Companies should focus on smart shipping, not free shipping

For every business, e-commerce has become a topic of discussion. Whether it is the decision to implement this shopping platform or looking for innovative ways to make it run more efficiently, there are several different topics that organizations are currently talking about.

One area that all companies are talking about is how to improve their shipping strategies. How a product gets from Point A to Point B is a critical piece of the e-commerce strategy. Actually making the purchase is just part of the transaction, and shipping options are often a major deciding factor for customers.

In a recent post of The Holistic Marketer blog of the Bangor Daily News, Matthew Chabe examined the idea of businesses offering free shipping. This is something that companies consider as a way to improve the number of transactions that are completed through the a Website.

Chabe believes that offering free shipping can lead to an increase in sales of roughly 15 percent. However, this is not cost effective with organizations that experience high volume sales or or sell high ticket items. These are sales that many small businesses are not making, causing free shipping to be a poor decision.

Instead, companies should focus on the actual act of shipping products. Instead of using a gimmick like free shipping, organizations should consider partnering with a reliable third party logistics and warehousing firm. Not only does this improve the processing of every order, but also the warehousing and transportation aspects as well. This leads to a better overall customer experience.