What Is E Commerce Delivery : The Ultimate Guide For 2024

The process by which products purchased online are shipped to the buyer's location is known as e-commerce delivery. Learn more in this guide

Introduction

You work hard to ensure that people who buy something from your store have a great time. You aim to make your customers happy, approve the pictures, change how your store works, and write emails. But shipping can make you feel like you're handing your brand over to someone you don't know. But with some thought and planning, it can feel different, which is good because shipping is an integral part of your business. It is when a customer gets to try your product in person for the first time. Shipping can also be a high cost for your business, depending on how you do it. That's why it is so essential to make a clear delivery plan.

What Is eCommerce Delivery?

E-commerce delivery or E-commerce shipping is the process by which products ordered online are delivered to the buyer's location. But eCommerce delivery has also come to mean a few different things when online shopping is becoming very popular. Companies are racing to offer the best online shopping experience at the lowest cost.

With Amazon and Walmart making shopping easier and cheaper for their customers, eCommerce delivery has become more competitive than ever. Postal services like UPS and FedEx may work well when a business is just starting out and only sends a few packages daily. But as your business grows and you get more customers, you will need to find the fastest and cheapest way to ship a package to keep up and meet customer expectations. That's where eCommerce delivery business services come in.

How Does eCommerce Delivery Work?

1. Order Processing

Order processing is a term for the activities needed to handle the customer's order. Every purchase has a unique order number and tracking number for sending the item. Different teams have different jobs to do when the order is being processed. The team in charge of production and logistics checks the inventory, closes the purchase order, and gives tasks to the team in charge of packaging and delivery.

2. Packaging

The next step is properly packing the items before they are sent out. Packaging serves two purposes: first, it keeps the item from getting broken, and second, it helps people remember the brand. Boxes, packets, envelopes, and so on are all common ways to package things. The way an item is packaged depends on what it is.

The packaging should always be simple to access and carry. But it should be strong enough to keep the product from getting damaged while it is being shipped. Also, if you have a brand logo, it should be clear and easy to see on the package. This helps increase the value and retention of your brand.

3. Delivery and Logistics

It is the third step in shipping and the most important one. For Delivery to the customer to go smoothly and on time, eCommerce companies need a reliable logistics process. In this situation, it helps to hire or work with a reliable and well-known third-party logistics or courier service. They will take care of delivering the items for you. eCommerce giants like Amazon have their logistics departments to ensure orders get to their customers. Others may choose online shipping aggregators like Shiprocket, which lets sellers choose from a number of shipping partners and pay shipping costs that have already been agreed upon.

4. Managing Returns

Lastly, shipping also includes taking care of returns. After the customer sends back an item for whatever reason, the logistics company sends it back to the store, and the returns process begins. The refund is made based on the terms and conditions of the return. eCommerce has grown quickly worldwide because digital platforms are becoming increasingly popular. New shipping methods come out almost every day, which should be good for both businesses and customers.

All About eCommerce Delivery Models

1. Outsourcing

A third-party logistics company takes care of the stock when you outsource order fulfillment. You just have to send your things to their warehouse. When a customer buys something from your business, the receipt will be saved and sent to the customer. Switching to this option will require some thought. You need to find a good fulfillment company that won't charge you an arm and a leg for their services. Finding a good balance between having competitive prices and making a good profit might be hard.

2. Subscription

Recently, subscription has become popular in the eCommerce world. In the past, English publishing companies used a " subscription " strategy to send books to loyal customers once a month. Businesses are growing and changing their ways of doing business because of eCommerce. Subscription services are now available in almost every business, which is convenient and saves customers money.

3. Dropshipping

Recently, the word "dropshipping" has become popular in the eCommerce industry. With this method of distribution, you can hire other people to do all the physical work needed to run an online business. Also, you don't have any physical contact with your goods. It is great if you want to add more products to your company's line or start a new eCommerce business. On the other hand, dropshipping is not a risk-free way to run a business.

4. Warehousing

This is the oldest way to sell products, but small eCommerce businesses still use it a lot. Owning a warehouse is a good option for both small e-stores that sell a limited number of items that are easy to keep track of and large e-stores that have the money to rent space and hire workers.

Here's How To Build an eCommerce Delivery Strategy

1. Choose Your Team

It is possible that you do not know this, but the people on your team have a big impact on how well your delivery plan works. Because of this, you need to be careful when choosing them. First, you need to look at your marketing staff. They are the ones who will tell customers about your shipping options. They will also come up with incentives, like free or cheaper shipping, that your company can use to get more people to visit your website or to get people who already visit your website to spend more money there. Your marketing team should know how often you can have sales without hurting your profit margins. They should also know which of your products are most likely to be left in a shopper's cart without being bought.

Second, think about who is in charge of designing and building websites. This team will have to ensure that the right delivery options are shown to customers at the right time. You should ask your web design team what kinds of offers or options customers are most interested in, the main cost factor for your customers, and how quickly they can design and set up a landing page if needed.

Fulfillment is an important part of ecommerce delivery business, so the team in charge of it needs to be able to do the tasks needed. The fulfillment team will start doing their job when they pick, pack, and ship products correctly and on time every time. No matter which option the customer chooses, it is important that they do their jobs correctly, and they must be able to handle fulfillment well. One could also say that the fulfillment team is the most important part of the ecommerce home delivery strategy. So, you need to teach everyone on your team about the different ecommerce home delivery options and make sure that agreements are in place with the service providers who will help you offer those options.

Lastly, the customer service team is also very important because handling shipping will affect customers at every stage of their life cycle. The customer service team needs to know how the different ecommerce home delivery options work, what happens when a customer has a bad experience, and how they should handle the company's response when this happens. They must know how to answer questions that customers might have.

2. Set Objectives

Once you know how many teams will be needed for e-commerce delivery and who will be in charge of making the plan, you can start working on the strategy. Spend some time thinking about exactly what you want your online store's distribution plan to do. You might want to focus on things like increasing conversion rates, increasing the average order value, getting more customers, and lowering operating costs.

If you want to see a rise in conversions, you need to tell them how much delivery will cost and what options they can expect to have. Your company's conversion rate is affected by how many delivery options and price levels it offers to its customers. Because of this, you should try out different delivery rates and special offers to see which one leads to the most sales.

So that you can reach more people, you should think about exporting to new places or to people who haven't been able to buy your products in the past. You might be able to sell to more people if you offer different delivery options, like local delivery, in-store pickup, and even international shipping. Work with your marketing team to get the word out about the different ways you can reach out to new clients. Keep track of your level of success and evaluate it. By giving discounts and other incentives to customers who buy more of your products, you can get them to spend more on average on their orders. You can attract customers with deals like free expedited shipping if they spend a certain amount or flat-rate shipping on certain high-profit items if they buy those things from your store.

3. Have Delivery Options

If you give customers more than one way to pay for their purchases, you can make it more likely that your delivery method will work. The majority of e-commerce delivery services try to give their customers as many payment options as possible. This makes it less likely that people will just leave their shopping carts behind. Customers look for ways to pay that make it easy for them to finish their purchases. But we can't say enough about how important it is to give clients a choice of delivery methods, since this is an extra benefit they need. Customers can choose when they want their items delivered, and they can be sure that their items will arrive on time and according to their plans.

4. Automation

When customers place orders, automation helps businesses make sure they are open and honest on all levels. With API integration, your business can track every step of the ecommerce delivery business process in real time. This will help you find and fix any problems in the delivery system. Automation also ensures that you take care of common problems and streamline the sales funnel, ensuring every order is filled.

Using marketing automation tools helps your online business collect user data and turn it into useful information. This lets customers see the company and makes sure that the right messages get to the right people. For instance, the business can use pop-ups on its website to make more sales. It is one of the best ways for your business to show sales and discounts so that customers don't have to look everywhere for them. When trying to streamline the sales process, it is important to know how automation can help you give your customers a better experience.

Top eCommerce Delivery Solutions & Services Companies

1. Blue Dart

The service provider is well-known in the shipping and logistics business of the country. As a digital carrier, it has been in business since 1983. It has a variety of payment plans that group services together. eCommerce businesses can use the services for express Delivery, time-based/slot-based Delivery, automated proof of Delivery on order fulfillment, COD delivery, and weather-resistant order packaging. The company also makes it easy to keep track of items that are sent back, deliveries that don't work, and orders that are late.

2. DTDC

The company that would become known as DTDC (Desk to Desk Courier & Cargo Express Limited) started doing business in the year 1990. The headquarters and administrative offices of the company are in the Indian city of Bangalore. It can handle a very large number of zip codes, which lets people and businesses that do business online send packages and couriers to different parts of the country. It gives eCommerce businesses a wide range of shipping options, such as heavyweight shipping, bulk shipping, pick-up-on-delivery, and quick Delivery, among others. One of DTDC Express Limited's other strengths is that it works all over the world. It has business operations in 240 countries all over the world.

3. Ecom Express 

On the list, you can also find the eCommerce courier service Ecom Express. The business is active in more than 27,000 pin codes all over India. It is a popular choice for online businesses that need to ship high-value items like jewelry because it provides security and surveillance services while items are being stored and shipped. The company also offers express Delivery, a guarantee that products will be delivered to customers and returned items will be sent back to the warehouse where they came from within 72 hours, and quality checks at the door.

4. Shiprocket

Shiprocket is one of the most affordable courier services for shipping items from an online store. The company has 14 different delivery partners, such as Ecom Express and FedEx, to make the shipping process easier for online shopping carts. eCommerce businesses can use the automated method to pair each order with a delivery partner. When choosing a carrier, things like location, price, and personal preferences are considered. Also, businesses can combine orders from different sales channels into a single hub where they can be processed and sent out. Shiprocket now serves more than 12,000 zip codes all over the United States.

5. Gati

If you list eCommerce courier services in India, you can't leave out Gati. The courier company was founded in 1989 to improve the flow of retail goods. Its main focus now is on online businesses. It includes more than 19,000 pin codes all over India. eCommerce companies have many options for getting their products to their customers, such as warehousing, shipping, and fast delivery. Many businesses have hired Gati because it has a lot of experience with COD orders and custom supply chain solutions.

6. Ekart Logistics

Flipkart's supply chain division, eKart, started doing business in 2009. People in India think that this company is one of the most successful courier service providers. It offers services that cover the whole supply chain from the beginning to the end. Right now, it can deliver to the first mile and the last mile in 3800 pin codes all over the country. With the help of eKart Logistics' technology-driven supply chain, you can make sure that all deliveries are made on time and without any problems. E-commerce companies can also use the Ekart Logistics API to connect to a variety of online marketplaces and storefronts and give customers a choice of ways to pay. This makes it easier for people to buy from these companies. The application programming interface (API) makes it easy to share information about tracking orders and lets customers know in real-time how their own orders are doing.

7. XpressBees

In India, XpressBees is a well-known package delivery service. It has grown quickly in a short amount of time and is now one of the top five delivery partners for e-commerce businesses in India. It has more than 2800 offices and service centers in over 1900 cities in India. It takes care of more than 2.5 million packages a day and promises to be faster and more reliable.

Importance Of Using eCommerce Delivery Apps

As the e-commerce industry continues to grow at a very fast rate, there is more pressure on online stores to meet customer demands and expectations. If you own an e-commerce business and want to stay relevant and competitive, it is more important than ever to keep your ears to the ground and be open to new ideas as they come along. This is the best place for e-commerce delivery apps to work.

With e-commerce shipping apps, you can tell your customers where their packages are at every stage. Since many of your customers will have already paid for a product, they will be worried that it will arrive on time and in good shape. By giving them regular updates, like an automated message when they arrive, you can ease many of their worries and improve their overall experience.

Again, avoiding being late will be much easier if you use GPS tracking and routing software. When faster routes are sent to your drivers automatically, you can always ensure that shipping is controlled and goes as smoothly as possible. Online shoppers expect faster shipping or, at the very least, more shipping options and a lot of freedom. On the other hand, a good e-commerce shipping app can give your customers great shipping options, like same-day Delivery, next-day Delivery, workplace deliveries, pickup points, and/or lockers.

Any good e-commerce shipping app should let customers leave feedback immediately after their order is done. These are great for letting customers say what they like and don't like about your service and showing potential customers how well your service works. You will have more time to take care of your customers when you have so many features that save you time and effort, like automation, order consolidation, analytics, etc. When you use an e-commerce shipping app, you can focus more on improving the overall customer journey. This helps you build brand loyalty, keep customers, and get them to buy from you again.

Final Words 

eCommerce delivery is definitely one of the most important steps that decide the growth of your business. Therefore, don’t stop yourself from using eCommerce delivery apps like Zorp. You may think that the transition will be difficult, but you should know that this delivery app makes everything better. It allows your customer to know each activity and also allows you to keep track of everything. 

Last Mile Delivery Calculator

Use this calculator to calculate the cost of your delivery business using this delivery calculator.

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