What Is Shopify Shipping?
Even vocalizing the word “shipping” gives both consumers and business owners an indescribable wave of anxiety. The mind of the consumer ultimately rushes to questions. People wonder “Will the shipping costs far outweigh the total costs of my order?” or “When will my product actually reach my doorstep?” Similarly, the business owner dreads the taxing tasks of printing labels, processing countless orders, shipping packages, and using innumerable platforms to get the job done.
Luckily, the racing minds of both consumers and e-business owners alike, are put to ease through the utilization of Shopify Shipping. This feature simplifies the order fulfillment process and combines all aspects of shipping into a single solution. Shopify sellers are given the ability to calculate shipping rates, display said fees to customers, create labels, and ultimately send orders. For more in depth information on the capabilities of Shopify Shipping, visit the blog post Shopify Shipping & How It Works.
If you’re still not sold on how Shopify Shipping can revamp your ancient shipping operations, consider the fact that this feature is completely FREE. Included with each Basic Shopify account is this advanced shipping tool. Implementing this complimentary shipping platform will be a cost-effective, convenient, and quick way to progress your ecommerce company.
How Do You Use Shopify Shipping?
Before the actual launch of your Shopify store, it is important to note the alteration of certain settings in order to enable Shopify Shipping. Below we will uncover some of the major tweaks you will have to adjust within your admin settings. To learn how to set up shipping on Shopify, you can check out the getting started guide within the Shopify Help Center.
Add Various Shipping Locations
When you first create your Shopify account, the original address you input is automatically set as the location to ship and fulfill orders out of. BUT, if you plan to ship from different locations or to use outside dropship companies, it is crucial to add those addresses as well.
When adding various locations, it is important to keep in mind that your chosen Shopify plan will limit the amount of locations you are able to input, with the bare minimum being 3 and the maximum reaching up to 20+ addresses. To check out one of the advanced Spotify packages, view Is Shopify Plus Right For Your Business?.
Add Package Types
If your store is located in the U.S. or Canada, you are given the ability to enter the dimensions and weights of preferred packages. NOTE: If your ecommerce business is outside of the two countries mentioned above, you may only add one package type into your settings. Tweaking this, will help ensure that your calculated shipping rates are more accurate to the consumer eye.
Not only can you input this information, but you can save the data as well, eliminating the hassle of tirelessly entering the information over and over. In order to add more than one default package the process is simple, simply go into settings > shipping & delivery > Packages > Add Package.
Add USPS Flat Rate Packaging
As long as the weight of the package is under 70 pounds, then you will simply be charged for the outer envelope, rather than the entire weight. Similar to adding package types, saving certain box and envelope pricing types will further ease your fulfillment process.
Control Default Package Dimension
Now comes one of the most important parts when tweaking your admin settings, calculating the dimensions, weight, and titles of each package. From saving these alterations, you are given the access to add the package types of each product from your website. Ultimately, this will reduce the stress of consumers guessing how much the shipping will cost as well as save you the time of actually configuring those costs.
How to Edit a Package Type
If you want to edit the dimensions, title, or weight of a certain package, simply go to the settings within your Admin > Shipping and Delivery > Packages > Edit > Save.
How to Delete a Package Type
Similar to the easy steps of editing a package, if you happen to remove a product from your site, then likewise you may need to delete the package type from your package presets. From your admin again go to Settings > Shipping and Delivery > Packages > Edit > Delete Package > Delete.
Steps to Follow If Using Shopify Shipping Labels to Fulfill Orders
Most, if not all, e-commerce companies utilize shipping labels to send products out. When using labels for your orders, there are 4 straightforward steps to ultimately transition the package from your hands to the hands of your customer.
1. Purchase a shipping label.
You can buy shipping labels either in the Shopify app or from the Shopify admin page on the internet. To do so, simply enter into the ‘order’s fulfillment’ page and follow the painless prompts.
2. Download and print shipping label.
To complete this step, use either your desktop printer or a label printing company.
3. Attach the label to the outer cover of the package.
If there is no outer sleeve, place the label on the top left corner of the package.
4. Schedule a pickup/drop off time at the post office of your choosing.
This step gives you limitless flexibility when deciding where to ship your products out of.
Break Down of Shopify Shipping Rates
When marching through the decision process of selecting the shipping rates your company will offer, there are plentiful options. Knowing the many possibilities and implementing a cost-benefit analysis will assist your company in the grand scheme of things. If you want to explore the countless options for accounting for your shipping costs, check out The Beginner’s Guide to Ecommerce Shipping and Fulfillment.
1. Provide Free Shipping
Offering free shipping immediately eliminates consumer anxiety related to shipping costs. There are a few ways to go about offering free shipping including, but not limited to: incorporating the shipping costs within the product cost, covering the shipping out of your company pocket, or giving free shipping discount codes to certain customers. You can also create shipping profiles, which allow you to set shipping rates for specific products and to specific shipping zones. To discover the other ways to offer free shipping, look into Shopify Shipping Options, Rates, & More.
2. Offer a Flat Rate
Flat rate shipping works best if you have a standard line of products with similar rates and sizes. By providing flat rate shipping, customers can wage the costs of shipping and know what they’re getting into before committing to your products.
3. Charge Carrier Rates
Offering live-time shipping rates will provide your customers the freedom to choose products based on the exact shipping services they desire.
4. Offer local delivery
This option is perfect for small local companies seeking to ship to local customers. It is more reasonably priced and will shave down some of your shipping costs.
What Are the Benefits & Drawbacks of Shopify Shipping?
By now, it is quite clear that Shopify Shipping offers a wide array of features to help develop your shipping strategies. But with each great innovation comes some setbacks. To learn more about the pros and cons of this tool, check out The Ultimate Shopify Shipping Guide For Online Sellers.
Benefits
Completely FREE with the purchase of your Shopify website.
Calling all “penny-pinchers”, using Shopify Shipping will cost you zero extra dollars, so there really is no harm when trying out this feature.
Easy to manipulate and implement into your shipping strategy.
The ability to easily and quickly figure out how to use this feature, will save you time for the aspects of your company that need more of your personal attention.
Shopify partners with various mail carriers.
In doing so, Shopify is able to offer discounted shipping rates, which is another huge way to save your budget from unnecessary costs.
Live shipping rates.
This will provide your company and customers with real-time shipping rates at the time of checkout.
Easily interlaces with dropship companies.
Nowadays, more and more e-commerce businesses are outsourcing to dropship companies that will handle their shipping needs. By pairing with companies, such as Oberlo, there will be no disruption to said business matters with them when implementing Shopify Shipping.
Drawbacks
Only works with carriers in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
This major con means that you will have to pursue other options when internationally shipping to other countries.
Shopify Shipping unfortunately does not partner with FedEx.
This is a major competitor in the delivery service field, which may lead to complications when finding other ways to deliver your company packages.
This batch printing feature maxes out at 20 labels at a time.
Although you are able print multiple labels at once, there is a limit on the printer capacity, which will draw-out the printing procedure.
Which Carriers Work with This Shopify Fulfillment Service?
In the United States:
- USPS (United States Postal Service)
- UPS (United Parcel Service)
- DHL (Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn)
In Canada:
- Canada Post
How to Use Oberlo with Shopify Shipping
As mentioned above, Shopify Shipping does not interfere with your business with dropship companies. Oberlo, for one, is an example of a dropship app that enables your dropship supplier to directly ship your products to customers without having to go through you. To learn more about Oberlo specifically, check out Top 10 Must Have Shopify Apps For Your Shopify Website.
Similar to how Shopify partners with various mail carriers to offer discounted rates, Oberlo partners with numerous carriers as well. Yet through Oberlo, your company is given more flexibility as their partners stretch across the globe. Both Oberlo and Shopify Shipping, bring something to the table that your company cannot manage on its own. That is a simplified fulfillment process that will halt the overwhelming anxiety connected with shipping.
If you need help navigating through this feature when the time comes, head over to SEO Design Chicago to find the Shopify Web Development page.
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