Key Points:
- Address verification systems (AVS) ensure that you get an accurate delivery address from customers at checkout while reducing shipping errors
- Shipping automation executes a whole range of tedious, complex, and time-sensitive tasks
- Automated inventory management reduces human shipping errors because data processes go through fewer hands
Many online businesses use shipping software to streamline the process of shipping and fulfillment. Shipping errors are among the more frustrating day-to-day issues for eCommerce merchants, and shipping software makes short work of these.
Shipping software is a platform that automates shipping processes and simplifies fulfillment with unique features. Benefits of shipping software include access to discounted shipping rates, live rates in the checkout, and much more.
In this article, we’ll give a full-rundown of shipping tips and the benefits of shipping software, plus how it helps you reduce shipping errors for your eCommerce business.
Table of Contents
1. Verify Addresses Before Shipping to Avoid Shipping Errors
Address verification systems (AVS) ensure that you get an accurate delivery address from customers at checkout while reducing shipping errors. This is important because a full 74% of failed deliveries are the result of incorrect or incomplete addresses.
AVS is cart plugin software that works automatically in your eCommerce store. The tool checks every address against the addresses registered with major shipping carriers. In the case of a discrepancy, the software prompts the customer to identify which existing address is theirs. This way, all your orders get where they’re supposed to go 一 making it one of the many pros of shipping software like Easyship.
Shipping platforms like Easyship include AVS technology and integrate automatically with your online store. Since address-related delivery issues are so common, adding AVS technology to your checkout flow is sure to save you lots of time and frustration.
2. Automated Shipping is Foolproof
Shipping automation comes standard in innovative shipping solutions such as Easyship ー and that’s just one of the many advantages of shipping software.
Shipping automation executes a whole range of tedious, complex, and time-sensitive tasks. For example, Easyship automates the following shipping processes for you:
- Label generation, printing, downloading
- Getting shipment-specific discounted rates from couriers
- Displaying real-time rates to customers in checkout
- Displaying accurate duty and tax for international orders
- Selecting courier services for orders based
- Sharing tracking information with buyers
- Delivering post-purchase notifications
- Inventory tracking and real-time updates
- Courier rate comparisons
- Customs document generation
When machines do the work, there’s less risk of shipping errors and less lost time. By contrast, you can fulfill more orders, and faster.
Automation dramatically reduces the need for personnel in the shipping process. With fewer jobs for staff or yourself, there’s less risk of data entry errors. There are also lower costs because you need less help to run your store. Needless to say, there are many pros of shipping software for your eCommerce.
Easyship’s shipping automation is multi-faceted and frankly, mind-boggling to try and explain. But, one of the best processes is called Shipping Rules. This algorithm lets you set rule-based shipping preferences to automate which couriers are used to ship specific orders based on key factors like delivery destination, package weight and size, SKU, and more.
Automation reduces errors on one-manual tasks, but also helps you save time and reduce your labor costs. And of course, reduces shipping errors too.
3. Real-Time Inventory Avoids Stockouts
Stockouts, or selling inventory you don’t have on hand, is a surprisingly common and costly shipping error. Shopify reports that being “out of stock” on in-demand items costs retailers $1 trillion per year in revenue. What’s more, frustrated customers bounce and likely never return.
The culprit here is a lack of visibility into inventory. After all, you only sell customers items you don’t have in stock because you don’t realize the shortage yourself.
The answer is inventory management tools, which come standard in shipping software. Inventory management is a vital business process that tracks the flow of inventory throughout your business, from receiving to selling to returns.
Top shipping software updates your inventory automatically based on orders, shipments, and returns in real-time. Easyship, for example, syncs with your eCommerce platform in seconds. Once integrated, you can manage and view all shipping activity and stock lists in our dashboard. This visibility helps you avoid embarrassing stockouts and minimize customer dissatisfaction.
Here are some other benefits of the inventory management systems included in shipping software:
- Increases order accuracy: Automated inventory management reduces human shipping errors because data processes go through fewer hands
- Improves efficiency: Shipping software automatically updates your inventory based on orders and returns, meaning neither you nor staff needs to bother with manually adjusting inventory
4. Right-Size Your Packages
Couriers levy costly surcharges on packages that exceed the weight or size restrictions of the chosen shipping service.
When you start to use shipping software, we recommend some shipping tips to correctly input the package size and weights of your commonly shipped items. Most importantly: this lets us give you accurate shipping rates from couriers. Secondly, this ensures you know if you’re trying to ship packages that exceed the weight or size limit of certain shipping services.
Right-sizing your packages to the shipping service is an easy way to cut down on shipping delays. For instance, if you try to ship packages that exceed the maximum size/weight limit per service the courier may delay delivery until you pay a surcharge. You may also run into this issue if your box is in bad condition too.
Getting customers their package on time without delays is the main reason for right-sizing boxes. But it also helps you avoid the new common surcharges from common couriers.
Advantages of Shipping Software with Easyship
Easyship is the world’s leading shipping software. Our all-in-one shipping platform was built especially for eCommerce, helping brands to save time, money – and reduce shipping errors.
By connecting your courier account, you’ll be able to save up to 70% on shipping costs, especially with international couriers. Plus, you’ll have access to over 250+ shipping solutions. Who doesn’t like the sound of that?
When you choose to use Easyship, you access our network of global warehouses. That means improving transit times, lowering shipping costs, and even reducing tariff exposure.
Our fulfillment shipping consultants will also take care of your fulfillment needs and are fully equipped with shipping tips to streamline your shipping experience.
Ready to get started? Get started here and learn the benefits of shipping software with Easyship.
If you found this article informative, you might enjoy the following:
