How much does it cost to ship a t-shirt? eCommerce shipping for beginners

1. Shipping methods

These determine the shipping speed and who will deliver it. There are a range of common shipping services:

• Same-day Delivery
• Overnight Shipping
• 2-Day Shipping
• Longer Shipping Times
• International Shipping

2. Shipping rates

How much you charge your customer for shipping. This cost is on top of the cost of the goods they have purchased and are added to the order at checkout.

3. Shipping times

The timeframe between when order fulfillment is completed and the package is handed to the carrier, to when the order is delivered to the end customer.

4. Shipping cost

The variables that affect the price a carrier will charge to deliver your order. These factors include package measurements, shipment type, weight, speed, delivery preferences and location.

5. Shipping carrier

eCommerce shipping companies that deliver your products to the customer. The rate they charge will be based on a range of factors unique to every shipment.

6. Profit margins

Profit margin represents the percentage of each sale that has been turned into profit. For example, if a business achieved a 20% profit margin during 2021, they made a net income of $0.20 per dollar sold. It is one of the most common ratios used to gauge the profitability of a company or business activity.

Same-day delivery

The demand for same-day delivery is huge. Research shows that over 75% of consumers prefer this shipping solution.

This shipping solution either delivers products to the customer on the same day the order is placed or ships out the product on the same day. Your eCommerce store should clearly state which version of same-day shipping you operate on, ensuring customers are completely aware of the shipping timeline.

Overnight shipping

Also known as next-day delivery, these services guarantee customers will receive their order the next business day. As with all rapid delivery services, demand is huge. Research shows that , next-day delivery makes 49% of shoppers more likely to shop online.

This is an excellent shipping option when a customer needs an order ASAP. Customers understand there is often an extra cost for overnight shipping, enabling you to pad your profit margin.

2-day shipping

Thanks to Amazon’s push for 2-day shipping as an industry standard,  research now shows that only 44% of consumers are willing to wait two days for orders to be delivered via fast shipping.

Much like the previous two shipping solutions, this may not be the most cost-effective shipping solution until your eCommerce business has scaled to the point where you can afford the infrastructure necessary.

Longer shipping times

These are usually the most affordable eCommerce shipping methods available. Research indicates that only 15% of US consumers are happy about delivery speed and these slower methods, such as ground shipping, are best saved for items that are not time-sensitive.

While many people want to receive items quickly, many are willing to wait a few days. According to research, 21% of people are willing to wait 3-4 days and 10% will wait 5-7 days, however only 2% are willing to wait 1-2 weeks.

International

International shipping is any shipping method that transports and delivers packages beyond the online business’s domestic shipping area. This could be across different countries or even continents.

1. Flat-rate shipping

When you offer flat-rate shipping, customers get a set price for the shipping option, no matter the dimensions or weight of the order. Charging a flat rate for shipping allows your online shoppers to increase their orders without increasing the overall shipping cost, making large orders more attractive.

2. Real-time carrier rates

This shipping pricing method is to charge live carrier rates for delivery. Sales channels like Shopify have shipping integrations that work in real-time with a range of shipping carriers to generate shipping solutions and live pricing. This gives your customers the flexibility to pick and pay for the exact services they want.

3. Free shipping

Everyone loves something for nothing and free shipping is no exception!

This shipping rate is an eCommerce customer favorite and one of the best ways to reduce online shopping cart abandonment. However, remember shipping is never free and someone has to pay for it. 

4. Expedited shipping

When customers need an order delivered ASAP, expedited shipping can save the day.

This rate puts the package ahead of slower solutions like flat-rate and in some cases provides definite delivery times. This shipping rate is often delivered in the same time frame as same-day, overnight, or 2-day shipping methods.

This study indicates that 27% of customers will pick another store if they have better shipping options. Offering expedited shipping can help you increase sales.

5. Local delivery

In a Shopify consumer trends report, one key trend is the increased support for small business owners. Nearly a third of consumers say they’ve bought something online and had it delivered locally during the first three months of the pandemic. 79% of those who reported shopping locally online said they did so to support their communities or protect local jobs.

Local delivery has the potential to connect with local customers, increase sales and be a memorable customer experience.

Find a local dropshipping supplier or multiple suppliers

To get delivery times down, one of the most effective and simplest methods is to find a supplier that fulfills orders locally, shipping domestically.

When shipping print-on-demand products with Printify, you can select a print provider local to your customer. This will minimize shipping times and cut back on expenses. Not only is this great for your prices per order, but it will also have a positive impact on customer satisfaction.

Automating your order processing and fulfillment

Automating your order and fulfillment process means the whole process will be handled for you. The aim is that everything becomes a lot easier and a lot faster.

Tips to reduce eCommerce shipping costs

Here is a quick breakdown of the following tips and tricks to help you save on shipping expenses:

1. Reduce package weight and dimensions
2. Use flat-rate shipping when possible
3. Offer local delivery or pickup
4. Decrease the shipping distance
5. Find discounted or free supplies
6. Pick specific shipping and fulfillment center locations to maximize reach
7. Research hybrid services
8. Take advantage of cheaper rates for volume shipping
9. Reuse boxes and packaging materials to reduce packaging costs
10. Negotiate prices for business accounts
11. Pick specific shipping and fulfillment center locations to maximize reach

Let us know in the comments which of these tips helped save you the most on shipping costs!

Consider your margins

It can be costly to live up to customer expectations, with fulfillment, delivery speed, and accuracy critical. This can lead to a struggle with eCommerce profitability.

Success in eCommerce requires you to always keep an eye on your profit margins. Before your pricing and strategy is set in stone, map out all the top eCommerce shipping solutions and cost of delivery.

Minimum spend threshold

Setting a free shipping threshold can be a straightforward way to upsell and increase your average order value. However, an arbitrary threshold could be useless to customers or eat up your margins. For example, if your average order value is $20 and your minimum is $200, you won’t get many bites.

At the same time, if you set your minimum below your average order value, most customers will qualify and you will lose money. This quick breakdown will help you calculate your threshold. Breaking down your threshold can be essential to enable you to maintain a sustainable offer.

Bundles

If you can increase your average order value, then you can increase the affordability of offering free shipping.  Bundles can be an easy method of offering a preselected group of products as one product, for example a gift set at a discount. Alternatively, you can offer a mix-and-match option for shoppers to save.

Upselling through bundles can boost your average order value, while reducing average fulfillment costs.

1. Shopify

Shipping needs to be set up in one of the following ways: 

If you have an Advanced/Annual Shopify plan or carrier-calculated rates available for your Shopify account, you can enable the Printify Shipping Calculator for Shopify.

If you have a basic or regular Shopify plan, you can choose between weight-based or price-based shipping settings.

2. WooCommerce

Download and activate the Printify for WooCommerce plugin. This will enable you to publish Printify products to your WooCommerce store, and the applicable shipping rate will be assigned to them automatically.

3. Etsy

The applicable shipping rates will be automatically assigned to Printify products.

4. eBay

The applicable shipping rates will be automatically assigned to Printify products. This handy how-to will give you a quick rundown of setting up shipping with eBay.

5. BigCommerce

Choose between “Free shipping” or weight-based flat rates. For more info, jump into this quick BigCommerce shipping guide.

6. Wix

Choose between “Free shipping” or a flat rate setup. Check out this quick breakdown of how to set up shipping with Wix.

7. PrestaShop

Choose between “Free shipping” or weight-based flat rates. For a detailed deconstruction, check out this Prestashop shipping setup guide.

8. Squarespace

Choose between “Free shipping”, flat rates, or weight-based flat rates. For an easy-to-digest guide, have a browse of this quick how to set up shipping with Squarespace article.

9. Custom Printify API

As integrating by API is highly case-specific, our specialist team is on hand to offer a bespoke service.

All sales channels have the standard shipping solution available. In addition, an priority shipping option is available in the following cases:

• Shopify stores (only if using the Printify Shipping Calculator)
• WooCommerce stores
• Manual orders submitted from your Printify account

For all other sales channels, existing orders can be upgraded for an additional charge if the chosen print provider offers it.

1. Make shipping costs clear

49% of people abandon their shopping cart because extra costs at checkout were too high. This survey clearly shows that when consumers encounter unexpected shipping costs, they’re more likely to abandon their cart and not complete their order.

2. Display expected delivery times

Providing an estimated delivery date will save you a lot in customer support. If the customer can clearly see the delivery time before ordering a product, they will be aware of the minimum and a maximum number of days. This adds an extra layer of security and reliability for the customer.

3. Enable customers to track their package

Throughout the eCommerce shipping process, 97% of customers expect the ability to track the order. Providing customers with order tracking enables you to meet customer expectations and provide a higher level of customer service if there are shipping issues.

4. Provide a dood returns service

The quality of your returns service can offer you a competitive advantage. With 95% of consumers who are happy with a store’s return process state they’ll shop with the retailer again, a positive experience can benefit you in the long run. In this study, 49% of consumers actively check the retailer’s return policy before buying.