The holidays are not only a busy time of year for the individual trying to shop for gifts, plan holiday feasts, and hang decorations, but also for businesses scrambling to meet the demands of online orders and ship out packages that are going to arrive intact and on time for winter holidays. As a business owner, there’s almost nothing worse than getting a call from a dissatisfied customer because a gift ordered for a loved one didn’t arrive in time for the holidays, or worse, it was broken upon arrival. Even if you have some kind of return or exchange policy in place to cover such situations, you can’t undo the damage and give a buyer back the surprise that was spoiled. So it’s terribly important that you put extra care into packaging and shipping during the busy holiday season, especially since your boxes or envelopes may get crushed under the millions of other items being sent at this time of year. Here are a few packaging tips that should ensure your items arrive in ship shape and in time for the holidays.
1. Talk to shipping agents. If you’re no expert at packing delicate items, you might want to talk to your shipping representative at the USPS, UPS, or FedEx to get some pointers on how to properly pack your goods for optimum safety. These professionals are skilled at packing a variety of items and they should be able to tell you exactly what you need to get the job done, including packing paper, Styrofoam peanuts, bubble wrap, or other types of filler. You may also want to create custom Styrofoam molds if you ship particularly delicate and expensive items.
2. Call for pickup service. If you engage in a lot of shipping, or you see a significant uptick during the holiday season, you might want to arrange for daily pickup service to ensure that the packages you send out are processed and shipped same day. This will guarantee that your customers will get their orders with the greatest possible haste.
3. Understand your options (and pass them along to buyers). If you want to offer the most options for shipping, you’ll need to set up accounts with UPS and FedEx. However, it’s important to understand the costs involved, as well as the benefits to be gained. These options can offer you faster shipping, easy tracking, and additional insurance, but they’re also going to cost a lot more than, say, regular mail or even priority shipping. However, you should definitely give your customers the options they want. If they’re willing to pay the cost you can put in the extra effort.
4. Get insurance. It is imperative that you have proper insurance on your packages, just in case they are lost, stolen, or damaged in the shipping process. Since you’ll be on the hook to refund or replace the item for your customer, you want to make sure you get that money back from the responsible party, in this case your shipping agent.
5. Pay the pros to pack for you. Whether you’re just too busy to package your own goods, you’re not sure how, or you keep ending up with damage complaints, you might want to pay a professional to do the job for you. Even with specialized packing materials from a supplier like Royco Packaging Inc. you may still have issues with your shipments if you fail to pack them correctly. So pay a little extra to ensure that your goods arrive in one piece.
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