If you want to expand your online business, you have to reach out to customers beyond your location. After all, the internet erases the concept of borders — limits like countries and continents don’t necessarily apply. A fan across the world could order a long list of your store’s products. Ignoring that demand would feel like a total waste.
On the other hand, it’s understandable why so many small businesses avoid international shipping. It can come with difficulties. Here are two common problems with international shipping and how to solve them.
Costs of Shipping
International shipping will cost a pretty penny. Even small items will be expensive to ship. Lots of small businesses deal with this conundrum, where they worry that the cost of shipping small purchases cancels out the income made from them.
A quick fix for smaller items is to bundle them up with similar small items until the shipping costs stop sabotaging the initial price. One bottle of nail polish won’t be worth the effort, but a dozen bottles will be.
According to the e-commerce platform Shopify, a great way to resolve the shipping issue of cost is to compare prices between carriers before settling with one. Some couriers will be better suited for certain types of orders, destinations, and delivery schedules.
Any business looking for cheaper international shipping from Canada should turn to a reliable courier broker to find the most affordable prices for their product orders. All you have to do is look through the available shipment rates, select your favorite pick, schedule a pick-up time and print off the shipping labels before the deadline arrives. It will streamline the entire packaging process for you while saving you money.
Costs of Returns:
Having a generous return policy is a good way to appeal to customer interests, but it can backfire. Forbes magazine refers to lenient ecommerce return policies as ticking time bombs because they’re unsustainable — getting multiple returns in a short period of time could have your business hemorrhaging money.
Changing your current policy could upset customers, so your only solution is to shrink your number of returns. The successful business Dollar Shave Club gave excellent advice about reducing product returns in an issue of Packaging Digest. To avoid returns, you need to make sure that the customer knows exactly what they’re getting.
It’s possible that the customer had the wrong idea about the product when they ordered it. Maybe they thought the item would be a different size or they pictured a different color. While it’s an honest mistake, it will cost you.
All of your products should have clear names and highly-detailed descriptions. They should have a variety of photographs to accompany the descriptions. You can also give customers access to product ratings and reviews. Make it hard for them to gloss over key information.
When your business garners international attention, it should feel like a golden opportunity — not a financial burden. You can cut down the expensive costs that come with shipments and returns with these solutions. That way, you can appreciate your popularity overseas.
