How to Effectively Manage Shipping

eCommerce Software for Indian SME’s

On the front every e-commerce site is judged by the beauty of the designed site and the technical features it incorporates in its working. But behind the stage what really matters is the quality of the delivered products. And that final test of every site is evaluated upon the strength and finesse of the packaging, because it is the condition of the arrived goods that determines the credibility of the site.

The first step is recognising what type of stuff you are dealing with. You should know the obvious specifications, i.e. the size and the weight of the goods. Now, choose a box strength that is suitable for the contents you are shipping. Following specific Box Strength Guidelines will help ensure your package is of adequate strength to provide sufficient protection.

Any other important information like Fragile, Perishable, Toxic, Inflammable and Electronic should also be noted carefully. And goods of the same type should be sorted together.

Once you know what kind of stuff you are dealing with the packaging can now be determined easily. First we work on the outer packing. The most common are the corrugated boxes which are basically just hard cardboard boxes. They can easily load stuff like books, tools, pictures, basically anything i.e. a “flat” item. They have amazing stacking strength and can keep stuff from the mightiest of falls. Then there is the non-fragile stuff that can be loaded in the courier envelopes which are just basic packages without any cushioning etc. For all the fragile stuff like electronic materials including laptops, phones, pen drives or medical supplies like medicines, dental etc you should go for padded boxes. These padded mailers have excellent cushioning and they absorb majority of the shocks felt on the way to the delivery. Although they are absolutely useless for something that can be easily crushed as they have almost zero stacking strength.

Once the basic outer packing is done we concentrate on the inner packaging. The best cushioning is the bubble wrap. It is the most perfect and versatile protective material possibly known to mankind. Yet it fails to limit movement and is ineffective in case of lightweight and breakable items that can be transported safely only when they stay in one place. For such items that require to be kept in one place the most apt padding material is engineered foam. It fills any amount of space with great ease and provides excellent cushioning.

If you take the time and care to utilize the proper inner and outer packaging, but use a sealing method that fails, your package will ultimately fail as well. Therefore, properly sealing your package is just as important as the inner and outer packaging. The best type of tape is duct tape and frankly there is almost nothing like it. For handy and lightweight items though, pressure resistant tape is preferable.

Lastly after all the general limitations of the carriers are satisfied, you should determine how you would like to ship your package. It should be noted that there are no specific preferences towards any mode of transportation. Therefore, your decision of carrier should be based on your understanding of shipping rates and the available modes of shipping.

Once all this done just put the correct delivery address on your packed item and do provide package orientation details like “fragile” if necessary.

Click to create your eCommerce store

For enquiries, call at +91-9015644441