Shipping Made Simple This Holiday Season

If you want to cater to all your customer’s needs, then offering shipping is a no-brainer this holiday season. After all, who has time for the post office these days?

Your customers are busy and looking for one-stop shopping destinations… whether you want to admit it or not. That means your big-box competitors – yes, you know who – are capturing sales you could be capturing simply because they have made it “that much easier” for customers. One way to help snag these customers back is to not only offer shipping, but to promote it, as well.

Here are some tips to help you navigate shipping this holiday season (and always, really).

Shipping Tip #1: Know Your Shipping Options 

Possibly you only use UPS or FedEx, but either way the key is to know when your carrier pick-ups are. Schedule pick-ups directly from your store and have everything packaged and ready to go for an easy hand-off. Should you have to drop off your packages, know when the open and closed hours are of your preferred carrier, and price out your competitive carrier options to ensure you are getting the best rate.

Shipping Tip #2: Have Your Supplies Ready to Go 

Beyond gift wrapping is shipping packaging. Don’t find yourself in a fuss looking for a box, tape, Sharpie and necessary packaging materials like packaging bubble wrap. Have everything in a designated area with ample back up supplies available.

Shipping Tip #3: Pre-Pack Popular Items 

If you know a candle is a hot-seller (no pun intended), then have some ready to go in both gift wrap and snail mail packaged. Merchandise this in your store so your customers know how easy it is to simply “buy and go”. Even having just three items deep pre-packaged can help promote this idea, and as you sell one you can wrap another once the customer has paid and left. Turn-key is key.

Finally, identify if you want to charge your customers a flat rate or nothing at all. Your store demographics should help decide this.

And enjoy! Going above and beyond what is expected is what independent retail is all about.