March 2021

Physical distribution deals with the movement of goods through an organization’s distribution and fulfillment network to the consumer. It often makes use of several different fulfillment centers that reside within a distribution network.

The Importance of Physical Distribution to eCommerce

eCommerce takes place mostly online. However, the distribution of the goods takes place offline. For physical distribution to be effective, you need fast shipping, and low logistics cost. The following are some of the main ways in which physical distribution assists with the efficiency of a supply chain.

Get Fast Shipping

Getting goods to customers fast will ensure that your customers speak highly of you and come back to buy more. To get faster shipping times, you need to be strategic about how and where you store your inventory. Having a centralized location is essential to ensuring that your goods are available for quick distribution. 

Reduce Your Cost

When your physical distribution costs are reduced, you can pass on the savings to your customers. 

The four most important functions of physical distribution are:

• Automated order processing
• Warehouse management 
• Inventory control 
• Automated shipping

Once you get all these working seamlessly, you will be able to increase customer satisfaction.

Improve Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is the end goal of good distribution. By making sure that your customers are satisfied you are securing repeated business and good word-of-mouth advertising. All of which are essential to the success of your business. 

If you would like help with automated shipping, do not hesitate to contact us at ShipJoy.

Warehouse inventory management is critical to your business. Managing this effectively will ensure that you distribute your goods correctly and that your customers get what they ordered promptly.

What Exactly is Warehouse Inventory Management?

Warehouse inventory management refers to the process of getting and storing goods in a warehouse. It also involves tracking the inventory that comes to the warehouse, making sure that the warehouse space is optimized, and also managing the goods. 

All of these factors will have an impact on the fulfillment of goods as well as shipping. The fulfillment and the shipping of the goods inevitably affect the consumer.

How Do You Effectively Manage Inventory?

The management of inventory in your warehouse is critical to the success of your business. After all, the inventory is what your customers will purchase. Inventory is affected by the logistic costs and the efficiency of your supply chain.

Good warehouse inventory management has the following effects:

• Accuracy of order fulfillment
• Increasing the productivity of workers in the warehouse
•  Produces faster shipping and delivery
•  Cuts costs
•  Customer satisfaction

The layout of your warehouse directly impacts how quickly goods get from one place to the next. This has a direct impact on order fulfillment.

Warehouse inventory management must include inventory control tracking and recording. You need to be able to track your inventory in real-time, and forecast when you will need to get new items. 

You will also need to optimize the picking and packing of the goods for your customers. Finally, you will have to ensure that shipping is streamlined so that the process is not time-consuming.

 If you would like expert help with the shipping of orders to customers, please do not hesitate to contact us. We aim to provide excellent shipping services so that you can focus on growing your business. Check out what people have to say about us.

Shop Pay is one of the best ways for your customers to pay for purchases online. It was introduced by Shopify in 2017. However, it has now been upgraded to integrate with Facebook and Instagram which provides a huge opportunity for retailers and customers. If you want a platform that takes all the pain out of the checkout process while being secure then Shop Pay is your best option. 

What is Shop Pay? 

To understand the benefits that come with Shop Pay you need to understand exactly what it is and how it works. Customer conversion is the end goal of every business. The easier you can make it for customers to convert the more sales you will get. This means that the checkout process must seamlessly integrate with the payment method. This is essential to helping you earn more money.

Make it easier for customers to keep coming back to your store to make more purchases. When your customer enters their information the first time Shop Pay will store it. The customer can then sail through the checkout process on sites like Facebook and Instagram, without having to leave the platform.

How Does it Work?

It is easy to enable in your store. All you have to do is go to your Shopify admin settings and click on payments. From there you can click on manage, once you see the accelerated check out section, click on Shop Pay and then proceed. Once that is complete, your customers will be able to use Shop Pay to check out of your store. 

If you would like more information about order fulfillment, please contact us at ShipJoy. Our goal is to help you keep your customers satisfied so that you can grow your business.

You may have heard that offering a free gift with purchase works to increase your conversion rates. According to what the experts have to say this strategy actually does work. The offer of a free give has a psychological effect that is irresistible. 

The Science Behind Giving Away a Free Gift

Studies are showing that offering a free gift will motivate the customer to purchase the main item. It is also likely that the customer will not return the main item if they change their mind about it, once the free gift is seen as valuable. 

To make a free gift promotion effective, you should pair the main item with a gift that it can be used with. For example, if you are selling a convection oven, it makes sense to give away free baking tins. 

The baking tins are less valuable than a convection oven but it is something that the customer is likely to need when they are using the oven. This will be an attractive gift even if they already have a set of baking tins. This is the powerful psychological effect of a free gift. 

Free Gifts with Children Products

If your product is geared towards children you will find that offering a free gift with purchase works even better than it does with adults. Children often see free gifts, especially if it is a toy as extremely valuable even more so than adults.  

Since the joy of their children is such a priority, many parents will buy a product that has a free gift that excites their child. They are also likely to buy the product again if their child wants another one of the gifts.

Even when you give a free gift, fast order fulfillment is still important for your reputation. If you would like to increase your sales by providing fast shipping on all items you sell in your store, please contact us.

eCommerce is booming and since health and fitness are always in fashion it is no surprise that supplement companies are dominating eCommerce. Vitamins and supplement sales are soaring. There are always new supplements being injected into the market and many of them gain popularity very fast. 

The Competition is Fierce

The market size is increasing so rapidly there is a lot of competition. There are always new supplement companies coming to the forefront. This is because the barrier for entry into this business is extremely low. 

Consumers have many options when it comes to getting vitamins and supplements quickly. The only way to gain the loyalty and attention of your customers is to offer superior customer service. 

When it comes to eCommerce people expect quick and fast delivery. If your company cannot deliver then you will be left behind.

Partnering With a Shipping Company 

The best way to ensure customers get their products promptly is to partner with a third-party shipping provider. this will ensure that your supplements get into the hands of your customers sooner rather than later.

In addition to partnering with a shipping company, you should also make sure that your supplier and your warehouse are in sync with each other. This is one of the most critical aspects of order fulfillment. 

You need to receive goods on time and store them in an orderly manner in your warehouse. This will ensure that picking and packing are easier. Once picking and packing are done then you can ship the item.

Fulfillment is one of the most critical aspects of customer service. Without fast fulfillment of an item, customers will get disgruntled and go elsewhere. You can partner with us at Ship Joy by contacting us. We will be more than happy to help you achieve fast shipping times for your supplement company.

As an eCommerce company, your primary goal is to generate as much profit as possible. This isn’t always easy, especially if you’re new to this line of work. Still, there are plenty of ideas and things you can use to help increase eCommerce revenue. Below, we’ve collated eight top tips that will help you achieve this goal!

Be Wary of Seller Fees

If you sell as a third-party merchant on sites like Amazon, you benefit from tapping into an established customer base. However, you should be wary of seller fees that can be expensive and substantial cutting into your profits. 

Expand Your Business Internationally

Start selling internationally to cater to different consumers around the world. It’s simple logic: why only sell products to customers in one country when the same products could sell like hot cakes in others as well? You can find more customers, make more sales, and boost eCommerce revenue. 

Use A Virtual Bank Account

When you expand internationally, you’ll be dealing with money moving across borders, meaning delays and exchange rates are a potential issue. In fact, this is what puts some people off the idea of expanding globally. But, with a virtual bank account, you can eliminate lots of fees and exchange rate charges, saving your business time and money. In turn, this can increase eCommerce revenue by helping you tap into global markets without incurring huge expenses. 

Choose When To Convert Your Money

Selling on third-party marketplaces means you usually get paid your revenue at a set date every month. However, you can actually control when the money is converted and paid to you. By doing this, you can choose an optimal time when exchange rates are favorable, maximizing revenue. 

Pay Suppliers In Their Local Currency

Staying on the topic of foreign currency, you can save money by paying suppliers and logistics companies in their local currency. This avoids any conversion rates on these payments, helping you save a fair bit. It all adds up, creating wider profit margins for your eCommerce business. 

Improve Your Branding

Consumers are more likely to buy from a brand they recognize and trust. Therefore, improving your branding can build awareness and trust around your company, influencing and increasing sales figures. 

Generate Paid Traffic

Paid traffic comes via people clicking on various adverts they see online. The most effective of these are on social media, where you can create influential adverts that are shown directly to your target audience. It boosts visits to your ecommerce store, helping to increase revenue. 

Encourage Reviews

Send out feedback emails to existing customers asking them to review your products. Offer incentives if you have to, as reviews can help grow your eCommerce brand. Consumers buy based on what other consumers say, so a host of positive reviews for your business and its products builds more trust, encouraging more sales. 

Save On Shipping Costs

Generating more sales is great, but you can still lose a lot of money if you’re paying too much for shipping costs. Finding a service like Ship Joy can help you reduce your fulfillment costs across the board, giving you more money to invest back into your business. As such, you may have more cash to invest in paid traffic, branding – or anything else that can generate even more sales. 

Use these eight tips to increase eCommerce revenue and make more money today. If you need help with the fulfillment side of things, please don’t hesitate to contact us today!

2020 was a disruptive year for shipping & logistics. Problems in supply chains at every level and numerous demand shocks changed the nature of the industry profoundly, forcing adaptations and renewed flexibility like never before. In 2021, we’re still feeling the after-effects of the crisis, and it’s forcing firms to rethink their operations. 

In this post, we investigate some of the top shipping & logistics trends of 2021. 

Delivery Times Will Normalize

In 2019, the average international delivery time was around 5 days. Domestically, it was an incredible 1.5 days. In 2020, though, shipping times got as high as 16 days for international shippers and 3.2 days for domestic. 

Analysts predict that the situation will normalize somewhat in the coming year, with delivery times once again approaching their pre-pandemic norms. Data suggest that international delivery times will fall to ten days, and domestic to two days. Partly, this process is occurring because of a return to regular operations and partly because companies in the supply chain are reacting better to uncertain circumstances. 

eCommerce Buyers Remain Concentrated In Specific Markets

eCommerce buyers remain concentrated in specific markets around the world, including the US, UK, and Australia. Data suggest that around 12 major markets globally make up more than 77 percent of eCommerce buyers, despite only representing around 20 percent of the global population. 

Drone Deliveries Are Ready To Get Going

For years, shipping & logistics companies have been talking about how drones will change the last mile of delivery. And yet, services are still waiting to get off the ground. 

However, regulatory hurdles are diminishing. In August 2020, the FAA approved the concept of low-altitude drone delivery in the US, meaning that commercial drones are now permitted to fly over urban environments to deliver packages over the last mile. 

The technology needs to develop a little more on the hardware side, but it seems like drones will begin making an appearance later on in 2021 for the first time in select locations. 

Green Shipping

Transporting goods around the world to various markets emits a lot of pollution and CO2 into the atmosphere. Large tankers and carrier ships are economically efficient, but use vast quantities of diesel to get to their destinations.

In the future, green shipping will involve changing both the type of fuel vehicles use (switching to electric) and using more sustainable, compostable, or biodegradable packaging. New technologies will also help cut traffic and miles covered by using software to optimize delivery routes. 

Higher Shipping Costs

The costs of shipping may rise in 2021. During 2020, fees for ship containers leaving ports in Asia doubled on average, according to MarketWatch reports. 

We’ve also seen container shortages and blockages in ports that have pushed prices up even further. Demand for shipping materials continues to outstrip supplies, pushing up prices. These added frictions could lead to more domestic supply provision and increased freight traffic within economic blocs.

Reducing shipping costs requires choosing the right shipping partner for your operations.