What delivery service is right for your business

With so many shipping carriers to choose from and various shipping modes available from each one, it can be difficult to decide which service you should use for your e-commerce shipments. Small parcel carriers generally provide a wide range of services, including standard (7-10 business days), expedited (5-10 business days), two-day shipping, and overnight shipping. There are many different names for the services offered by companies, and the degrees of fast delivery will vary widely as well. Many carriers offer discounts for high-volume shippers and provide additional services, like shipment tracking and package pick-up, based on the needs of your business. 

*Talk to your carrier rep to learn about volume discounts

It's not just the major carriers that provide various services, either! Approximately 7,500 delivery services are available in the United States alone. These courier shipping services provide the standard services above, as well as specialized services tailored to regional, product-specific, or market-specific needs. As a result, carriers are able to differentiate themselves from the competition and businesses are able to identify the most reliable and best-suited carrier for their business. 

Among the extensive array of services available, it is difficult to know where to begin. A good place to start is considering your customer base. Knowing your target customer is crucial to understanding how quickly they require their products, how much they are willing to pay for shipping, the location of your customers, and how often they are purchasing your goods. If your customers live in a rural area, you need to ensure that the carrier's last-mile logistics will get the order to your client.

Several benefits can be gained by diversifying your carrier portfolio. There is no doubt that each carrier will have a different pricing structure, so it is imperative that you understand how your products will be shipped to get a better idea of what the cost will be. This is where a shipping solution can help. Companies utilizing a multi-carrier strategy can benefit from features like rate shopping, which helps to save money by generating real-time rates and recommending the best shipping option based on your unique business rules.

A trial and error process may be involved in selecting the best carrier for your company. It is important that you test multiple carriers for reliability, and establish relationships with several carriers in the process. Although smaller carriers often receive little attention, they often have the ability to compete with the "big guys" and offer a variety of unique services tailored to meet the specific needs of e-commerce companies.

#ShipTip: Check out our full list of ShipWise carrier integrations.

There is no one right answer when curating your shipping strategy. Some customers will want to have their orders delivered faster than others, and some may be willing to pay for shipping while others will not. The process of managing multiple service offerings can be challenging for a business owner, but it is essential for the success of an e-commerce business. In the event that you do not know how to manage multiple service offerings, it's time to consider a shipping solution.

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Even with a maximum number of service offerings, ShipWise makes it easy to rate and ship with ease. Prices can be shopped on the back end and you can connect directly to marketplaces and carriers.