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Shipping costs are one of the main factors to consider when shopping online. According to research conducted by Gemius for the Chamber of Digital Economy in Poland, attractive shipping prices are the second most important element influencing the decision-making process of potential buyers. Keeping in mind that buyers carefully calculate delivery costs before making a purchase, it’s worth analyzing available shipping options, especially when talking about the dropshipping model, which has become incredibly popular, and thus competitive, in recent years.
Dropshipping wholesalers have their own shipping options, and their prices are usually very attractive. However, not all of them offer international shipping. In this case, you can order your own courier. The situation gets complex when the customer orders goods from different wholesalers during one shopping session. But don’t worry. There are a few solutions to the problem.
Add up the shipping costs
The simplest one is to add up the shipping costs. Thanks to it, the customer will quickly receive all the packages as they’ll be sent directly from the warehouse. Nevertheless, it’s worth mentioning that the total cost will be the sum of each individual shipping, which may effectively discourage buyers, especially if they planned to buy only one or two products. In this case, the online store should consider whether it wouldn’t be more beneficial to add a part of the costs to the price of the goods.
Repack the goods into one package
Another popular method is to repack the goods into one package. Here, the customer has to wait until the seller collects all the packages. Thanks to it, shipping costs can be much lower (the customer will pay for one shipment), however, the store will incur costs for each shipment from the wholesaler to the store. If the seller has multiple customers who order larger quantities of goods, it can be a profitable option. But it needs to be mentioned that in this case, sellers don’t benefit from the main advantage of dropshipping, meaning the comfort of not having to handle the logistics.
Choose the highest shipping cost from available options selected by the customer
The third way to solve the problem with shipment of products from different wholesalers is to choose the highest shipping cost from available options selected by the customer (this cost will be borne by the customer, and the store will have to pay for the shipment from the remaining wholesalers). This way, you can partially compensate for the financial losses incurred because of shipping.
Every dropshipper should keep in mind that the price customers pay for shipping often plays a key role in their decision-making process. Even a small discrepancy in shipping prices (when compared to your competitors) can have a tremendous impact on the number of transactions finalized in your dropshipping store.