Its almost 2015 holiday season which means several things but one of the biggest is shipping. Handling your shipping needs year round is super important not just holiday season. So many times we don’t put much thought into shipping our clients or customers packages. In addition to the programs that we use to do this. It is important to be informed business owner and select the right choice to ensure your business runs smoothly.
Fedex
Is a great option for medium size business owners, also know as enterprise business. If your company is bring in an estimated $500 thousand a year in revenue stream. They are known for their reliability and dependability across the world. The main things to remember when using Fedex they are a pricer way to ship your products and you will be co branding by having to use their boxes and labels. Yes, you can use your own boxes but it cost more.
UPS
Is another great option actually no matter the size of your business. A couple years ago they implemented a program to match USPS rates with shipping. This is a great way to bring customers into the door being the same price as a brand USPS that they are familiar with. All UPS stores are franchise businesses and you must be approved to have your account with them. When I was using them I also did not like that I had to handwrite my labels.
USPS
Everyone has a love hate relationship with this company. Almost all small business I know use them to ship their customers orders and more. When they introduced flat rate shipping a couple years back I thought it was an amazing idea. Then I was limited to the sizing options they offered. I loved that flat rate came with tracking and insurance included in the cost. The downsizes like the other ones is the co branding that you must do. USPS becomes really slow during the holiday season.
Stamps.com
Is an amazing option I discovered my second year of business. This allows you to print your shipping labels for USPS. This is perfect for the companies who have items that are consistently the same size and weight. If you own a t-shirt, accessories, homemade product or something of that nature this is a perfect option for your needs. You can use your own shipping labels and boxes or polymailers. Here are some great shipping tips for small business that you can utilize and cardinal rule to packaging customer’s orders.
Shipstation
Is an Austin based company that makes shipping easier no matter the platform you’re selling on. It is integrated on Etsy, Amazon, Ebay, Squarespace, Bigcommerce, & Shopify just to name a few platforms. In addition to that you can link it to your USPS, FEDEX and UPS accounts. You can test out the platform for free for 30 days and then if you’re a fairly small business the rate is $25 a month to use their program. Which I personally believe is a steal. The company really focuses on helping small businesses grow by making their shipping needs easier.
The first three shipping options all have their pro’s and con’s. It is important that you go into each establishments and learn what they can do for your business specific needs. What works for one small business might not work for yours. Stamps.com and Shipstation are both great options for small businesses to make the processing of the shipping smoother.
