9 Best Practices for Holiday Shipping to Keep Your Customers Happy and Onboard

Keeping your customers happy during the holidays can be a tricky time for e-commerce. You want to make sure everyone gets their present in time, but at the same time, you don’t want to do anything that will scare them away from buying from you again. And those are just some of the reasons why you need a solid holiday shipping strategy. Holiday shipping can feel like a game of hurry-up-and-wait. Most customers expect their orders by December 25th, and while some shoppers enjoy the thrill of getting packages on Christmas morning, others prefer not to stress about when they will arrive. Here are 9 tips for an organized holiday shipping plan that keeps your customers satisfied and returns high in Q1.

Create a holiday shipping schedule and stick to it

First things first, you need to know when you’re going to be shipping which items to customers. This is where an organized system comes in handy. Create a spreadsheet with columns for items, customers, orders, and dates. You can also use shipping management software such as Storq to make your holiday shipping schedule even easier. Instead of constantly updating a spreadsheet manually, you can drag and drop products, customers, and dates to assign shipping dates. This will make it easy for you to see what needs to be shipped out, when it should arrive at the customer’s house, and what you should expect to be delivered by the carrier.

Don’t forget the essentials: tracking, labels and boxes

Always remember to add tracking information to your order shipments so that customers know when to expect their package. And don’t forget to provide a tracking number on the packing slip too. This way, customers will have access to their shipment at all times, so they can keep tabs on it through the holidays. To save time and money, don’t reuse boxes and envelopes. Instead, buy new ones that are clean and fit the size of what you’re shipping. Also, make sure the boxes are marked properly so they don’t get sent back to you.

Add a banner on your site reminding customers of your shipping times

If you’re expecting a lot of last-minute orders, you may want to consider adding a banner to your site that reminds customers of your holiday shipping schedule. This should include the days you plan to ship items out as well as the estimated arrival date. This banner should be placed at the top of your site so that it’s the first thing customers see. It will help to keep your customers from getting frustrated with your shipping times.

Send out shipping notifications with tracking info

If you’re shipping out a large number of items, it may make sense to send out shipping notifications with tracking information. The best way to do this is through an email service like Mailchimp, or you can use Storq to send out a mass email to all of your customers. These notifications will let your customers know that their order has been shipped and when they can expect to receive it. This will keep your customers informed without clogging up their inboxes. And if you use a service like Storq, you can easily set up rules to send out notifications to customers who have purchased specific items.

Use reliable delivery services to make guaranteed deliveries

If you’re looking to guarantee shipments, you might want to consider using a vendor with guaranteed delivery dates. If a carrier fails to deliver on time, the vendor will take care of it for you. These services can get expensive, so it all depends on how many shipments you’re sending out and how important they are. There are a few different options out there like UPS SurePost, FedEx Service Guarantee, and DHL Timed delivery.

Mapping out drop-off points for your delivery crew

If you’re shipping large or heavy items, you may want to consider mapping out the drop-off points for your delivery crew. This will help to avoid confusion and make the process go more smoothly. Depending on the size of your items, it may make sense to ship them directly to the customers’ homes. If you’re shipping a lot of large items, such as furniture, it’s probably best to have them delivered straight to the customers’ homes. This will save you time and money, as you won’t have to travel to drop them off at different locations.

Make pre-holiday shipments to stay ahead of the game

Pre-holiday shipments are something that many e-commerce merchants overlook. But if you have items on the rush calendar, you can make things easier on yourself by shipping them well in advance. You might want to consider prioritizing orders that need to arrive by December 25th over others that can wait until after the holidays. This will help you get a jump-start on the holiday rush.

Good habits are the key to success

If you want to make shipping during the holidays a little easier, make sure you’re prepared. Start planning for shipping during the summer months, so you’re not scrambling to find boxes and packing paper at the last minute. In the months leading up to the busiest season for shipping, set aside some time each week to organize your product, pack shipments, and label boxes. This way, you won’t have a ton of work to do when the holidays roll around. If you follow these tips, your customers will appreciate your efforts to make the shipping experience as painless as possible this holiday season. With a little bit of planning and organization, you can make sure everyone gets their gifts on time and without stress.

About us

Speak to one of our team to understand how?Clarus WMS can cost-effectively support best practice warehouse management processes, better customer service and highly efficient working for a range of warehouse operations with pay-per-month options and no IT infrastructure needed.

Our platform can scale from a one-user, small depot system to a 100’s user distribution centre operation. The?Clarus WMS platform?will cost-effectively scale with your business based on demand.

ClarusWMS?is a UK-based supplier of warehouse management solutions with a wealth of industry experience in?third-party logistics,?wholesale/retail distribution,?online fulfilment?and?manufacturing warehousing.