4 Ways Omni-Channel Retailers Can Step Up Their Shipping Game

CEO and Co-Founder Jeremy Bodenhamer recently wrote an industry thought piece published in Entrepreneur on how retailers can use use shipping to their advantage: 4 Ways Omni-Channel Retailers Can Step Up Their Shipping Game.

"Let’s face it, shipping is a part of the online commerce process most retailers would prefer to ignore. That’s why most don’t spend nearly enough time strategizing about how to deliver when it comes to delivery. This often results in the use of tactics like free shipping or free returns that can eat away at profit margins and ultimately hurt business.

As one single company, Amazon, becomes an increasingly dominant force in retail—Amazon enjoyed nearly 25 percent of all retail sales growth last year—the time has come for every retailer, large or small, to re-examine its logistics processes in order to keep up with the pack or, better yet, move ahead.

Long before Amazon came on the scene, Walmart was the iconic American retailer. In 1997, the year that marked Amazon’s initial public offering (IPO), Walmart first surpassed $100 billion in sales. Today, Walmart is still flexing its competitive muscle, investing heavily in its online business to compete directly with Amazon and other omni-channel retailers.

But despite its past successes, Walmart has stumbled recently with its efforts to copy Amazon. Its rival sales days, the introduction of Shipping Pass -- Walmart's version of Amazon's Prime club membership—and price-matching have all seen mixed results.

This is not unique to Walmart. In order to compete in this new age of ecommerce, retailers large and small are wondering whether to take a page from the Amazon playbook or try a different, unique, more tailored approach.

That’s wise, because like other market leaders, Amazon isn’t invincible—at least not in the long term. Despite Amazon’s ever-growing sales figures and market cap, its current shipping methods are ultimately unsustainable—it lost at least $1 billion on shipping in 2015.

Amazon’s returns practice also continues to leave some customers unsatisfied, and its backend shipping processes continue to increase in complexity, often resulting in Amazon sending a different package for each item ordered.

As omni-channel players struggle to evolve their logistics practices, here are four recommendations to stay competitive in today’s crowded retail environment. . ."

Read on to learn how CEO, Jeremy Bodenhamer, says you can make you can use shipping as your strategic advantage for your eCommerce business.

If you would like to speak with a shipping expert to improve your shipping practices, contact sales@shiphawk.com today.