A step-by-step guide for getting your products to your customers.
A high-impact guide written for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
Introduction1
CHAPTER 2
Shipping Fundamentals
3
CHAPTER 3
Charging Customers
6
CHAPTER 4
Packaging14
CHAPTER 5
Shipping Your Package
38
CHAPTER 6
Scaling Your Shipping Strategy
52
CHAPTER 7
Conclusion55
CHAPTER 8
Bonus: Shipping Resource Roundup
57
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard Lazazzera
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i
Chapter 1
Introduction
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Shipping in ecommerce is a lot more than getting your product from
point A to B. Your shipping and fulfillment strategy is an integral part of
your overall business profitability and your brand. If done correctly, your
shipping strategy and package can help foster repeat business and even
help acquire new customers through powerful word-of-mouth marketing.
However, done wrong and you run the risk of increased costs, unhappy
customers and potentially an unprofitable business.
Most people don’t realize just how important and complicated shipping can
be to your ecommerce business. Planning a shipping strategy well in advance
can be a huge asset to your business but is also critical from an operational
standpoint and should be revisited on an ongoing basis.
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Introduction
In this guide, we’ll take you through all aspects of shipping and fulfillment.
From deciding on how to charge your customers, to packaging and branding
options, to choosing the best carrier for your business, deciding on options
like insurance and tracking, as well as outsourcing and fulfillment options.
This is the most thorough and complete guide to help you get your products
from you to your customers in a way that creates a great experience for them
and maintains a profitable business for you.
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Shipping Fundamentals
CHAPTER 2
Shipping
Fundamentals
Shipping and fulfillment can be one of the most challenging aspects
of building an ecommerce business. The reason it’s so complicated is
because there’s a lot of variables that need to be considered and everyone’s
approach to shipping and fulfillment will be slightly different.
Your shipping and fulfillment strategy will depend on a combination of a
multitude of factors. Some of those factors include:
• Your brand
• Where your products are shipping from
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Shipping Fundamentals
Where your products are shipping to
Your average order value (AOV)
Your product margins
Your product’s weight
Preferences for tracking and insurance
Carrier preferences
Customer shipping preferences
Product costs
Product restrictions and regulations
Customs and duties
Not to worry though, with the help of this guide you’ll tackle each element so
that you can make the best decision for your business and your customers.
Shipping Strategies
When you’re starting an online business and choosing a shipping model,
you’ll have several major options to choose from:
• Ship Yourself (Starter) - Shipping from home. Writing labels.
Walking to the post office.
• Ship Yourself (Intermediate) - Shipping from home. Automated
label printing. Package pickup from your courier.
• Fulfillment Warehouse - Orders are automatically received and
shipped from a fulfillment warehouse.
• Dropship* - Orders are shipped directly from a dropship partner on
behalf of your brand. You never purchase inventory upfront or hold
inventory yourself.
*Dropshipping is not only a shipping and fulfillment model but also a business model. This
guide will not focus on businesses that are utilizing the dropshipping model. For more
information on dropshipping, please see The Ultimate Guide To Dropshipping.
When you begin your new business, it’s usually a good idea to begin by
shipping your initial orders yourself. This allows you to better understand
the many elements that come into play when shipping products and further
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Shipping Fundamentals
help you refine operations and better control your brand while you scale
your business.
Stages of Shipping Growth
The average online business, provided there are no major external factors
involved, will go through several stages of shipping and logistics growth.
• Launch - In this stage, you’re likely receiving just the occasional order
sporadically with no real consistency.
• Consistency - At this point you’re getting consistent orders but they
are still limited. This may be a few orders per day or approximately
20+ orders per week. Regardless, there’s some consistency and
predictability to the orders.
• Growth - In the growth stage, orders have picked up and shipping
and fulfillment is now taking a large chunk of time to manage. There
is a growing volume of orders and the need for services to help
streamline operations. Shipping may feel chaotic at this point.
• Scaling/Infrastructure - In the scaling/infrastructure stage, there is
a very high volume of orders and the need to build infrastructure or
work with a 3rd party fulfillment warehouse to manage shipping.
Shipping Fundamentals Conclusion
Now that you understand the challenges of shipping and fulfillment, the three
strategies for shipping your products and the four stages of shipping growth,
it’s time to get started building your shipping mix. In the next chapter, we will
look at your different options for charging customers for shipping.
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Chapter 3
Charging Customers
CHAPTER 3
Charging
Customers
NOTE: Before determining how you’re going to charge customers, you’ll want to go through
this complete guide and make some other decisions first. Things like packaging, the carrier
you choose, the need for insurance and tracking can considerably change and affect the
shipping price. This information is critical to determining what you end up charging customers
and how you charge them.
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How To Charge Customers
It’s the all too familiar story. A new customer comes to your store, finds a
product they want, at a price they like, and adds it to their cart. They get to
the checkout page and then it happens, they get hit with the shipping and
handling rates and all of a sudden they start second guessing their decision
to buy.
Suddenly a product they thought was a fair price is starting to seem a little
expensive. One of two things happens next. Either they decide to continue
despite the increased costs, or they abandon their cart and leave your
website. The fact is, the majority of times, they abandon their cart, and
according to Statista, unexpected shipping costs are the number one reason
for shopping cart abandonment:
Image Source: Statista
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Your shipping strategy and how you charge customers can be a critical
element in the success (or failure) of your online business. Let’s take a look at
some of the most popular strategies for charging your customers shipping:
1 Offer Free Shipping - For example: Free shipping on all orders
over $100
2 Charge Exact Costs - For example: Using real-time shipping carrier
rates ($8.36)
3 Flat Rate Shipping - For example: $10 flat rate to all U.S.A.
Option 1: Offer Free Shipping
Offering ‘Free Shipping’ is a proven way to get your customer’s attention
and increase conversion rates. However, free shipping is never free, ‘Free
Shipping’ for your customer just means the shipping cost has shifted from
the consumer to you. Depending on your margins, offering free shipping
may or may not make sense.
With that said, large companies like Amazon have left many consumers with
the expectation that shipping should be free for consumers, so the marketing
effect of ‘Free Shipping’ on your website can be a significant advantage over
any competitors that don’t offer the same perk.
Deciding to offer free shipping will require you to either absorb the cost or
slightly increase your product prices to help cover or offset the cost to you
and the impact on your margins.
Free Shipping Over $X - Another option is to offer free shipping for orders
over a certain dollar amount. This type of offer can incentivize customers
with free shipping while providing you the benefit of helping to increase
your average order value (AOV).
The most common strategy for offering free shipping over a certain amount
is to get some sales under your belt first and determine what your average
order value is, then, offer free shipping on all orders X% greater than your
average order amount.
For example, let’s say you have some orders already for the following
amounts: $86, $112, $71, $65, $105
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If you add them all up and divide them by the total number of transactions
(5 in this case) you’ll get your average order value (AOV). In this case, it
works out to $87.90. With this particular example, you might want to offer
free shipping on all orders over $100. This will help increase your average
order size which should provide you with a little more profit that can help
you partially cover the cost of the free shipping.
Kauffman Mercantile, a high quality homewares company utilize this
approach by offering free shipping on all orders over $75.
Image Source: Kauffman Mercantile
Determining whether to offer free shipping on all orders or require a
minimum threshold often comes down to your margins, the niche you
operate in and what your competitors are doing.
If you offer luxury or handmade, one-of-a-kind items, rolling in an extra
percentage for shipping and handling probably isn’t too much of an issue
and it will be hard for consumers to notice. However, if you’re in a highly
competitive market where both free shipping and the lowest prices are the
norm, marking up your products to cover shipping costs may not the best
idea as consumers will immediately notice the increased product cost. This
is where you have to consider either a different option entirely, or absorbing
the cost for shipping on most of your items.
There are of course exceptions. Large or particularly heavy products like
furniture can cause some problems for your ‘Free Shipping’ promotion as
shipping on items like this can be extremely expensive and cut into your
margins significantly. Doing your research and knowing your numbers
about things like how much each of your products actually costs to ship, how
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your competitors handle shipping, your average order size, and your profit
margin can help you make the best decision.
Option 2: Charge Exact Costs
(Real-Time Rates)
In many shopping carts (Including Shopify’s Unlimited plan), it’s possible
to setup real-time shipping quotes. This means your checkout will be
connected with your shipping partner (UPS, FedEx, USPS etc.) and your
customers will be presented with a real shipping quote based on the number
of products, size and weight of all items in their cart. They will then be
charged more or less the same price that you will be charged when you ship
their order.
There are always small discrepancies that can happen but in many cases you
can end up breaking even between the shipping charges you collect and what
you ultimately have to pay to ship the package.
Simple Sugars, a store that was featured on Shark Tank, employs this
approach at checkout. Once a customer gets to the checkout, they select
where they want their order shipped to, and the calculator does the rest.
Image Source: Simple Sugars
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Using a real-time calculator can help you earn trust with your customers.
The calculator acts as evidence that you’re not inflating your quoted shipping
fees or raising your item prices to cover the charges.
This is also a good option to use for heavy or oversized shipments that
you simply cannot or do not want to allow to ship out under a free
shipping promotion.
NOTE: You can purchase shipping labels directly in your Shopify admin to simplify your
fulfillment process and receive reduced rates with USPS. The costs of the shipping labels you
purchase are calculated according to the weight of your shipment, and are added to your
next Shopify invoice.
Option 3: Offer Flat Rates
Your third option is to offer a flat rate for every package, or flat rates for
weight ranges and order totals.
This flat-rate method of charging for shipping requires a bit of preparation as
you need to figure out your average cost of shipping a package. This is a best
practice you should be doing anyway to make sure that you don’t drastically
undercharge or overcharge your customers.
When you hit the right cost, you’ll probably be over - or under - the actual
shipping cost by a little, but it should balance out in the end.
J.Crew Canada, a clothing brand, utilizes the flat rate shipping approach,
and has a simple $9.95 charge for all orders and prominently displays it with
a popup on their homepage.
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Image Source: J.Crew
Truly’s, an all natural deodorant company also charges flat-rate shipping.
Angela Collison, the founder of Truly’s said:
“My main focus in setting up my shipping prices was to make
it as inexpensive as possible while still delivering the product
in a reasonable amount of time. My products are relatively
inexpensive and I don’t think anyone wants to pay as much for
shipping as they do for the item ordered. USPS was a good fit
for us as they are very affordable for single items and their flat
rate priority options allow me to ship out multiple items for one
flat rate regardless of the weight. I was able to set up price-based
shipping as I have only a few different products, but I am not
sure how that would work out for someone who has a large
number of products.”
- Angela Collison
The above quote highlights an important point about the nature of flat rate
shipping: figuring out what flat rate works for you, and if you need to do it
by order totals or weight ranges will require some testing.
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How To Charge Customers Conclusion
The method you choose to charge customers can have a significant impact
on your conversion rates as well as your overall profitability.
You’ll need to decide that will work best for your brand, business and
customers and will likely have to test a few methods before you settle on one.
In the next chapter, we’re going to show you how to select packaging for your
shipments that will create a great impression with your customers, is cost
friendly and protects your merchandise as it moves around the world.
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Packaging
CHAPTER 4
Packaging
Packaging is a very important part of the shipping and fulfillment
process. It protects your products from bumps and bruises and is the first
thing your customer see when it shows up at their door. It’s your brand’s first
impression in-person and it’s a big deal.
In this chapter, you’ll learn all about how to package your products, the different
types of packaging available, and a plethora of resources to get you started.
Utility Packaging Vs. Branded Packaging
Now that you understand your options for charging your customers, it’s time
to look at your packaging options. It’s important to note that your packaging
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options, depending on cost can also affect the strategy you use to charge
your customers as packaging can be a significant contributing factor in your
overall shipping costs.
There are two extremes of packaging options with a whole lot of grey area in
between the two. Let’s take a look at those two extremes:
• Utility-Focused Packaging - Nothing fancy. A plain envelope or
brown cardboard box and any necessary filler to protect your product.
• Branded, Experience Focused Packaging - The sky’s the limit on
how fancy and memorable you want your customer’s experience to
be. Though the use of packaging, you can create a unique experience
that also acts as a marketing channel. We will discuss this more below.
Image Source: Packaging Of The World
As mentioned previously, the two options listed above are extremes. For
most businesses, your packaging will likely fall somewhere in between utility
and some custom branded experience.
Standard Packaging Options
Before you can ship your products, you’ll need to package them for safe
transport. There are a few common options for utility focused packaging
including boxes or envelopes (padded or unpadded).
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Unless you’re shipping a very small or ultra durable product, most businesses
and products will require some type and size of box to protect the order for
safe transport, as well as some form of stuffing or product cushioning.
Image Source: Uline
Uline is a popular choice to purchase packaging materials including over
1,300 sizes of boxes, bubble mailers, and package cushioning, however
we have provided many more resources for boxes and cushioning later in the
resource section of this chapter.
The Importance of Package Size
Because most shipping couriers and shipping options are charged based on
size and weight, you want to do your best to keep your packaging as small
as possible. This will help you save not only on shipping costs incurred by
you and your customer but to also keep packaging costs from eating away at
your profit margin.
Depending on your business and your product line, you may want to
consider carrying a few strategically selected sizes of packaging materials,
like small, medium and large size boxes.
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What this boils down to is that you always want to use the smallest
packaging available, while still providing your products with enough
protection to get them to your customer safely.
A Branded Packaging and Unboxing
Experience
For ecommerce businesses, the shipped package represents the most direct
touch point and connection with the customer. It also happens to be one of
the most under-utilized marketing opportunities for merchants.
Packaging in ecommerce came out of necessity for protecting the most
important thing, the product that the customer ordered. However, as
ecommerce evolves and as consumer habits shift, delivering a complete
brand experience extends beyond the product itself and transcends into the
whole experience.
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What Exactly Is a Branded Packaging
Experience?
Simply put, a branded packaging experience is a thoughtful selection of
packaging and shipping materials as well as the deliberate presentation of
your products. Its purpose is to provide additional value for your customer
as well as your business through the ability to create a memorable and
sharable experience.
Unlike physical retail, ecommerce merchants have less touchpoints to
impress and wow customers with so it’s important to utilize each one to
create a branded experience that sets you apart from competitors and creates
a memorable experience.
TrunkClub is one such company that has taken the customer unboxing
experience seriously. To start, instead of choosing a standard box sealed with
clear packaging tape, they opted for a custom printed box with a handle that
resembles a trunk, closely matching and accentuating their brand.
From the moment a trunk from TrunkClub arrives at your doorstep, you
know you’re in for a great experience and one you can’t wait to open.
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Image Source: Trunk Club
Inside the trunk, the contents are thoughtfully laid out to create a
presentation and experience. To further build a custom branded experience
for their customers, all orders include a handwritten card from a personal
stylist explaining the selection of products. It truly makes you feel part of
something special and exclusive.
Image Source: Trunk Club
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The Importance of a Branded Packaging
Experience
A big part of building a long-term, sustainable brand is bringing customer
back time and time again. It’s almost always less expensive to get a current
customer to purchase again than it is to always find new customers.
Consider this, with every package shipped, your customer’s experience with
your brand will either:
• Fall below expectations
• Meet expectations
• Exceed expectations
There are many ways, some even out of your control, that your customer’s
experience with your brand can fall below expectations. If everything goes well
and the shipping courier isn’t late, you may meet your customer’s expectations.
It’s the little extra things though, like great packaging, marketing inserts,
and surprises that will help you stand out, exceed expectations and get your
customer telling friends and family about your business.
In a recent survey, Dotcom Distribution found that 52 percent of
consumers are likely to make repeat purchases from an online merchant that
delivers premium packaging. In that same study, Dotcom also found that
nearly 4 in 10 consumers would share an image of a delivery via social media
if it came in a unique package.
“The value of premium packaging extends far beyond the
customer experience into residual marketing effects. The
experience goes beyond the online order to when the customer
actually opens the beautifully wrapped package and shares
that experience across social networks. That act of online and
social recommendations drives loyalty from your customers and
promotes brand awareness.”
- Maria Haggerty, CEO of Dotcom Distribution
Fundamentally, people like sharing great experiences. Going back to our
TrunkClub example, if you do a search for “TrunkClub Unboxing” on
Google, you’ll find thousands of blog posts, images and videos. Many
of those pieces of content were created by customers, further helping
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TrunkClub get their name out there to more people, along with valuable
backlinks to help improve their search engine rankings and visibility.
Still not convinced how important an unboxing experience is for customers?
According to Google, in 2014 alone, YouTube hosted 1.3 million unboxing
videos with 10.3 billion collective views. More importantly, 62 percent
of users viewing unboxing videos are actually doing product research with
the intent to purchase.
The Elements of a Custom Branded
Unboxing Experience
There can be many elements of a well-designed, branded packaging and
unboxing experience. You don’t have to include every single one, however,
looking at each element can help you decide which ones deliver the best
experience and the most value for your customers. Strategically choosing
just a few of these items below can go a long way in creating a better and
more memorable experience for your customers.
Let’s take a look at some elements you may want to consider in your
branded, unboxing experience:
• Box - The biggest element to consider is the main shipping box.
Traditionally, white or brown corrugated packaging options ruled the
world as they are cheap, sturdy and get the job done. The shipping
box represents the biggest opportunity to begin creating that wow
experience, but can also come at a high price. There are a variety of
options, including colored boxes, custom printed boxes or custom
size/shaped boxes.
• Tissue Paper - Wrapping your products in tissue paper adds an extra
level of mystery and excitement for the unboxing experience. Some
options to consider here are using custom printed tissue paper or
colored tissue paper.
• Protective Cushioning (Filler) - Traditional protective cushioning
includes styrofoam packing peanuts, foam inserts, air pillows or
bubble wrap. Other forms of packing filler to consider include crinkle
paper (colored), or excelsior.
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• Stickers - Stickers are a versatile and fairly inexpensive way to brand
your packaging and can be used in several ways. If you use tissue
paper, a branded sticker can be used to seal the tissue paper together
or it can also be used instead of custom (expensive) printing on your
box as an option to brand it.
• Receipt - It’s pretty standard to include a receipt in your package, but
there’s a lot of room for improvement on how the receipt is presented
to the customer. Consider how and where to present the receipt to
your customers. Some higher end brands will use a custom envelope
to present the receipt in an elegant way.
• Tape - The standard is clear packaging tape but these days you have
some options of different colored tape that can complement your
custom packing and brand colors.
Internal Marketing Collateral &
Package Inserts
Marketing collateral and package inserts can be a cost-effective and versatile
medium for building a solid relationship with your customers. It’s these
relationships that can help increase sales, average order size, and profit.
Let’s take a look at some of the other top reasons packaging inserts are so
important:
• Packaging inserts are low cost - Below we will discuss five package
insert opportunity types, each of them are very low cost, yet can yield
high return.
• Inserts can be highly targeted - They are already a customer and
you know what they bought. This can allow you to tailor your package
insert closely to the exact person receiving it.
• The cost of delivering the message has already been paid - The
package is already being shipped so you might as well make the most
of it.
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• Package inserts are perfect for cross-selling - Because you know
exactly what the customer already likes, you can add highly targeted
cross-sell opportunities.
• Package inserts are a great channel for liquidating merchandise
- Hard to move merchandise can be converted to a marketing expense
and used to bolster your relationship with current customers.
• The right inserts increase loyalty - By making the customer feel
special, inserts make the customer feel like they are important and
provide a reason for them to share their experience.
Package inserts seem pretty simple - just throw a flyer or coupon in the
box whenever you ship an order. However, there are a lot of options on the
table you can use and mix to deliver more value and build greater loyalty
with your customers. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular types of
packaging insert options.
1. DISCOUNT OFFERS
One of the most popular types of package inserts are discounts offer on
future purchases. Sure these could always be delivered by email but including
discounts or credits for future purchases right in the shipped box ensures your
customers will receive the offer and leaves them with a tangible reminder.
As an example, Julep, an online beauty brand makes use of several types of
discounts to build loyalty.
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One of the most cost effective ways to create discount or deal offers to be
included with your packaging is to print them at business card size (business
cards are such a commodity at this point they are extremely inexpensive).
You can use a service like VistaPrint, OvernightPrints or, for a more
premium quality, Moo Cards and upload your images for print. You may
want to consider including two discount cards with each purchase, one for
the purchaser and one for the purchaser to give away to a friend. You may
also want to test out different types of offers to see which one your audience
responds best to.
For example:
• Free Shipping On Your Next Order
• $10 Credit Towards Your Next Order
• 25% Off Your Next Order
TIP: To create your print design, you can use the native design and template tools with each
service or you can use an online service like Canva.
2. PRODUCT SAMPLES
Samples can be a great value add to your packages for a few reasons. First,
depending on the products you sell, you can sometimes get samples for free
from your vendors. Second, product samples provide a great way to crosssell customers and introduce them to other products and product lines that
they may not know about or have been curious about trying.
Beardbrand, a premiere beard grooming brand specializing in beard oil
will sometimes provide small beard oil samples to their customers and
wholesalers. This small sample provides customers with additional value and
increases Beardbrand’s exposure.
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Image Source: Beardbrand
3. SMALL GIFTS
Much like samples, small gifts can be a great way to surprise and delight
customers without them feeling like you are trying to sell them on other
products. The gift you give doesn’t have to be expensive. Since it’s not
expected, most people will be pleasantly surprised by any additional gifts.
Take for example what Ryan French did. As the founder of GameKlip, he
decided to add a small package of candies with every order. It was so well
received by his customers that they talked about it all over social media,
forums and blogs. Today, if you search Google for “GameKlip Rockets
Candy” you’ll find nearly 27,000 results of people talking about the surprise
they received.
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Image Source: Pikdit
GameKlip isn’t the only one taking advantage of adding small gifts to their
packages. Johnny Cupcakes, a popular streetwear brand, knows exactly
how well additional inserts can impact a customer’s experience. They include
a variety of items in their packages that provides additional value and leaves
customers with a smile.
When Nikki Mueller received her package, it contained the following in
addition to the t-shirt she ordered:
Image Source: Not Made In China
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On her blog, Nikki wrote:
There was also several little branded ziplocs with a gorgeous
mini-brochure, a Power Rangers card, a button, and a breath
mint! Digging the randomness. So basically Johnny Cupcakes is
my new hero.
Just how effective can a small, almost valueless gift be? It’s been well
documented that the little candies delivered by servers at the end of a
restaurant meal help increase tips.
Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the impact of this gesture on
the tip percentages received by servers. Experiment #1 found that customers
who received a small piece of chocolate along with the bill tipped more than
customers who received no candy.
Experiment #2 found that tips varied with the amount of the candy given to
the customers as well as the manner it was delivered.
So what can be learned from this study? The little, seemingly valueless gifts,
combined with some personalization and presentation makes people feel
special encouraging them to return the favor. It’s the law of reciprocity and
it’s a powerful psychological trigger.
4. THANK-YOU CARDS AND PERSONAL NOTES
The simplest, least expensive and most personalized insert you can add to
customer packages is a handwritten thank-you card. A simple card can be a
really thoughtful gesture that can help build loyalty. This can be particularly
effective when first starting out, as it’s a competitive advantage that most larger
scale companies can no longer compete with. Use this to your advantage.
Brandon Eley, founder of 2BigFeet posted the following photo in a popular
ecommerce forum:
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Image Source: 2BigFeet
Brandon went on to explain:
One of the ways we encourage repeat business is by sending our
best customers a handwritten thank you card with a coupon
for future purchase. It’s my goal to send 1,000 cards every year,
which works out to just 4 cards every weekday. I write all of them
personally, but I’m automating the procedure of running the
reports, making the coupon codes, etc to cut down on the amount
of time it takes me every day.
A customer appreciation campaign like the one from 2BigFeet has the ability
to produce massive results and can be done with a very small financial
investment for the cards and just a small time commitment to write them.
As another great example of a really personalized note comes (again) from
TrunkClub, the premium subscription menswear service. TrunkClub
includes handwritten notes from personal stylists explaining their selection
of products with all orders:
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Image Source: Sketch42
Here are some quick tips on writing a thank-you note to your customers
from Gregory Ciotti from Help Scout:
•
•
•
•
If it’s financially feasible, try to use quality stationary.
Be sure to use the customer’s name.
Express your gratitude, clearly stating the reason for sending the note.
Mention details about what you enjoyed about your experience with
this customer (a fantastic opportunity to be specific and thoughtful).
• Allude to your future interactions with the customer.
• Close with professional but warm sign-off and a signature. (i.e Best,
Kindest Regards, Sincerely, Cheers, etc.)
5. PRODUCT REVIEW OR SOCIAL SHARE REQUEST
Since the shipped package usually represents the end of the transaction
for most customers, packaging inserts can also be a great place to ask for a
product review or to share their experience on social media.
Frank Body, a coffee based body scrub, encourages social interaction at
almost every touch point. This includes adding an insert which further
bolsters their brand and a request to share their experience on social media.
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As a result, Frank Body has built a massive community (615k on
Instagram) of fans all promoting their product which provides social proof
to others and further builds their brand exposure.
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Costs of Branded Packaging
The costs associated with a custom branded and beautiful unboxing
experience can be high and can quickly spiral out of control if you aren’t
being careful. The benefits of creating an experience for your customers
needs to be carefully weighed with the costs associated with it. These costs
come in the form of both time and price. You’ll need to decide based on your
average order size and profit margins what you can and cannot afford along
with which options present the greatest value to your business and most
importantly, your customers.
Custom boxes tend to be the most expensive costs associated with creating
a custom branded unboxing experience. To have your own custom printed
boxes you can be looking at a minimum order of 500+ and can cost $5-$25
per box.
Being creative can easily help you save costs and achieve similar results.
Consider pre-designed colored boxes from places like Uline. These boxes
come with much lower minimum orders and prices, at little as 50 boxes at
$2.50 per box.
Another option is to search AliExpress where very similar colored boxes
can be purchased with a minimum order of 50 units for as little as .39 cents
per unit (depending on size) and free shipping to most countries.
If you wanted to further customize the experience you can consider adding
printed stickers with your logo from a service like Sticker Giant or a
similar service.
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Use the chart below to help plan out what elements you want to include for
your customer branded packaging and unboxing experience as well as the
costs associated with it:
Packaging Resources
If you’re looking for packaging material to create a great branded unboxing
experience for your customers, take a look at our shortlist below of some
great suppliers of various packaging supplies:
Standard Boxes
• Uline
• ValueMailers
• Fast-Pack
• eSupplyStore
• Papermart
• eBay
You’ll also want to consider local packaging options. Many times, purchasing
your main packaging locally can be cheaper by saving the shipping costs,
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which tends to be fairly expensive due to the size of boxes. Check online for
packaging suppliers and box manufacturers in your area.
Custom/Unique Boxes
• Custom Boxes Now
• Any Box Today
• Uline - Colored Boxes
• Box Geek
• Custom Boxes And Packaging
• InstaBox (Canada)
• Packlane
Tape
• Tape Jungle
• Uline - Tape
Envelopes
• Envelopes.com
• Uline - Envelopes
Stickers
• Sticker You
• Sticker Giant
• Sticker Mule
Bonus: Free Shipping Supplies. Many carriers will offer a selection of free
packaging products when you use them. Here are links to free packaging
supplies from some of the biggest carriers: USPS, UK Royal Mail, FedEx, UPS.
Protecting Your Product
Depending on the products you sell, you may require protective material to
ensure that your products reach your customers undamaged.
There are several options you can use to fill void spaces in your packaging
and cushioning to protect your products including bubble wrap, foam,
tissue paper, air pillows and packing peanuts.
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Package Protection Test
So how do you know if you need protection for your products? As a good
rule of thumb, you should fill any extra space with some type of filler in your
packed boxes. You’ll also want to make sure that they can stand up to the
abuse they’re likely to endure while in transit. The standard test for this is
called the 4-foot drop test.
Image Source: Shipwire
According to Shipwire, a popular fulfillment warehouse, your products
and packaging should be able to pass a 4-foot drop test onto a hard surface
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without breakage. Doing this test on your packaging ensures that your
products will be able to withstand typical impacts during shipping.
The 4-foot drop test consists of dropping your package at five different angles:
•
•
•
•
•
Landing flat on base
Landing flat on top
Landing flat on longest side
Landing flat on shortest side
Landing on a corner
In addition to the drop test, your products and packaging should be able to
withstand a full minute of vigorous shaking without any contents breaking.
Carrier Packaging Best Practices
Each carrier also has specific requirements for packaging. Although these
are mostly standard and common, you should review your chosen carrier’s
specific requirements and best practices.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
USPS Domestic - Packaging Best Practices
USPS International - Packaging Best Practices
Canada Post - Packaging Best Practices
UK Royal Mail - Packaging Best Practices
Australia Post - Packaging Best Practices
FedEx - Packaging Best Practices
UPS - Packaging Best Practices
DHL - Packaging Best Practices
Shipping Label Printing
Once you have figured out your presentation and packaging, you’ll need
to determine how you want to label your packages. Many new ecommerce
entrepreneurs start off by writing the shipping and return address on
the package by hand. Although this can be a great way to start, it tends
to be time consuming, tedious and not scalable as your business grows.
Depending on your brand, the products you sell, and your particular
customer, this may also been seen as amateur instead of personal.
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The next step after handwriting customer addresses is to print shipping
labels. Most ecommerce platforms will allow you to print shipping labels
from your orders page that you can stick onto your packages using tape. If
you want to take things one step further, consider sticker mailing labels
you can buy for your home printer. These are available from any office
supply store or online.
As you grow there are variety of shipping apps and tools that can further
help you streamline your shipping process. This includes simple apps like
the Shopify Order Printer which will help you print invoices, labels,
receipts and packing slips, as well as more full-featured shipping apps like
Shipstation or Shippo. Shipstation and Shippo will integrate with many of
the most popular courier companies and your ecommerce platform so that
you can print more than just shipping labels but the postage as well, charging
it directly to your account.
Label/Postage Printing Apps and Services
• Shopify Order Printer - Free - This is a must-have if you’re on the
Shopify platform. Order Printer lets you quickly and easily print
invoices, labels, receipts, packing slips, and more. You can customize
and create templates to suit any need or print in bulk to speed up your
shipping process.
• OrderCup - $20-$50/month - With over 250 reviews, OrderCup is
one of the original label printers for Shopify stores. With OrderCup
you can print USPS, FedEx, UPS, DHL and Canada Post shipping
labels in Batch or one by one. With seamless integration, OrderCup
will also automatically update your Shopify orders with shipping
information and automatically trigger Shopify to send tracking
information emails to your customers.
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• Stamps.com - 15.99/month + postage - Stamps.com allows you to
do almost anything you could normally do at a USPS post office, right
from the comfort of your own home. Print postage and labels and
prepare all of your packages for shipping all for just $15.99 per month.
• Shippo - $0.05 per label + postage - Shippo integrates your Shopify
orders and allows you to print labels with one click. Choose your
parcel dimension, pickup date, service type and preferred carrier and
you will get your label within seconds.
• ShipStation - $25-$145 - Shipstation makes it easier to ship products
yourself. It integrates with major carriers, including USPS, FedEx, and
UPS, so that you can easily create shipping labels and packing slips in
bulk. It offers a great deal of other tools for shipping management as well.
• ShippingEasy - Free-$99/month - ShippingEasy prints labels
and sends email notifications to customers for tracked parcels.
ShippingEasy is free for up to 50 packages per month.
• ShipRobot - $10-$50/month - Sync orders from multiple sales
channels you use in real-time. Create and print shipping labels for all
your orders with one solution. Update order statuses automatically
once orders are fulfilled.
Shipping Label Printers and Hardware
Furthermore, as you grow, you can look at dedicated hardware to print shipping
and postage labels for your orders like these label printers from Uline.
Image Source: Uline
Printers like these can really help you streamline and speed up your shipping
and fulfillment as well as make your packages look more professional.
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Chapter 5
Shipping Your Package
CHAPTER 5
Shipping Your
Package
When it comes to shipping your packages, you need to decide which
shipping courier or couriers to partner with. Remember, the received
package is the first physical touchpoint your customer will have with your
brand. When choosing a shipping carrier, you’re choosing a business
partner, you want the best representative of your brand.
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Shipping Labels from Your Shopify Admin
Like many business owners, you probably spend hours of your busy work
week in line at the post office, waiting to do one of the most important
things you’ll do all day – ship your orders.
That’s why shipping within your Shopify Admin is more important than ever.
Here’s How it Works
When you’re ready to ship an order, click “Buy shipping label” from the
fulfillment screen. Then, choose your box size and shipping method (first
class, priority, or priority express). We’ll calculate the shipping cost for you
based on your box size, product weight, and shipping method.
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Some Major Benefits
One of the most important things to any entrepreneur or business owner
is time. With this added functionality to your Shopify Admin, you’ll save
plenty of time to focus on growing your business.
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YOU’LL SAVE TIME
1 No separate shipping account is required. Anyone in the US can print
USPS shipping labels from within Shopify.
2 You can begin purchasing labels instantly. No need to pre-pay or fill
your meter before buying postage. You’ll simply be billed on your
next Shopify invoice.
3 You can skip the line at the post office by purchasing and printing
labels at your convenience, when you want, wherever you want.
YOU’LL SAVE MONEY
On Shopify Basic plan, you’ll pay standard shipping rates. However, on the
Professional Plan, you’ll get a discounted rate – and on Unlimited or Plus
Plans, you get a heavily discounted rate.
Rates depend on the dimensions, originating point, and destination – you’ll
generally, however, save up to 30% (or absolute dollar amounts).
YOU DON’T NEED ANY SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
You don’t need any special equipment to print your own shipping labels, just
a regular printer and some clear packing tape will do. But, if you ship dozens
of packages at a time, or you’re tired of fumbling with printer paper and rolls
of tape, you’ll want to buy some supplies.
Visit the Shopify hardware store to stock up on everything you’ll need for a
do-it-yourself shipping station.
Ready to ship? Simply stick the label on your package and drop it off at any
USPS office. Because your package is ready to ship, you’ll be able to skip the
line. Or, if you have at least one priority package, you can schedule a free
home or office pickup.
NOTE: Want more details on shipping within your Shopify Admin? Be sure to checkout our
dedicated documentation for a more in-depth look into shipping.
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Shipping Outside of Shopify
There are many different carriers, small and large, public and private that
are up for consideration. For the purpose of this guide, we’ve provided
information and resources as it relates to several of the biggest carriers.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
USPS
Canada Post
UK Royal Mail
Australia Post
FedEx
UPS
DHL
Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all for choosing a shipping partner for
your business. Each carrier has their strengths and weaknesses. You’ll need
do your own research with each carrier to determine what would be best for
your business. The following sections will better help you understand the
factors you’ll need to consider when evaluating the various shipping carriers.
Calculating Shipping Rates
Shipping couriers base their rates on a variety of factors. Everything from
weight and size, departing and destination country, as well as extras like
insurance and tracking.
All shipping couriers base shipping rates on a variety of factors including,
but not limited to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Package Size
Package Weight
Departing Country/City
Destination Country/City
Tracking Options
Insurance Options
Volume of Orders
Negotiated Discounts
It can be difficult to compare services exactly as they all offer slightly
different options and every business will have their own unique variables.
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Below is a list of shipping calculators for some of the most popular shipping
couriers so you can easily find the most cost effective option for your
business needs.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
USPS - Shipping Calculator
Canada Post - Shipping Calculator
UK Royal Mail - Shipping Calculator
Australia Post - Shipping Calculator
FedEx - Shipping Calculator
UPS - Shipping Calculator
DHL - Shipping Calculator
NOTE: It’s important to experiment with these calculators for different box sizes to see
the effect on shipping costs. This can help you choose the right size packaging to save on
shipping costs.
Shipping Add-On Services
There are a variety of add-on services available that can either add value for
you (the merchant) or your customer. For the purpose of this section, we’re
going to talk about the two most common and important ones, insurance
and tracking for your shipments.
Package Insurance
Depending on what you’re selling and its value, shipping insurance can offer
a great deal of security to you.
Shipping insurance is a service which may reimburse you when parcels are
lost, stolen, or damaged in transit.
Shipping insurance is sold by postal services, courier companies, and
3rd party shipping-insurance companies like My Shipping Insurance or
Shipsurance. Not all insurers will insure all goods so you’ll want to check
with your carrier of choice or a 3rd party insurer to make sure your products
are eligible.
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You may want to consider only purchasing insurance on high-value items
and shipments so that in the rare cases when a package does go missing,
you’ll be covered. Keep in mind that some shipping services have insurance
already built into the shipping price depending on which service you use, so
consider this when you are comparing various courier services and prices.
Package Tracking
Being able to track packages is beneficial so you can confirm delivery should
there be any issues, however, it’s particularly valuable to customers as it
allows them to see where their merchandise currently is and help them
predict delivery.
It’s also important to note that with some carriers, payment providers
(PayPal) and 3rd party insurance providers, tracking is the only way to
prove you shipped a product to the customer and is often required to receive
insurance compensation in the event a package goes missing.
If you’re shipping locally or domestically, especially within more reliable
countries for postal service like Canada, UK, USA, and Australia, tracking
is not necessarily needed and becomes a large expense for the little gained
from it.
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Just like package insurance, your other option is to only provide tracking
on higher value shipments, or ones that you deem to be high risk of either
postal loss, or customers making the claim their package never arrived.
Shipping Add-On Services Conclusion
You’ll quickly get a sense of what works best as you actually begin shipping
packages and taking note of what percentage of packages go missing. If your
products are lower value, or your loss rate is minimal, it may not be worth it
to pay for tracking on every package.
Vice-versa, if the majority of your orders are high-value, you may want to
consider a 3rd party insurance provide that can provide blanket rates on all
your shipments.
Setting Up Business Shipping Accounts
Once you have decided on the carriers you want to use, you’ll want to
consider setting up business accounts with them. Business accounts offer a
variety of services including discounts, better expense tracking and a whole
host of online tools to more efficiently manage the shipping aspects of your
business, and some will include discounts on your shipping.
Here’s a list of some of the most popular shipping carriers with direct links
to get set up with a business account:
• USPS Business Gateway - Set up an account with USPS and get
access to the full suite of business tools they offer that can help with
label and postage printing, shipment tracking and more.
• Canada Post Venture One - The Venture One account with Canada
Post can help you save 5% on shipping and packaging products as
well as upgraded services on parcel shipping.
• UK Royal Mail Online Business Account - An online business
account with Royal Mail will help you save time by managing all your
shipping expense and invoices all in one place.
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• Australia Post Business Credit Account - A Business Credit
Account with Australia Post will allow you to charge many of the
common services directly to your account for better management of
your expenses.
• FedEx Business Center - Sign up with FedEx Business Center and
manage all your shipment information online in one convenient place.
• UPS Business Solutions - Get a 20% small business discount and
manage all your shipments, package tracking, billing schedules and
package pick up schedules.
• DHL Business Account - Open an account with DHL to save up to
30% on shipping and personalized customer service.
Note: Some carriers may require a minimum number of shipped packages
per day/week or month. Make sure you check with your selected carriers to
find out if they have any minimums.
BONUS: Free Shipping Supplies. Many carriers will offer a selection of free packaging
products when you use them. Here are links to free packaging supplies from some of the
biggest carriers: USPS, UK Royal Mail, FedEx, UPS.
Shipping Profitably
One of the best and least talked about secrets to being successful at
ecommerce is to figure out how to ship profitably. Because shipping
represents a significant expense for ecommerce merchants, if you don’t do
your research, you could end up losing money on shipping and this can
significantly affect overall profitability.
Before you finalize your pricing and strategy for your ecommerce store you
should use a chart, like the one below to map out all your costs associated
with getting your products into your customers hands.
1. DETERMINE PACKAGING COSTS
Use the template below to help calculate your total packaging costs.
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2. DETERMINE ALL OTHER SHIPPING COSTS
Use your total price from the previous chart for your packaging costs in the
next shipping costs template:
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3. TWEAK YOUR SHIPPING PACKAGING & SHIPPING STRATEGY
Now that you have an idea of costs for a sample package. Pay close attention
to the highest costs and look at where sacrifices can be made to reduce costs
if necessary.
Customs & Duties
If you’re shipping outside of your own country, you’ll need to include the
proper customs documentation. These are available online or at your local
post/shipping office. These forms tell the customs officers at the country of
import what is in the package, how much it costs and whether it was a gift
or a purchase. Based on this information, your customer may or may not be
charged applicable duties and taxes.
Check with your country’s postal service or courier of choice to find out
exactly what forms you’ll need to attach to your package. These forms should
be completed honestly and clearly to prevent your package from getting held
up in customs.
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Getting Stuck In Customs
In general, international shipments aren’t a problem, however packages can
get stuck in customs sometimes for days, and sometimes longer. Make sure
your customers are aware that you don’t have control over customs delays
and consider accounting for delays in your copy and conversations with
international customers.
How Much is Customs & Duties?
Fees for customs & duties can be extremely complicated. Like all things in
the shipping and logistics world, it will depend on a wide variety of factors
including, but not limited to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Country of export
Country of import
Product classification
Product material origin
Manufacturing country
Value of shipment
To get an idea of what fees your international customers may incur, check
out this duty calculator.
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Communicating Customs & Duties
To Customers
Your customer will be responsible for any additional fees that are charged
by customs. They usually will have to pay any additional fees at the time of
delivery. It’s always a good idea to make sure to include this information in
your policy page so customers aren’t hit with unexpected fees.
Here’s an example of how one store prominently displays information
regarding additional charges on their shipping policy page to ensure
customers are aware of possible charges:
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Additional Customs & Duties
Declaration Information
For more information on customs declaration and the required forms and
policies, please see the resources below:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
USPS Customs & Duties Information
Canada Post Customs & Duties Information
UK Royal Mail Customs & Duties Information
Australia Post Customs & Duties Information
FedEx Customs & Duties Information
UPS Customs & Duties Information
DHL Customs & Duties Information
Customs & Duties Conclusion
Customs and duties can be complicated for both you the merchant, as well
as your customers. Understanding some of the potential taxes and duties
involved in the countries you ship to and clearly articulating it to your
customers can help your business run smoothly and prevent unpleasant
surprises for your customers.
In the next chapter, we’re going to show you how you can use outside help to
scale your shipping operation, while lowering your costs as your business grows.
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Chapter 6
Scaling Your Shipping Strategy
CHAPTER 6
Scaling Your
Shipping Strategy
As your business grows and your order volume increases you will
probably want to consider the advantages that a fulfillment warehouse
affords you.
A fulfillment warehouse can help automate and handle your shipping for
you. When you choose to work with a fulfillment warehouse, you store your
inventory at one of their warehouses. Depending on their level of integration
with your shopping cart, when an order comes in, your fulfillment partner will
automatically be forwarded the order to pick, pack and ship on your behalf.
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There are a number of advantages to using a fulfillment warehouse including:
• Cheaper Shipping Rates - Because fulfillment warehouses ship such
large quantities for multiple vendors, they receive cheaper shipping
rates. They’re also integrated (usually) with all of the major shipping
logistics companies, giving you easier access to the widest range of
shipping options.
• Shorter Shipping Times - Strategically choosing your fulfillment
partner and the warehouse to store your inventory means you can
store your inventory closer to the majority of your customers.
Fulfillment warehouses aren’t for everyone though. There are several
disadvantages as well that you need to consider:
• Branding Experience - Generally, if you use your packaging
presentation as part of your branding experience, like Trunk Club
noted at the beginning of this post, you’ll be hard pressed to find a
fulfillment warehouse that will work with that level of dedication and
customization for your brand.
• Additional Costs - Although you will likely receive better shipping
rates working with a fulfillment partner, there are other rates that
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need to be paid including what are commonly referred to as pick
and pack fees as well as warehouse storage fees. If you feel like you’re
ready to work with a order fulfillment warehouse, there are several
that have fantastic integrations with Shopify including Shipwire,
Fulfillrite and a host of others. For a better idea of pricing and costs,
you can use Shipwire’s pricing calculator.
Fulfillment Conclusion
Working with a fulfillment warehouse is a logical step for ecommerce
businesses once they have some predictability and regularity of orders.
Working with a fulfillment warehouse frees up precious time and gives
you the opportunity to focus on growing your business and acquiring new
customers instead of dealing with logistics.
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Chapter 7
Conclusion
CHAPTER 7
Conclusion
Shipping is a challenging obstacle for any ecommerce business. The
many variables involved in shipping a product from point A to point B
means every businesses shipping strategy will be unique to their product,
customers, business and location.
Every business will have their own unique challenges they will need to work
through and overcome to develop the best and most efficient strategy for
them. Like many aspects of building your new business though, it will take
time and tweaking to determine what works best.
Understanding all the variables and evolving your shipping strategy with
your growing business is vital to its long term health and success. So once
you think you have it figured out, don’t let it go stale. Reevaluate every six
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Chapter 7
Conclusion
months to make sure you’re delivering the absolute best possible service and
experience for the best possible price to your customers.
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Chapter 8
Bonus: Shipping Resource Roundup
CHAPTER 8
Bonus: Shipping
Resource Roundup
Throughout this guide we have provided lots of resources to help you
ship your products. We have rounded up these resources in this chapter for
easy reference as you build your shipping strategy.
NOTE: Want an easy solution to all of this? Be sure to checkout how to print shipping
labels directly within your Shopify Admin. We’ve made it a flawless and inexpensive way
to print shipping labels, and fulfill orders directly from your orders page. Read up on the
documentation here.
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Bonus: Shipping Resource Roundup
Packaging Resources
Standard Boxes
• Uline
• ValueMailers
• Fast-Pack
• eSupplyStore
• Papermart
• eBay
Custom/Unique Boxes
• Custom Boxes Now
• Any Box Today
• Uline - Colored Boxes
• Box Geek
• Custom Boxes And Packaging
• InstaBox (Canada)
• Packlane
Tape
• Tape Jungle
• Uline - Tape
Envelopes
• Envelopes.com
• Uline - Envelopes
Stickers
• Sticker You
• Sticker Giant
• Sticker Mule
BONUS: Free Shipping Supplies. Many carriers will offer a selection of free packaging
products when you use them. Here are links to free packaging supplies from some of the
biggest carriers: USPS, UK Royal Mail, FedEx, UPS.
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Carrier Packaging Best Practices
Each carrier has specific requirements for packaging. Although these are
mostly standard and common, you should review your chosen carrier’s
specific requirements and best practices.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
USPS Domestic - Packaging Best Practices
USPS International - Packaging Best Practices
Canada Post - Packaging Best Practices
UK Royal Mail - Packaging Best Practices
Australia Post - Packaging Best Practices
FedEx - Packaging Best Practices
UPS - Packaging Best Practices
DHL - Packaging Best Practices
Label/Postage Printing Apps and Services
The following apps can help you purchase postage and print the shipping
labels quickly and easily.
• Shopify Order Printer - Free - This is a must-have if you’re on the
Shopify platform. Order Printer lets you quickly and easily print
invoices, labels, receipts, packing slips, and more. You can customize
and create templates to suit any need or print in bulk to speed up your
shipping process.
• OrderCup - $20-$50/month - With over 250 reviews, OrderCup is
one of the original label printers for Shopify stores. With OrderCup
you can print USPS, FedEx, UPS, DHL and Canada Post shipping
labels in Batch or one by one. With seamless integration, OrderCup
will also automatically update your Shopify orders with shipping
information and trigger Shopify to send tracking information emails
to your customers.
• Stamps.com - 15.99/month + postage - Stamps.com allows you to do
almost anything you could normally do at a USPS post office, right
from the comfort of your own home. Print postage and labels and
prepare all of your packages for shipping all for just $15.99 per month.
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• Shippo - $0.05 per label + postage - Shippo integrates your Shopify
orders and allows you to print labels with one click. Choose your
parcel dimension, pickup date, service type and preferred carrier and
you will get your label within seconds.
• ShipStation - $25-$145 - Shipstation makes it easier to ship
products yourself. It integrates with major carriers, including USPS,
FedEx, and UPS, so that you can easily create shipping labels and
packing slips in bulk. It offers a great deal of other tools for shipping
management as well.
• ShippingEasy - Free-$99/month - ShippingEasy prints labels
and sends email notifications to customers for tracked parcels.
ShippingEasy is free for up to 50 packages per month.
• ShipRobot - $10-$50/month - Sync orders from multiple sales
channels you use in real-time. Create and print shipping labels for all
your orders with one solution. Update order statuses automatically
once orders are fulfilled.
Calculating Shipping Rates
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
USPS - Shipping Calculator
Canada Post - Shipping Calculator
UK Royal Mail - Shipping Calculator
Australia Post - Shipping Calculator
FedEx - Shipping Calculator
UPS - Shipping Calculator
DHL - Shipping Calculator
Business Shipping Accounts
Here’s a list of some of the most popular shipping carriers with direct links
to get set up with a business account:
• USPS Business Gateway - Set up an account with USPS and get
access to the full suite of business tools they offer that can help with
label and postage printing, shipment tracking and more.
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• Canada Post Venture One - The Venture One account with Canada
Post can help you save 5% on shipping and packaging products as
well as upgraded services on parcel shipping.
• UK Royal Mail Online Business Account - An online business
account with Royal Mail will help you save time by managing all your
shipping expense and invoices all in one place.
• Australia Post Business Credit Account - A Business Credit
Account with Australia Post will allow you to charge many of the
common services directly to your account for better management of
your expenses.
• FedEx Business Center - Sign up with FedEx Business Center and
manage all your shipment information online in one convenient
place.
• UPS Business Solutions - Get a 20% small business discount and
manage all your shipments, package tracking, billing schedules and
package pick up schedules.
• DHL Business Account - Open an account with DHL to save up to
30% on shipping and personalized customer service.
Customs & Duties Declaration Information
For more information on customs declaration and the required forms and
policies, please see the resources below:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
USPS Customs & Duties Information
Canada Post Customs & Duties Information
UK Royal Mail Customs & Duties Information
Australia Post Customs & Duties Information
FedEx Customs & Duties Information
UPS Customs & Duties Information
DHL Customs & Duties Information
61
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard Lazazzera
Richard Lazazzera is an ecommerce entrepreneur and
content strategist at Shopify. He is also the founder
of A Better Lemonade Stand, a blog dedicated
to reverse engineering the process of building and
growing ecommerce businesses.
Follow Richard on Twitter.
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