5 Strategies to Optimize the Shipping Process

Whether you are in charge of a large corporation or a small business, you have everything to gain from optimizing your shipping process. The way you deliver your products will have a major impact on the overall customer experience. Issues like delayed shipping, improper packaging, or even damaged products are surefire ways to damage your reputation and irk your customers. You can find out some ways to optimize your shipping process and improve customer satisfaction in this article!

Prioritizing Logistics Is Key

A poor logistics management system can ruin your shipping process. Knowing how to schedule and prioritize all of your shipments is vital but doing this manually can be time-consuming, not to mention leaving plenty of room for human error. Fortunately, there are many types of software and services available to assist you in automating this process if you have not already done so.

Did you know that the global warehouse automation industry is estimated to exceed a total of $30 billion in 2026? This goes to show how much has been invested in improving these processes as well as the number of companies that are increasingly looking to these services as a solution. When you make use of technology tools such as voice commands and mobile scanners, you will find that the shipping process in your warehouse becomes much more efficient!

Simplify the Picking Process

The picking and packing process is heavily reliant on how inventory is organized in your warehouse. Employees may have difficulty locating merchandise if the sorting system is complicated and disorderly. As a result, you may find yourself experiencing shipment delays, a fall in employee engagement, and even customer dissatisfaction.

One great way to handle an extensive range of products is to make use of inventory management software and services. When you streamline the picking process, not only does sifting through inventory become a breeze, you can also be sure that overall productivity will go up. Now, all you need to do is pick, pack and ship with a high level of speed and accuracy!

Invest in Packing Tools

Packing is a crucial part of the shipping process. Ensuring that you have the best tools to meet this purpose will safeguard packages from getting damaged enroute to your customers. Even if the product arrives intact, customers can get a bad first impression from packaging that is damaged or falling apart. Poorly packed deliveries sealed with incorrect or improper materials may even lead to complaints, returns and exchanges, which can mean additional expenses for your business.

To prevent these problems from occurring, you will need to invest in the correct tools and train your personnel on effective product packaging methods. For instance, if you are delivering large items, you may wish to invest in stretch wrappers to speed up the process of packaging them to an established standard.

Taking these steps to improve the customer experience will go a long way – in fact, did you know that 40% of customers are more likely to share an image of your packaging on social media if it’s unique or branded? Beyond ensuring that products are well protected, you may choose to go one step further and showcase your unique brand personality on your packaging. If nothing else, meeting the minimum packaging standards will help you maintain a strong brand reputation!

Ensure Labeling Systems Are Efficient and Effective

Packages that arrive late or are returned may be the consequence of incorrectly written addresses or inadequate labeling. When you produce labels by hand, there’s a much higher chance of human error occurring. This can quickly become expensive and time-consuming. When you invest in an automated labeling system, this can improve the accuracy of your shipping and return labels, allowing you to deliver on the promise you have made to your customers.

As an increasing number of customers start turning towards e-commerce to fulfill their shopping needs, the packaging and labeling market in the United States is expected to grow by 3.2% in 2022. Outsourcing packing and labeling services can make sense if your company is getting a disproportionate number of complaints that your employees are struggling to deal with, or if your business has grown sooner than you anticipated and you need a quick solution to get your needs met.

Track Your Shipments

While you may not have control over what happens to shipments after handing them over to the delivery company, it’s always a good idea to utilize tracking software. This will give you frequent information on the status of your items throughout the delivery process to ensure its safe arrival to your customers.

What happens during this journey may be out of your control, but you will have a record of where your shipments are and who has handled them. This will allow you to stay accountable to customers until the products are in their hands. Should any damage or loss occur, you will be able to track at which point of the journey it happened and identify the liable party.

Today, many businesses choose to outsource their order fulfillment processes to a reliable company like Alpacka. We make use of modern software and technology to meet all your order fulfilment needs, down to your exact specifications. From housing your packages until they are ready for shipping to tracking their progress to your customers’ addresses, we can take care of it all. On top of kitting and assembling your products and handling shipping, we are also able to offer a multitude of value-added services that include custom packaging and printing.

Regardless of the specific service you are interested in, our team will be happy to advise more when you reach out to us today!