If you’re an eCommerce entrepreneur, then you know that shipping is one of the most difficult aspects to automate. There are many fulfillment centers out there, but they all have their own disadvantages. To find more information about importance of branding, you should try Guide to how to delete an Amazon review for Amazon sales
Some fulfillment centers require expensive lease agreements or deposits for storage space. Others charge high rates for order fulfillment or shipping automation software.
Why go with these options when you can automate your shipping at a low cost? In this article, we will discuss five reasons why automating your shipping is beneficial and how it could save your business time and money.
What is Automated Shipping?
Automated shipping is the act of using fulfillment centers or drop shippers to automate your order fulfillment.
Instead of having to ship every single item on your eCommerce store, you can automate some processes by sending orders directly from your website to a third party who will then fulfill and ship them for you.
This process eliminates the need for long-term storage space at an expensive warehouse; it saves time because one shipment goes out instead of multiple shipments; plus, it’s much more cost-effective than hiring employees.
1. Automated Shipping Saves Time
It takes a lot of time to manually process orders, especially when you’re shipping hundreds or thousands per day.
With automated fulfillment centers that provide order management software, you can automate your eCommerce business and save hours each week that would otherwise be spent on repetitive tasks like processing customer invoices and packing boxes.
Not only is this more efficient for your employees but it also ensures accuracy in reporting while saving costs by reducing mistakes.
2. You Can Reduce Shipping Costs
Automatic fulfillment centers can automate your shipping processes and save you money.
For example, many providers offer the ability to manage all aspects of order fulfillment for UPS, FedEx, USPS, and many others.
This includes automated customer invoices, tracking numbers, and even saving on international rates with discounted flat-rate quotes from multiple carriers.
You can also set up “smart” labels that allow your orders to print correctly every time without any mistakes which could be costly in terms of lost products or incorrect addresses (which would require a re-shipment).
These are just some examples as there are endless possibilities when it comes to reducing costs through automation.
3. Automated Shipping Greatly Improves Productivity and Efficiency
Automated fulfillment centers automate the order management and shipping process for your business.
This allows you to focus on growing your company instead of spending time processing invoices or packing boxes.
With a reliable system, employees can spend more time scaling marketing campaigns, optimizing product pages, adding new products, customer support. The possibilities are endless.
In addition to all this, automated systems greatly improve productivity by reducing mistakes in data entry as well as lost shipments due to incorrect addresses or missing tracking numbers.
4. Automated Shipping Accuracy
Another benefit of automated fulfillment is the accuracy in reporting.
With accurate data, you can automate order fulfillment to improve productivity and efficiency as well as reduce costs by using optimized shipping rates that are provided through an integration with multiple carriers.
All of this data is automatically calculated so you don’t have to spend time tabulating reports or juggling spreadsheets.
Automated fulfillment centers also give eCommerce businesses greater visibility into their business by providing real-time inventory counts that are updated in every system your company uses, including marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.
This allows companies to automate order management even more which helps reduce shipping costs while improving productivity.
This is because employees do not need to check product availability or spend time manually processing invoices or packing orders.
5. Automated Shipping Results in Better Customer Experience
Customers want to receive their orders when promised and in good condition.
For eCommerce businesses, this means having inventory accuracy that does not hold up the order fulfillment process.
With automated shipping software, you can automate your business while still maintaining high levels of service for customers by providing delivery estimates as well as tracking numbers so they know exactly where their package is at all times during transit.
This ultimately improves customer experience which keeps them coming back for more.
You Can Maximize Your Conversion Rates
Another benefit of automated order fulfillment is that it can help you maximize your conversion rates.
If a customer receives their product on time and as expected, they are more likely to become a repeat buyer which means higher revenue for you.
Ways You Can Implement Automated eCommerce Shipping
There are a few ways you can automate your eCommerce shipping.
For example, many fulfillment centers offer order management software that allows companies to automate processes including shipments and inventory updates.
In addition, as mentioned before, automated systems allow for optimized rates with multiple carriers which results in savings on international deliveries without sacrificing speed or convenience.
Here is the complete step-by-step guide for implementing automated shipping:
Step #1: Use Integrated eCommerce Platforms
An integrated eCommerce platform is one of the best ways to automate your shipping process.
This includes marketplaces like Amazon and eBay as well as shopping carts such as Shopify, Volusion, or Bigcommerce.
You should also automate order management software that automatically calculates rates with multiple carriers while giving you access to accurate data for reporting purposes.
Step #2: Use an ERP Inventory System
An ERP inventory system is a must for any business looking to automate its shipping process.
These systems keep track of everything from your sales data to customer information, product details and costs, while also tracking all inventory levels in real-time so you know exactly how much stock you have at the click of a button.
Step #3: Automate Shipping Tracking
Once you automate your order management system, it’s time to integrate a shipping tracking platform.
There are many applications that can help automate shipments including carriers such as UPS or FedEx which provide APIs to automate the process of obtaining quotes from multiple carriers without having to go through an integrator company.
Want to Learn More About How to Automate Shipping?
As you can see, it’s not too difficult to automate shipping. To learn more about this subject, continue reading our blog for more helpful articles.