due to holiday orders. So, it’s prudent for any e-commerce merchant to automate shipping using appropriate software. Adopting this practice helps cut the time by a large percentage, allowing you to handle and track several more orders without issue. 

Using such software, one can easily automate the input of orders, order tracking, email and SMS notifications, etc. These are necessary activities that are required to manage the holiday orders. Such software allows you to keep track of your stock, the correct order, the movement of the merchandise, and communication with the customer. This is especially important, especially for multichannel sellers who need to be able to automatically update the tracking status to the selling channel, allowing them to avoid confusion and duplicate shipping.

3. Update Return Policy

To build a good rapport with customers, any e-commerce merchant worth their salt needs to be able to accept returns. With the holiday season so close, sellers should make provisions to update their return policies, from the condition of the merchandise to the return window. To accommodate the season hubbub, extending the return window is a good idea. This can be used as a good marketing strategy to grow your platform. Even using lenient order canceling policies will also improve rapport with customers.

Contact Xpressman Trucking & Courier in Randolph, MA for Scheduled Deliveries, Inventory Management, Warehousing, & Pick-and-Pack Services for E-Commerce Businesses

As an e-commerce store owner, it’s essential to have a reliable shipping partner that can handle all your logistics and shipping needs during the busy holiday season. At Xpressman Trucking & Courier in Randolph, MA, we offer a wide range of services designed to help you grow your e-commerce businesses. If you are looking for a secure warehouse to store inventory until it is ready to be picked and packed, Xpressman has you covered. We also provide scheduled deliveries and inventory management services to ensure your orders are fulfilled accurately and on time. To learn more and to request a free estimate, fill out our online form or call us at 781-836-4614.