Two Great Ways to Help Avoid Delayed Packages and Disappointed Customers

Customers should be treated like royalty and there’s nothing more frustrating for both you and your buyers than your precious goods being delayed or going missing in the mail. Here’s how you can help prevent both scenarios.

Logistics may not be glamourous, but they are critical to ensuring your business’ shipping efforts run smoothly. Think about it: you did all this work to get your dream Etsy shop ready to go and attract all these customers who want your awesome products. Don’t you want them to receive their orders – and on the day you promised? Of course, you do! Here are two things you should start doing right now to hit a homerun with every order:

• 1. Print shipping labels

  Trust us, printing your shipping labels is going to save you heaps of time, energy and money long term. Why would buying a printer and rolls of labels or label cartridges save your business money? Because you are greatly reducing the chance of a package going missing, meaning the time, money and resources put into creating or obtaining the product is not going to absolute waste. Plus, if your package gets lost and you have to issue a refund or credit to the buyer, that’s a double whammy. You need clearly printed labels that are accurate, dependable and – most importantly – scannable. And truthfully, printing your labels is much easier and faster than handwriting every little name and address, and it prevents typos that could throw off a delivery tremendously. (Still not convinced? Maybe our label poem will change your mind). Once you stick your shipping label on the package and send it out to the carrier, the drivers can handle the rest. But there’s still more you can do to help ensure customers’ orders make it on time, as promised, even once they’re out of your hands.

• 2. Send customers location tracking numbers

  Everyone likes to know what’s going on. People want the inside scoop at all times, especially when anticipating orders they paid for and are oh-so excited about. Being in the dark and waiting for a package to arrive with no communication isn’t very fun and can be pretty frustrating. You want to show customers you have their backs (and boxes) and are taking initiative to give them as much insight into their packages’ delivery journeys as possible. Upon completing every order, make sure you email customers a tracking code that is linked to the appropriate carrier’s delivery tracking site. This way, with the click of a button, customers can see real-time updates on where and when their packages are in the delivery process and when to expect delivery. They can sign up to be notified of any changes or delays and know how to contact either you or the carrier with questions or concerns. Carriers can then scan the packages with their mobile devices upon drop-off to report they have successful reached their destination. You can even request delivery drivers to take pictures of the location for each delivery in case a customer reports a delivery issue. You can help track down misplaced packages (or work with the carrier to do so). We live in a world of deadlines and big gift-giving seasons. Having that knowledge means a lot to a customer, and it won’t go unnoticed that you had your ducks in a row to help your shoppers out.

Above all, put yourself in customers’ shoes. We’ve most likely all experienced that feeling of let down when a package got delayed and missed mom’s birthday or never showed up at all. Since the responsibility will always be placed on you, the seller, it’s important you take steps such as these to fulfill your customers’ orders as timely and reliably as possible. Yes, things happen and once it’s handed off to the carrier, on-time delivery is a bit out of your hands. But by leveraging the tools available today, you can earn some very happy, loyal customers with every shipment – even when things don’t go perfectly. You can also rest easy knowing you are running your business in a way that proves you care about your customers’ experiences over anything.

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Editor's Note:

We are in the midst of the holidays, which means pulling off some label printing and package tracking action is going to make you an absolute pro at business logistics. Stick around the Zebra ZSB Blog for even more tips on how to make the most of peak shopping seasons!