Small Business Shipping Tips in Time for The Holidays

For most small businesses, the holiday season is undeniably one of the most important times of the year. And believe it or not, they really are right around the corner. To make sure the season goes off without a hitch, you need to start planning how you’re going to ship gifts and products to your customers now. To help take some of the pressure off, we’ve gathered some of our best small business shipping tips below. Take advice from a top box printing company, and learn how to make sure your products arrive in style and on time.

How You Can Save
You already know that packaging your products in custom designed boxes is a wonderful way to make the unwrapping experience even more special for your customers. But sometimes, those extra graphics can cost a bit more. To cut costs in other ways, look at the size of your boxes as compared to the size of your products. Are you paying for extra protective padding and layers that you don’t really need? Are you shipping a small necklace the same box that you ship your larger products out in? Reevaluate the size of your boxes, and consider ordering several different dimension options. Plus, making sure your products fits snugly inside your box and that they don’t have a lot of extra room to slide around minimizes the chances of something breaking.

Another great way to cut costs on shipping? Keep your eye on the calendar. Especially during the holiday season, lost orders, last-minute rush jobs, and quick shipping to make up for errors can really add up. Begin the shipping fulfillment process as soon as you get an order. Taking the time to review orders every day can help you avoid costly disasters, and make sure you’re always keeping shipping cut-offs in the back of your mind.

How to Help Your Customers
Everyone is impatient during the holidays! To help keep your customers informed, always offer tracking numbers when you ship out a product. In addition to this appeasing nervous last-minute shoppers, it also cuts down on the amount of customer inquiries you’re sure to receive when shoppers start to wonder when their order will be delivered. So much of preparing for the holiday shipping madness relies on preventative measures.

Get into the holiday spirit by offering free or lower cost shipping in the weeks leading up to the holidays. Online shopping means that customers now have more options than ever about where they’re going to buy their products – and high shipping costs often cause customers to look elsewhere. You probably know from your own experience that exorbitant shipping costs can cause you to rethink your entire order from an online shop. Offering free or flat rate shipping, even if it’s just on a specified day or time period, shows that you’re the kind of company that treats its customers well. Make sure your customers complete their purchase and don’t abandon their carts at the last minute by offering reduced or free shipping.

Now that you’ve read through our awesome list of commercial shipping tips, don’t you feel empowered to make this your most successful holiday season ever??? There are always ways to save both you and your customers money during the holidays – without sacrificing any festivity. We’d love to see your holiday shipping boxes! Send us pictures of your holiday packaging, and you could be featured on our blog.

To start your own project, start building your own custom shipping boxesfolding cartons, or contact us and we’ll help you with all your questions.