Shipping and handling essentials
You have your inventory squared away. Now you will need to take into account how you’ll get it to your visitors. Fulfillment–speeding that package from your own garage or warehouse to your customer’s door–is possibly the single most significant thing that can be done in your operation apart from effective marketing. Failure to supply prompt fulfillment can lead to more complaints, cancellations, refusals of c.o.d. payments and nightmares than simply about other things in the mail order entrepreneur’s world.
So just how do you want to get those packages to your visitors? You’ve seen it commercials. Your primary choices will be the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), United Parcel Service (UPS) and FedEx. Most mail order mavens use UPS for packages because it’s generally cheaper than FedEx, faster compared to the postoffice, and has better tracking capabilities for all those nightmarish lost items compared to the postoffice. It pays to shop around. Both FedEx and UPS offer various discounts when you setup an account, so make sure to ask–and do not forget to negotiate!
Check out your loss ratio when deciding whether to invest just a little and ship U.S. Post or spend more and ship UPS, advises Tony Romano of most USA, an Illinois-based call center and fulfillment service. If the merchandise you’re sending costs significantly less than $50, go on and ship first-class or priority mail. Whether it’s a lot more than $50, spend the excess dollars to send it UPS and get tracking capability.