3 Common Shipping Mistakes You Need to Avoid

While dealing with individual shipping requests and other upstream issues, shipping companies are often rushing to ship orders. That’s why these daily occurrences can result in common mistakes that are often left unnoticed.

Shipping plays a significant role when it comes to business expansion. However, you must understand that shipping isn’t just about delivering packages to the customer. It’s more about showcasing a company’s commitment towards providing an incredible experience to its customers. Inevitably, avoiding some common mistakes will get you an extra mile ahead of your competition.

Perhaps most of these mistakes won’t be that big but, undoubtedly, the impact they will cause can be devastating. Once you identify these mistakes, it’ll be really easy for you to avoid these. This way, you can save a lot of time & money that you might be spending unnecessarily.

So let’s dive in:

Improper Packing

While shipping a product, about half of the issues are due to the inappropriate packing. In most cases, faulty packing is the reason why many products are damaged. Businesses sell different products that vary in shapes & sizes. Whether it’s the smaller products like nuts & bolts or perhaps the ones having a greater weight like spare parts and furniture, etc. different products require different packing. It’s imperative for business owners to identify which products need what type of box along with the protective cushioning. In case a box is not well reinforced, it can’t support heavy products’ weight.

Products that are not packed properly, chances are that they might get damaged while being delivered. Inevitably, the customers aren’t liable for any damage that is caused during shipping. Consequently, it’s either the business or the shipping carrier who has to bear that extra cost. Besides, it’ll also take longer for shipping, replacing damaged product and shipping again. So just make sure to do proper packaging in order to keep the products safe.

Picking the Wrong Shipping Company

Do you believe that one international shipping vendor or method can be the best for every situation? If yes, think again. Keep in mind! Certain shipping providers have established good business terms with the customs in specific destinations. Therefore, choosing a different company for specific countries may speed up delivery to your customers.

If you have hired any vendor for international shipping services, it’s imperative for the provider to understand the trade lane you are in along with all the appropriate solution to move your product safely and timely while fulfilling all the required regulations.

Make sure you verify if the supplier has expertise in the destination simply by checking references as well as asking questions about how many years the provider has been serving the destination, number of transactions and number of employees. Most of the shipping vendors having a strong presence in a country will have a physical office location as well. So just ask about that as well.

Mistiming an Import/Export

For international shipping, timing is insanely crucial. In the shipping industry, it can be tricky for a newbie to time a shipment properly. Perhaps that’s the reason why mistiming an import/export has turned out to be a common international shipping mistake.

For instance; you want a shipment to reach fast. Typically, you get a quote and find out the transit time – which is 2-weeks usually. In case you promised the consignment sooner, it can be a serious problem.

Honestly, the fastest way to ship goods internationally is by air cargo. But it’s more expensive than ocean freight and best for the small-medium sized shipments. If you are dealing in the larger shipments, you’d be better off with the ocean freight.

To avoid this mistake, make sure you research the shipping times. It’ll just take a little bit of online research, and you’ll get a decent approximation of how long it is going to take in order to import or export from one specific location to another. For more and specific details, you can call up the shipping company that regularly deals into all the imports and exports to make a smart trade.

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