Tim Story Shares His insights on Shipping Services For Small Businesses

Tim Story has experience of 28 years in the transportation management system. He is currently the executive vice president of freight operations at Unishippers. He observed shipping practices from a very early age. He noted how most of the work was done manually by his father and grandfather. Pricing was also a major issue back then. In the present, every bit of information is easily accessible due to technological advancements. The implementation of tech helped small businesses to make their shipping process economical and effective.

Let’s elaborate on the Steps that should be taken while choosing a shipping carrier for your business.

It is suggested to partner with a reliable carrier. A lot of research should go into this, as this is the crucial point of the process. At first, a collection of references is to be made acquired from clients and trustworthy companies. It is advisable to choose a carrier that provides the option of tracking and tracing. This feature provides better transparency and control of the shipment with the ability to locate any package at any point in time.

It is important to get an idea about the resources of the handpicked carrier. Carriers are different from each other based on the type of shipping service it offers. It is recommended to understand the specific type of shipping service required for the goods involved in the business. To ask the carrier about their experience and capability of moving the goods in your business is a must. An inquiry should be made on the safety measures taken by the carrier during transit.

One should ensure that the carrier is compliant to the specific standards set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The checklist of this organization demands the carriers to have renewed insurance, file specific registrations, updated documents along with compliance to safety standards. A carrier with poor compliance rating should not be the first choice.

Every carrier has its own liability programs. Research should be done to understand the limits of liability. It is not to be assumed that the carrier’s liability program will cover the charges for damage in transit.

If there is a requirement to ship goods at a specific date, then the business should opt for a carrier that offers guaranteed delivery services and not only rely on estimated date of delivery from other carriers.

Now comes the steps NOT to take while choosing a carrier for a small-scale business.

It is suggested to not overlook the insurance of your package. It is important in the sense that once it is shipped, it is handled by many people on different modes of transport. So a possible human error can lead to the loss or damage to your goods. If your package is insured, a complete refund of the value of the package misplaced will be made.

Every country has different rules and regulations imposed on the type and size of good that can be shipped in that country. So it is not advisable to assume every type of product can be shipped anywhere. Consultation with the carrier before shipping a package is a good option.

Packing is an important factor, and proper packaging is mandatory before shipping a package. The best way to ensure proper packing is to tape the opening and seams of the box with brown reinforced packing tape. Reuse of shipping boxes for economic reasons is not a good option as the structural integrity of cardboard boxes reduce with every shipment.

A business should not compromise on the quality of services provided by the carrier. Investment on a moderately high-cost carrier service is preferred as air transfers involve less handling and top priority is given to goods on board, saving hours of time.

Shipping can cost a business lot of money due to inconsistency, delays, and damage to goods. Tim Story believes the above pointers if taken into consideration will work out almost perfectly for small businesses who are sensitive to the high cost of expenditure on availing high-quality shipping services.

Why you Should Customize your Shipping boxes

Customized shipping boxes are still in. with more people clamoring for mailers or even poly bags, some might wonder if mailers are the solution. Simply put, they are still a worthwhile means to really make sure your items get to where they need to go.

But customized shipping boxes enhance the brand engagement, and it’s a trend that will in turn really make your packaging shine.   Personalization creates memorable unboxing experiences, some of which you should take advantage of. Here, we’ll go over some of the reasons for customizing your shipping boxes, and what you can do to make sure that you get the most you can out of your branding experience. 

Exterior and Interior customization

These days, everything can be customized, and this includes the outside and inside. For the outside, you can make a personalized box with your company name, colors, patterns, and other little fun designs. It’s super simple, and really enhances the branding experience. So many people are able to benefit from this type of branding, because it makes the product really stand out in a unique, exciting way.

There is also the interior design. You can add interior graphics to enhance the branding experience. For example, custom prints of the company’s logo and various other information printed on the inner lid works. Some companies also add their mission statement to the foray in order to really build that connection with customers. 

Some may also consider using a unique little message for care instructions to save paper. Again, this is all customized, and something that, for many of the people involved, will really help to ensure that your efforts stand out, and that the efforts are met with the same enthusiasm as before. 

Other fun additives 

There are other fun additives that can be used in order to enhance and reflect your brand identity.

Colors are a big one. Does your brand have colors? Consider using them with your packaging. Even just adding a couple of colors here and there will really make the packaging stand out, and help to engage customers with the product as you wish to have them engage with it.

The second is stickers. Now stickers might not be the first thing you think of using with this, but branded stickers are about to be your best friend. you simply put them on the package, and then use it to close the box, or maybe to help seal the package. Adding them to the tissue paper works too as a way to enhance the brand identity in some cases.

You may also want to use branding inserts. These include designs, little notes and thank-you cards, or any sorts of freebies. You can customize this for every single person that you’re selling to in order to make this really personalized. 

Finally, there are also different packaging designs that reflect your brand identity. Are you an eco-conscious brand? Consider using various sustainable initiatives such as paper that’s sustainable, in order to enhance the experience. You’d be surprised at the difference it makes when you offer some better, more personalized experiences for all that are involved. 

The importance of branding. 

Branding will boost the recognition and enhance the customer satisfaction through packaging that’s thoughtful and means a lot.

It is great for customers, and really bolsters the engagement of the brand. Thoughtful packaging plays a huge role in this, and it can ultimately help turn customers into recurring people who support your business.

The biggest downside is to manage the costs and logistics. When you figure this out though, you will enhance your branding, taking it to the next level. n

Including Packaging in Paid Ads

Advertising has been used to boost packaging and product appeal and has done so for many years. You need to make sure that the product, promotion, price, place, and product packaging are there, especially when marketing.

Advertising costs a lot, and every single brand is trying to make it so that they reach the most customers with the least amount spent.  Packaging is a good way to offer this, so they can properly identify it, and then they’ll be able to talk about you once they get it. 

Virtual Unboxing 

One good way to make your paid advertising pay off, and boosting ROI, is virtual unboxing. 

This is a way for you to show the unboxing of the product, and some visuals, and you can use this on Facebook or Instagram posts that are sponsored. 

This provides customers with a good feeling on what brands are selling, how this looks, and the packaging, including what this holds. 

With unboxing, you’ll be able to make every day, normal sorts of products into something that’s very exciting, and quite fun. 

Did you know that less than 30% of people are actually read by users, so gifs are how you want to communicate. 

New Design Experimentation 

Even before these customers see the designs that you have, you’ll be able to show them how these packaging products and the like are then received by other customers. 

You might wonder why you’d ask customers about this, and if it’d be better to do this through social media, or organic posting.  While they do work to a small degree, the paid ads provide a level of reach that neither method normally does.  This gives customers a chance to target this and are better than just hoping that someone finds you in an organic manner. It’s actually a huge way to drive business to your company. 

For instance, some companies may have their initial designs that are there, but as the brand changed, they added different visuals that are there. 

One company kept a bit of the original identity of the brand, so that customers could find them, and were able to identify these products. 

Subscription Box Product Showcase s 

Finally, you can use packaging to showcase subscription boxes.  For some companies, packaging is very important for them to find these products.

Ecommerce as well is god as well, because there is a limit to the amount of contact that you get to have with customers. That means, you need to make sure that the presence is the highest tier that it can be. 

With the correct packaging, you’re building the first impression that clients have, and is something that a lot of customers will start to see. 

You want to make sure as well that you have the right types of budgeting that you can get for this.  If you don't have a large budget, don't worry.  You can boost this growth rate as things get better. 

Provide Good Information and Visuals 

When you’re building an ad campaign, two things that you need to make sure that you do, in order to get your packaging to advertise for you, is to have good copy, content, and visuals that really pop.

You want to make sure that customers get everything they need without having to do a google on just who you are. 

Provide this information in the sense that the next step of the customer would be to get them to press the shop button and buy something off the website. That’s the ultimate goal, and if you hit that, you win the game of ecommerce.