Why Merchants Should Act Now To Stop Shipping Errors

Why Merchants Should Act Now To Stop Shipping Errors

You’ve seen it before: You get a returned package that couldn’t find its way to the customer. Now, you have to spend time and money getting in touch with the customer and reshipping the product.

The culprit could be a typo. It could be a missing apartment or suite number. Perhaps the zip code was wrong. Whatever the cause, you’re the one stuck footing the bill.

Shipping errors are extremely common for online merchants. They’re also costly. And they’re completely out of your control—or are they?

We’ll offer the answer to that later. For now, let’s pretend you could stop shipping errors before they happen. What benefits would this ability offer your online store?

Save money on lost products and reshipping costs.

Some shipments get sucked into a vortex, never to reach their final destination. Others end up on your doorstep, returned because they were unable to locate the recipient. Both of these situations cost you money. By preventing shipping errors, you can eliminate these costs.

Don’t lose any more business.

Shipping errors place other financial burdens on merchants, too. An order that takes too long due to a shipping error could end up getting canceled, for example.

It doesn’t seem fair that your store would be penalized when the shopper made the mistake. But in retail, the customer is always right. (We’ll explain why that’s important in a second.)

Lost sales obviously affect your bottom line. But there’s more than just the immediately quantifiable costs that shipping errors cost…

Keep your customers happy.

When you avoid shipping mistakes, you’re much more likely to keep your customers happy. And keeping your customers happy…well, that’s the key to a successful online business.

Repeat business represents the bulk of sales for any truly powerful merchant. It’s so much more difficult to convert a new customer than it is to convince someone who has already bought to buy again. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t focus on getting new customers—but it means keeping current customers means spending less to build a continuing revenue stream that could last for years.

Hassle around a shipped product, especially on a first order, could ruin your relationship with that customer. If you can stop that hassle from happening, there’s a much better chance you can create a long-term customer.

Worried this article is living a fantasy? Worry no more. 3dcart has you covered.

Stop shipping errors with 3dcart’s Address Verification add-on.

Our new Address Verification add-on is exactly what merchants need to stop shipping errors before they happen. It’s a tool that works in real-time to confirm addresses in the UPS database before your customer completes the checkout process.

If Address Verification finds a closely related match, it updates the shopper’s address and gives him the opportunity to review his order before it’s processed. If multiple possible addresses come up, the feature presents the shopper with the options, and he chooses the correct one.

You can get started with Address Verification through the 3dcart App Store.