It’s old news that online shoppers want purchases fast. But what does ‘fast’ actually look like in ecommerce today? What separates standard and expedited shipping when ecommerce brands face pressure to up their game?
Expedited delivery options are no longer optional when brands face competition from the likes of Amazon and Walmart. But this doesn’t have to mean launching your version of a Prime membership or losing precious margins to offer free, fast shipping.
In this blog, we’re going to define expedited shipping in today’s ecommerce marketplace, and how to create an expedited shipping strategy that nets cost and efficiency savings–both for you and your customers.
What is expedited shipping in ecommerce?
An expedited or express shipping option promises customers a quick delivery time for their online order, usually in exchange for a more expensive shipping service at a higher service level. Normally, expedited shipping is distinct from other shipping offers, such as standard shipping or a free shipping service, which are cheaper but offer slower delivery times. Common expedited delivery methods include overnight delivery, next-day delivery, same day delivery.
These fast shipping methods fulfill consumer desires for instant gratification from online purchases and offer ecommerce brands an important competitive differentiator. By getting parcels to customers quickly, they’re more likely to be satisfied with the shopping experience and consider shopping with the same retailer in the future.
However, to offer expedited shipping can be expensive and logistically challenging for ecommerce merchants. It requires an in-depth cost-benefit analysis to decide not only whether offering faster shipping is cost-effective, but whether your ecommerce operation is streamlined enough to meet these shipping targets.
What makes offering expedited shipping different from standard shipping?
Typically, standard shipping offers a much slower transit time than expedited shipping options. Depending on the shipping carrier and service level, standard shipping might take multiple days or a couple of weeks, especially if a parcel is being shipped internationally.
The main benefit of standard shipping is that it’s cost-effective and guarantees a particular delivery timeframe, helping to strike a fair balance between cost and delivery performance. However, it may not be fast enough to meet customer expectations for time-sensitive purchases.
Expedited shipping, meanwhile, guarantees a much faster delivery timeframe for a higher cost as dictated by package size/weight, delivery destination, speed, and so on. Many expedited services also come with additional services, such as real-time tracking, signature delivery, and special handling.
How fast should your expedited shipping service be?
Ultimately, this comes down to several factors, including:
- The expectations of your customers
- The other shipping options at your online store
- What your competitors are offering
- The time of year
- Who is paying for it
In sum, the right expedited shipping speed is unique to your business and what you are wanting to achieve by offering fast delivery. If your goal is to boost sales, a free expedited shipping offer is more successful than an option that comes directly out of the customers’ pocket. Likewise, if your competitors haven’t put much effort into faster shipping speeds, it won’t take a lot for your business to gain an edge in this area
What expedited shipping options are available?
UPS Worldwide Express
- UPS expedited shipping
- UPS Next Day Air
- UPS 2nd Day Air
- UPS Worldwide Expedited
FedEx expedited shipping
- FedEx Priority Overnight
- FedEx Standard Overnight
- FedEx 2Day
USPS expedited shipping
- Priority Mail Express
- Priority Mail
- Priority Mail International
How to manage expedited shipping effectively at your ecommerce business
Optimize order processing and fulfillment
If you want to offer expedited shipments, you need a fulfillment operation that’s streamlined enough to meet those tight shipping cut-offs. For example, if orders placed for same-day delivery have a cutoff time of 12pm, this only gives your fulfillment center a few hours to process, pick, pack, and ship that order to the customer. If your operation isn’t capable of this level of performance, expedited shipping is a non-starter.
At ShippingTree, your inventory is fast-tracked from our warehouses to one of our micro-fulfillment centers in Los Angeles, so customers within a 15-mile radius of your inventory’s location can select same-day delivery – guaranteed.
What shipping speed do I want?
Let’s answer this question with another question: How fast is expedited shipping compared with standard shipping?
There isn’t as big of a difference between standard and express shipping as there was in the early days of ecommerce. As customer expectations for fast shipping increase, even so-called ‘standard shipping’ options often guarantee delivery within two days – a speed that would have been considered expedited shipping not all that long ago.
This means when you’re choosing your express shipping method, you need to think about how it compares to other shipping options you already offer. If your free shipping or standard shipping option is already swift, you may need to consider investing in overnight shipping or even same-day delivery to target those real last-minute shoppers, especially during busy periods like the holiday season.
Consider using a free shipping threshold
If you plan on covering the cost of expedited shipping for online shoppers, you may need to add a minimum spend threshold to prevent shipping costs from affecting your bottom line. Given the higher cost of faster shipping, your threshold will likely need to be higher than what you would use for free shipping offers. However, you want to ensure it remains accessible enough that customers feel enticed to spend that little bit extra to get their packages delivered faster.
Keep costs down with multi-node fulfillment
Expedited shipping is costing brands a pretty penny, especially over long distances. However, negotiating with shipping carriers for reduced shipping rates will only get you so far. But there’s one tactic that is sure to reduce shipping costs – shipping orders from a location closer to your customers.
A multi-node fulfillment strategy allows you to distribute inventory across multiple strategy locations that are close to key customer hubs, shortening transit times and delivery costs. ShippingTree can distribute your inventory across multiple locations in Columbus, OH, and the greater Los Angeles area, in addition to 13 million square feet of public warehousing and private warehousing.
Expedited shipping services don’t come cheap, but they offer ecommerce brands an important value-add in the endless fight to secure (and keep) customers. However, fast shipping services are only a viable option if your business has a streamlined order fulfillment process that’s capable of rapid turnarounds from processing to shipment. If not, this is where a 3PL like ShippingTree is a major asset. Access wholesale shipping rates, state-of-the-art technology, and multiple facilities all over the U.S.
Looking to streamline your order fulfillment? Contact ShippingTree today.
