How to increase your E-commerce sales using shipping apps in 2023

The Western genre and its contemporary analogue space exploration catch our imaginations because many individuals aspire to be explorers and adventurers who set out into the unknown and forge their paths. Even the smallest services have a mobile app today, and thousands of apps are uploaded to the Play / App Store every day. E-commerce apps are a new addition to the mobile world since they provide internet business owners and merchants with an alternative sales channel.

For internet businesses, expanding their consumer base and sales has always been difficult. E-commerce apps, however, can do it successfully. Today’s users tend to rely more on mobile applications than websites for quick and simple online purchases. As your organisation expands, shipping frequently gets more difficult. The fact that there are so many orders means it’s a terrific problem to have. However, investing in streamlining your shipping procedure is essential. How do you choose among the many shipping apps available? Strivemindz explains what to look for and offers its top five suggestions.

Choosing a shipping app: What to look for?

Small business entrepreneurs deal with a variety of challenges, such as finding the proper employees, creating a distinctive brand, and expanding their clientele. They need to tie up a lot of loose ends before their firms can run smoothly. Additionally, there is ongoing pressure to deliver top-notch service to retain patrons. Additionally, they must control their spending and make sure that their activities stay within their budget. Nobody wants poorly designed software controlling operations when there are already so many things to consider.

People should therefore pick shipping apps carefully. You should consider these factors when looking for a reliable shipping app. Apps for shipping vary in their points of emphasis. Fast delivery is quite important to some. The most crucial factors differ depending on who you ask; for some, product care and safety are paramount. Differentiating them based on your preferences is your responsibility. Look at which company offers you the largest discounts and which one offers you more services for less money, and don’t forget to look at the shippers’ historical performance.

Following a thorough investigation, proceed to contact the business and request an estimate before selecting which one to use for your product. Even though you may have preferences, every shipping software needs to offer a certain set of fundamental services and capabilities.

• On-Time Delivery: Shipping delays are common, but if a company consistently fails to fulfil your orders on schedule, this is a significant red flag for you. Delivery on time is highly important. By breaking their promise of on-time delivery, many eCommerce businesses lose clients. So, exercise extreme caution while hiring new employees for your eCommerce business.
• Safety Of Products: Many courier services deliver goods on schedule or early; however, they often lose their true form. No one likes having to wait a week for a defective or damaged product, to be honest. Consequently, collaborate with a courier provider that delivers goods securely and offers insurance for pricey or delicate ones.
• Real-Time Tracking: It’s critical to have access to your product’s location. This information is used by many eCommerce businesses to fill up service gaps. How will you react in the event of a contingency if you don’t know how your product gets to the customers?
• Sending Updates And Notifications: Another essential component is alerting customers. Customers who know their products’ location don’t worry or constantly contact eCommerce businesses. Instead, clients are kept informed at every stage of delivery.
• Compatibility: Most entrepreneurs who run online stores have their websites. They must therefore confirm that the shipping software they are employing is appropriate for their platform. It’s a good one if it enables you to do all of your tasks in one location, including getting the purchase order, printing the shipping label, and end-to-end tracking. However, you need to hunt for better solutions if you have to visit several pages to complete a single sales order.
• Cost: No matter how many orders you handle each day, how big or tiny your firm is, or how large or small your operations are, if you can’t reduce your costs, you’ll eventually go out of business. Therefore, consider the price carefully while selecting shipping apps. Discuss issues like “Will this company offer me any discounts,” “Are there different plans depending on the size of the business, “are there extra charges for integrating the shipping app with my platform,” and other similar issues.

Top 5 Shipping Apps:

As the owner of an online store, your busy schedule may prevent you from finding the time to investigate the many eCommerce shipping programmes and their features. But don’t worry, we can help with that.

ShipBob

ShipBob, a company that stores merchandise and sends it out to consumers, was founded in 2014 by Divey Gulati and Dhruv Saxena. The company chooses, packs, and ships the product when merchants connect their online store to the company’s software and send their goods to a ShipBob fulfilment facility. 

Why should you choose ShipBob:

• does not impose pick-up and delivery costs
• offers a flat charge for getting
• batch fulfilment services
• provides excellent returns management
• enables thorough reporting

Pricing: Charges for using ShipBob are very low. It doesn’t charge a pick-and-pack fee, in contrast to the majority of fulfilment companies. It entirely discards that charge instead. eCommerce business owners who use ShipBob typically have to pay $5/month storage fees per unit or $40/month per pallet for too many products in addition to the shipping costs. Instead of being charged per pallet or other unit received, you even get a flat receiving rate of $35 for each delivery.

Spark Shipping

With the help of the innovative shipping tool Spark Shipping, gaps between eCommerce retailers and the many providers they work with can be filled. Customer experience is seamless, and it offers a variety of services, such as order processing, inventory management, and shipment tracking, with ease.

Why should you choose Spark Shipping:

• Inventory control software
• Automatic tracking
• order routing automatically
• integration of all product data

Pricing: Even while the app is praised for its features, it is also one of the priciest options available. The first 1000 orders, one site integration, three vendor integrations, phone and email assistance, access to all prebuild vendor integrations and 250k SKUs are all included in its professional services, which are available for $249/month. For exceeding that order and SKU cap, there are additional fees. Again, the fee rises to $499/month and $999/month as you move toward better options.

Shippo

Shippo, another excellent shipping service, gives owners of eCommerce businesses their own space. They can register for free, compare shipping costs and special offers from the top carriers, and get the best bargain. Once a carrier has been chosen, the package must be shipped after the shipping label and return label, both provided by Shippo, have been printed. 

Why should you choose Shippo:

• Access to API
• Global carrier discounts
• Platform integrations without limit
• help via email and live chat

Pricing: Under the purview of Shippo, there are three plans. Although it has less functionality, the first one is free as long as you use Shippo’s default carriers. The remaining prices range from $10 per month for 60 labels to $200 per month for up to 10,000 labels.

AfterShip

AfterShip is a 2-in-1 shipping programme that manages both returns and shipment tracking. It gives consumers customisable programmes that may be customised to their needs and are affiliated with over 700 providers. The app’s ability to notify and update your clients regardless of the carrier you choose is its strongest feature.

Why should you choose AfterShip:

• Future delivery dates
• Punctual delivery
• Visibility of shipments
• Tracker page with a logo

Pricing: For 50 shipments each month using its basic features, the app levies no fees. But as you climb the charts, prices go up, and the features get greater.

Route

Route stands itself from its competitors by providing both package monitoring and insurance. After integrating their app with their website, eCommerce business owners are prompted to purchase shipping insurance, which costs a portion of the items in their cart. This prevents customers from having to pay out of pocket in the event of an incident involving damaged, stolen, or lost products.

Why should you choose Route:

• tracking packages automatically
• rapid problem resolution
• instantaneous shipment updates

Pricing: The Route app is available for free. The services are provided without cost to the merchant; all that is required is insurance.

Are shipping apps available for no cost to use?

Some eCommerce shop owners who are just starting may search for free shipping software to reduce their expenses. But sadly, there aren’t many apps that provide services for free and even those that do tend to have less functionality. This means that even if the business offers real-time tracking, round-the-clock customer service, or updates, you won’t have free access to everything.

Some shrewd companies even provide free trials of 15 or 30 days to business owners, after which they begin to charge a normal rate and encourage merchants to sign up for better plans for a seamless experience. Thus, free shipping applications are a fad. Furthermore, you are required to make payment for using the services after the zero charge periods have expired.

What benefits do shipping apps offer to small business owners?

You may be shocked to learn that small business owners prioritize customer retention over maximizing profits when you ask them about their main priorities. Why not, then? You need devoted consumers if you want to last longer since only then can you make money.

• Shipping Apps help to Save time.

Don’t you become annoyed when a product that you have been waiting for a week is delayed even further? Sometimes consumers are so irate that they decide never to shop on that website again. Connect with reliable shipping services if you don’t want it to happen to your company and you to stop gaining consumers.

A good shipping app can manage operations quickly and with ease. With only a few clicks, you can book, monitor, change, and update products. Additionally, it provides you with access to real-time data and keeps you informed about the product’s location and status so that, in the event of an accident, you may alert customers. You can even store this data for later analysis in some programs.

• Saving Money Using Shipping Apps

As opposed to calling freight brokers and waiting for a response, when you connect with online freight shipping businesses, you may get the estimate right away. The process is significantly simpler, and all that is needed is for you to enter accurate data about your shipment and location on the carrier’s website. Following that, you may assess the expenses of several shipping applications and select the one that offers the most advantages.

• Shipping Apps Let You Optimize

Most shipping apps keep track of information for analysis. For example, the history of the app contains information about the entire procedure, including the pick-up, delivery, and middle steps. That information can be used to pinpoint supply chain gaps and streamline the procedure. You can even keep track of the change and how it affects your business to decide whether to keep it going or stop.

Other Ways to Increase Sales Using E-commerce Apps in 2023:

• Focus on your current clientele

Indeed, it is true that returning clients are always worth more than acquiring new ones. When an online business struggles to grow, it is not about attracting new clients; rather, there is a need to enhance client retention. Even though it is a more expensive marketing technique, it is a terrific concept to increase client loyalty.

Since individuals can easily access their cellphones anywhere, anytime, you have more opportunities to increase loyalty with an e-commerce app. It may enable you to increase the number of products in your shopping basket, increase revenue, and improve conversion rates. Through the system in the in-app, you can also give out reward points. It might persuade visitors to make purchases on your website.

• Give discounts for mobile apps alone.

Mobile gives you an additional option to regularly communicate with your customers. A top-notch mobile e-commerce solution may assist you in integrating with all necessary technologies and engaging and converting your customers while providing them with a flawless mobile experience. Additionally, you can request comments from your clients on the app. By doing this, you may learn more about their requirements and give them a better shopping experience. Still unclear as to how it increases sales? Well, an e-commerce app is an ideal alternative for increasing sales.

When compared to desktop purchasing, your conversion rates are increased by an additional 1.5 times because of the improved design, simple navigation, and usability. Additionally, the built-in capabilities of the phone, such as GPS to track customer location, can be used for mobile-specific advertising. Another illustration is voice recognition software, such as “Siri” on iPhones or “OK Google” on smartphones, which can easily direct users to your app.

• Seamless Navigation and Simple Registration

The market is currently awash in e-commerce apps, which are regarded as one of the most reliable ways to make money. Building a mobile application might assist you in achieving your business goals and expanding your brand in the cutthroat internet marketplace. But not every mobile app-enabled online business will be successful. While creating the application, you must put in a little extra work. Users’ convenience will continue to come first with intuitive features because this is what customers want. Even while industry titans like Amazon can reinvent their mobile apps to the highest degree, they nevertheless keep things straightforward.

The e-commerce software must be as straightforward and user-friendly as possible. First and foremost, user registration should be quick and easy with no requirements to sign up or log in. When a person finds your website while looking for a product, a positive experience may encourage them to make a purchase.

Additionally, the in-app navigation should be well-organised to allow users to quickly identify the goods and categories that suit their needs. 

• Clear interface with Visible Buttons

The user interface always increases sales, whether it is a website or a mobile app. The general norm is to give users straightforward instructions as opposed to confusing them. Always provide users with a few options for how to utilise the app so that you can focus on targeted sales. For instance, you could feature the 20 best-selling items on the home page of your e-commerce application. It will provide a preview of your product line and aid in increasing sales.

The prominence of key buttons on the mobile app is another aspect. The “Add to cart,” “Checkout,” and “Buy Now” buttons should always be at the top of the screen or in other conspicuous locations. It is the most significant move you can take to boost your internet sales. Furthermore, placing these buttons prominently alone won’t generate more clicks or sales; you must also choose the proper positioning and font. By creating the greatest mobile strategy and winning the mobile game, you can make a difference with the finest mobile e-commerce solution.

• Feature the best-selling items

The likelihood of a sale increases as a result of clearly indicating how to purchase by highlighting best-selling items on the banner of the home page. Users are immediately drawn to the category of “best-selling things,” for instance, which is shown in the top spot.

A new consumer may feel overwhelmed if you lead them through the sales process because not everyone is sure what they want from your website. You can strategically place your products using engaging mobile app themes with the aid of the best mobile e-commerce solution. Utilise this tactic to promote and sell your high-margin products. Therefore, you should see increased profitability from your best-selling products.

Wrapping Up:

The sales and shipping apps you use will have a huge impact on how quickly your business expands. You may improve customer satisfaction, streamline operations, and grow revenue with the appropriate tools. Once you’ve selected your shipping app, get in touch with Strivemindz for help deciding which shipping app is right for you. Amazing line sheets will boost your sales. Easily handle orders, generate invoices, and more to streamline your business.