The Importance of Shipping

We’re always looking to future proof your fulfilment solutions and optimise your customer’s experience. This inspired us to reach out to the delegates at Online Retailer 2014 and film their responses to the challenges of shipping in commerce. We interviewed a number of industry experts and retailers and gathered some insights into how crucial shipping is to online customers and the way they see it evolving in the future.

Shipping’s impact on customer experiences

Many of the respondents saw shipping as one of the most crucial and also least understood components of the ecommerce puzzle. Part of this confusion stems from retailers assuming that the customer’s journey with the brand finishes when the package is picked up as opposed to when it’s been delivered. “For an online retailer that is your interaction with the customer…that’s when they touch the business for the first time. It’s the most important step.” This physical element of the transaction is key to delighting customers as good and bad experiences can both effect a customer’s likelihood to repeat purchase.

The Future

We heard a range of imaginative responses to the future direction of shipping. From dispatch by drones through to crowd-sourced delivery services and delayed fulfilment. A large amount of our responders also noted the growing importance of offering same-day delivery and click and collect options. This all comes back to the important point that all of our respondents acknowledged; that consumer choice and the ability to select how a package gets to you is a crucial component of building fulfilment processes for the future. Customer expectations around online retail and shipping are only becoming more demanding and the more options you can give to a customer, the more likely they are to have a positive experience and remain loyal.

Congratulations to our winner!

Thank you to all of the delegates that took part in our video competition at Online Retailer. Josh Emblin from IE Agency won 2 tickets to the Cirque Du Soleil in Sydney for his unique perspective on crowd-sourced deliveries and the significance of meeting customer expectations. Congratulations Josh!

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Plug Into Better Shipping Part 8: Click & Collect

The digital and physical worlds have collided. Consumers expect a consistent experience across multiple touch points. Friction, real or perceived, must be removed to increase conversions and provide a customer experience with a point of difference.


Many bricks and mortar retailers are including physical store fulfilment models, this is evident in the Australian retail landscape, simply type in 'Click and Collect' into your search engine and pages will appear of retailers who have adopted this fulfilment model.

For many SME merchants this seemingly enterprise grade functionality is only available for the top end of town. Think again. Click & Collect can easily be enabled when 2 store locations are available in your Magento platform. 

BCF offer Pickup in Store

DS Click & Collect promotional page

Benefits

- No delivery costs for your business. The ability to charge what ever amount to your customer.
- Incremental conversion attribution. 

- Increased in-store foot traffic and opportunities for customer engagement.

- Multiple store capability allows the customer to select the pick-up store most convenient to them. 

What does the customer journey look like?

Points to consider 

1. Staffing – who will manage Click & Collect in-store? Nominate an eCommerce champion to look after the process flow

2. Dedicate a computer and work station for Click & Collect orders

3. If your store is smaller, notifications can be sent by email advising in-store staff that Click & Collect has been selected as a delivery option. This allows you to prioritise fulfilment ASAP.

Remember, you can easily offer these options, but you need to make sure you have the processes and technology in place to provide a seamless customer experience. Ensure you have the Click & Collect journey down pat (dry run through recommended) – so when your customer gets to your store they've had a 'surprise and delight' experience. Who knows, maybe they'll purchase that shirt they were collecting in black as well. 

Next week we will show you how to configure Click & Collect in your admin.

Want to learn more about any of the features we talk about? Contact one of our Solution Managers or visit www.temando.com.

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Plug Into Better Shipping Part 3: Packaging Configuration for Success

When sending different sized items - big, small and the in-between – it’s important to ensure you have correctly added you’re product weights and dimensions into the Magento system. These details assist in accurately quoting your parcel, whether it’s going from Sydney to Sydney in a satchel or its 3 parcels heading from the Gold Coast to Adelaide.

It is important to accurately enter the correct packaging configuration to ensure the courier company knows what’s being picked up and so Temando can return an accurate shipping price from your chosen couriers. By getting this right in Temando, you can avoid receiving ‘incorrect dimension fees’ from the courier company.

Packaging is also a great opportunity to reinforce your brand to your customer. How do you want your customers to feel when they receive your products? Get creative and focus on your customer experience.

How to set default packaging 
If all your products are sent in the same packaging i.e. you’re a fashion retailer and everything can easily fit an A5 satchel, you can skip setting up individual product details and simply add default packaging dimensions: 

1. Click Temando in the admin tool bar
2. Select Configuration Settings
3. Select Temando Settings 
4. From the Temando Settings tab select Packaging

Enter in:

1. Packaging: what packaging type will this item be sent in
2. Fragile: Yes or No
3. Length, Width and Height – be sure you enter these dimensions in the same format as you have defined in Temando > Configuration Settings > Temando Settings. All details must be entered as whole numbers i.e. 11.5cm should become 12.

For any items you do not nominate packaging details, Temando will look to this default packaging type, consider your shipping rules and use these details to quote the customer. 

* Please note if these details are smaller then what is actually sent the courier may pass on a fee to your Temando Profile, you can find out more information on fee’s via our FAQ’s section on the website.


How to set individual product packaging
If your products vary in size when packaged you will need to enter individual dimension and weights for each product: 

1. Go to Catalog > Manage products > select the product
2. Select Temando from the product information column

Enter in:

1. Packaging Mode: 

• Use Defaults will look to the set default packaging
• As Defined the system will use the individual Temando Product Information 

2. Packaging
3. Fragile: Yes or No
4. Length, Width and Height 
5. Don't forget to save!

Hot Tip  
Each product must have a weight saved in the product information. We recommend saving it in general in the individual product settings. The system will not look to default for the weight and will return an error message.

If you have a large number of SKU’s you would like to add individual dimensions and weights too, you can do this via a data flow batch import feature in Magento. For more information on this feature please speak with your developer or refer to Magento forums and blogs.


To wrap things up, make sure you;
1. Use packaging to display your brand.
2. Set a default packaging size and weight
3. Individually set packaging sizes and weights to ensure you are charged correctly. Failure to do so may result in fee’s applied by the carriers.


Next week we will be talking multi locations in Magento.

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Plug Into Better Shipping - Part 2: Temando.com - The Basics

First up, let’s get back to basics. Today’s post will start from the very beginning and will take you through step-by-step how to:

1. Sign up for a Temando Profile
2. Nominate payment method

These are important steps to get out of the way before we get into the nitty gritty of configuring your Magento extension. In the coming weeks we will get a bit more exciting looking at packaging configuration, multiple locations, click and collect and other great Temando features in Magento.

Please note this series assumes you have downloaded and installed the Temando Magento Shipping Extension from one of our plans: Starter, Professional, Business, and Enterprise. If you have not you can download Starter from Magento Connect or contact one of our Solution Managers. Once you have installed the extension you need to enter your Temando Profile details into the configuration section of the Magento admin panel.

To create a Temando Profile -

1. Go to www.temando.com
2. Click Sign In

3. Click Create A New Account under the Register column
4. Enter in your details as prompted – be sure to select Company

5. Once successful, select ‘Go to your account’ and select ‘My Details’ from the main navigation

6. Take note of your ‘Account No.’ and ‘Login ID’ as you will need these in the Magento Admin                 section

Secondly, to start shipping, we need you to nominate a preferred payment method. If you would like a trading account please speak to your Solution Manager or Contact our support team.
To use the Auto Top up function;

1. In the My Details section, select  PCI Compliant from Payment Details
2. Select Store Credit Card for Express Payment in Future Transactions
3. Enter the card details and select Update from the bottom of the page

4. Navigate back to the Payment Details section in Auto Credit Top Up and enter the amount you             wish to be automatically charged to your credit card
5. Select Update from the bottom of the page

Temando will add Temando credit to your profile when your Temando credit balance reaches $0 and you make a courier booking. Your credit card will automatically be charged, topping up your Temando Credit.

Now you’re all set up in Temando let’s transfer these details to Magento admin so the extension can work in sync with Temando.

1. Log into your Magento admin
2. Select Temando > Configuration Settings > Temando Settings from the top tool bar
3. In the ‘General’ section enter your: Client ID (Account No), Login ID and Password
4. Select save config

Now you are ready to start shipping with the Temando Shipping Extension for Magento.
If you would like to learn more on how to basically configure you’re shipping extension - head over to our website and download the Magento configuration guides.

Next week we will walk through setting up packaging logic, highlighting the importance of getting this feature configured correctly and the effects it has on the profitability of your shipping operation.

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How to Create Effective eCommerce Product Pages [Infographic]

This is a fantastic infographic that I came across by Invesp.

Not surprisingly, the two most important features that influence a buyer’s decision are free shipping and free returns!

Infographic by- Invesp

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eCommerce Best Practices

Buying and Selling online is where it’s at. The world of eCommerce - or as the Temando team call it, the world of ‘dot com’ - gives you the ability to reach a broad range of potential customers. The question is: how do you make these people who browse the internet your customer, and how do you keep them?

Below are a few best practices for you to keep in mind when creating your dot com space.

1.   Shipping - give options and be upfront

Recently, after searching for an outdoor setting online and settling on one I liked, I was shocked to get to the checkout and be slogged with a $200+ shipping cost. This was almost the cost of the product itself. It is important to be upfront with your shipping costs. Regardless of whether your store offers flat rate or dynamic shipping cost (i.e. shipping cost is dependent on customer’s postcode), cost needs to be clearly communicated with the user. Adding a shipping calculator at a product level assists in this transparency.

Communicating shipping costs is key, but so is providing the customer with options. Some customers may want to pay for a premium service to receive their goods earlier whilst other may be happy with a slower, ‘general road’ service. Temando allows the comparison of various freight services whether it be same day, overnight or general road.

Anaconda's checkout with shipping calculator for the customer to calculate costs prior to checkout.

2.   Keep it Simple, Stupid

Like a bricks and mortar store, your website needs to be well laid out and aesthetically appealing to drive customers to the check out. Cluttered product pages with too much going on can be distracting and lead to unconverted sales. Use the pages to highlight the product and its features, but don’t get too crazy. Animations and flashing images can often distract from the product. And not all devices show flash! Be precise with product descriptions. Visually, clean crisp lines are ideal. 

Customers are going to be deterred from buying if the process is complicated. Ensure you map this process prior to development.

This motto is across the board and not industry selective, so don’t forget to keep it simple, stupid.

3.   Provide Quality Images

Selling items intangibly can be a difficult task if quality images are not provided. The way you present your items can get a visitor across the line and convert them to a buyer. Having pictures play a major role means that you should invest in the images you have displayed on your site. Keeping the images consistent and well-presented will encourage sales.

When it comes to online shopping, pictures play a major role.

Feather and Buzz, homewares website- is a great example of good quality images. 

4.   Username OR Email Address?

Allowing your users to use your website with an email address rather than a username is preferable. Usernames can be difficult to remember, and can be a pet peeve of the buyer. When they are buying a product, allow users to create their profile with an email address.

5.   Visible Contact Information

Despite online shopping being widely accepted as a retail environment, there are still some hesitations of customers on the legitimacy of websites. Displaying contact details clearly helps to reinforce confidence in the consumer to purchase from your website. This does not necessarily mean providing your contact number but having a clear contact page - whether that is via phone or email. Should a customer have questions or issues they can easily and confidently contact you.

Bing Lee have their contact details clearly visible in the header, as well as live chat.

6.   Editable Cart Page

Give the customer the ability to add and remove items from the cart page. From personal experience, it can be a frustrating and sometimes a negative experience when you are required to go back or refresh the page when you simply want to edit the contents of the cart.

Ksubi allows you to remove or update the quantities of the products in your shopping cart.

 7.   Search Field:

Whilst not a key component of a website, giving users the option of a search field can be viewed as beneficial. Some users come directly to your site in search of a particular product. Rather than hunting your website, this option allows them to search for the product directly. This search function should be inserted in the header of the page (in most cases on the right hand side of the header).

Harvey Norman has a clearly visibly search bar for customers to search the product database.

8.   If you like this, you’ll love that

A great addition to a website is ‘Recommended Item’ feature, if executed correctly. A bad feature for a website is a ‘recommended item’ feature that displays irrelevant products. Linking purchased products and providing similar ones to tempt the consumer further is another way of engaging with your consumer.

The Iconic make use of the recommended item feature- love wedges!

9.   Avoid Hidden Charges

Hidden charges can leave your consumer with a negative view of your eCommerce site. If these charges are added at the checkout they are generally the last part of the interaction with your site. Providing clarity with product and payment methods upfront will avoid this negative connotation. There should be no hidden charges - it’s easier to retain a customer than gain a new one.

10. Payment Options

Not everyone feels comfortable paying by credit card, so ensure your online store has more than one method of payment. Research the payment options available in your sector and area (Australia, US, Europe).  Remove any barriers to purchase by giving your customers payment options.

Supercheap Auto offer Credit Card & PayPal as payment methods.

11. Simple and Easy Checkout

Temando’s data shows that a one-page checkout process increases conversions.  Only ask for the important and necessary information – asking for irrelevant information will frustrate the customer and can lead to shopping cart abandonment.

Ensure that previously entered data is automatically entered when the customer has logged in (e.g. shipping address).

Your one-page checkout should include shipping address, delivery options and payment gateway.

Tony Bianco has a sleek and clear checkout.

12. Responsive Pages

The booming uptake of handheld devices such as tablets and smart phones makes online shopping much more easily accessible. No longer do people just browse the internet from their desktop, it’s often done from their smart device whilst on the bus or watching TV. Make sure your website is responsive to the varying devices. Keep in mind that these devices are touch screen so links and buttons should be designed to accommodate this. Hot tip from around the traps - make sure you can still access the normal website from the mobile version!

Responsive websites are becoming the norm and the necessary.

These points are only skimming the surface of the best practices for your online store. The online environment is a quickly adapting one. eCommerce site owners should continue to keep their fingers on the pulse and up to date. Give us your feedback on what has worked for your site - or maybe what didn’t work so well!

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eCommerce Holiday Shopping Statistics & Trends: Infographic

I can't believe it's almost Christmas again! Here's some interesting data out of the US on the trends and expectations for 2012's Xmas period. Enjoy!

 
 
Infographic by- Invesp

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