Shopping guides for Shipping Products in 2022 

If you’re looking to get your orders and holiday shopping done early, you’re not alone. Due to the disruption of logistics and supply chains, it’s better to be prepared early on than too late. Here are some of the best ways to ship items, and the best things to look for when you begin to ship items this year and beyond. 

Types of shipping 

There are three popular ways for you to choose the shipping that you’d like.They are: 

  • Air,
  • Ground 
  • Sea 

These are all basically efficient ways to do this, but some are faster than others, and you’ll probably use one or more of these for each shipping.  Usually, you have to use ground for shipping to ports anyways for example. 

Air Shipping 

First, let’s go over the different types of air shipping. Express air is the best way, and they can take as little as three days to get to the customer. DHL is a good one, as they usually get customs clearance real fast.  It’s also pretty time efficient.

However, that doesn’t mean I’s perfect. It’s pretty expensive, but if you do this at fulfillment centers, there are ways to help with offsetting the costs. You’ve also got the standard air forms of shipping, which usually take about 18 days at most to get to. They’re also pretty fast and are very reliable. 

This is great too if you still want to use air shipping but want something a bit more cost effective. 

Sea Shipping 

Sea shipping takes a lot longer, but it also is one of the bests for reducing costs, and when you do this right, it’s reliable. It’s great for delivery times that have a bit more leniency, and for bigger orders, this is the best way to do this.

However, when ordering this during the holidays, this is one you’ve got to manage the logistics for the most, especially if you need stuff to get there at the right time, as this does take a lot longer. 

Standard sea shipping usually can take about 50 days or more sometimes, but it’s also the cheapest way, especially for super big orders. One thing to consider, is for super large orders, this is actually the best for the price. But expect to also add in another week for those huge orders, as they usually don’t fit everywhere.

One thing about this, is that it doesn’t really work well during the holidays, as while it is reliable, it’s not ideal for this time of the year. 

How to Plan this better 

This is important to plan early on.

Ground shipping usually takes about a week or so, but for other kinds of shipping, it can take a whole lot longer. Not to mention, we’re still feeling the effects of the pandemic, so if you’re going to launch a product that’s seasonal, plan this pretty well in advance. 

When you’re planning to ship for the holidays, you should plan about two months beforehand. That means, if you’re planning for Christmas, you should have everything ready to ship out with sea shipping by late October at the very latest, or early November if you’re going to use express shipping.

For the air shipping, you have a bit more leniency, but not a ton.

You should make sure that if you’re going to use specific types of ordering and different means, that you always let the customers know about this, so that they’re able to make purchase decisions beforehand, and aren’t caught holding the bag and frustrated as well. 

Ecommerce Vs. Retail Packaging 

A lot of people assume that all packaging that’s done is all the same, and that there’s no specific differences to each. Most packaging falls under two types of packaging, ecommerce and retail packaging, both with the function and appearances. It’s vital to know the difference, especially when choosing the packaging that’s best for the businesses at hand. 

Ecommerce Packaging 

This involves packaging solutions that are designed in order to help with shipping products from people in one location to the next. Ecommerce is basically exterior kinds of packaging. The packaging is focused more on the form that you have and the function over it instead of just looking good. 

That isn’t to say it’s ugly, but security does take precedence, so that the products are transported in a safe manner, so that the contents are safe throughout all of this. The goal of this is to keep everything in a firm, safe type of atmosphere that’s weather resistant whenever it’s needed. The secondary type of goal that’s used in this packaging, is to improve the awareness of the brand, and through the usages of slogans and logos on the boxes, tape, and mailers, this helps. 

When products get redirected to customers directly, the first thing is the ecommerce packaging, with the first and mainly only form of the packaging that’s there. it lets you have the experience that benefits them, and you can buy custom packaging in order to improve sales too and build brand awareness. 

When you’re buying custom packaging, you need to make sure that the product is protected, and it looks good. You also want to make sure there is no waste, and the shipping is nice and secure. 

Remember, the goal of this is much more about the type of packaging that secures, and less about the aesthetics of this. 

Retail Packaging 

This is basically the interior of the packaging, and it’s basically the last barrier between the customer and the product that’s sold. This is the one that you see in the sores, and it’s what entices people to buy something. While sometimes this is omitted during product transport, retail packaging is used in a variety of situations. 

It’s weather-resistant, heavy-duty, and it’s equipped for transportation in the long haul. It also lets you implement different designs that are delicate within the packaging. Unlike the ecommerce one, the goal of this is to be aesthetically pleasing for customers and brands, in order to promote the brand awareness that you want from this. 

If you’re curious about what you need for retail packaging, the goal of this is to make it look good so customers can recognize it, and also in ways that stand out to the buyers at hand. You may be displaying this in certain areas, and if you’re doing that, your goal with this is to show a product that’s correct so that when customers get this and open it, they realize that it’s the same thing that they ordered. You also want to make sure the description of the product is accurate, and any important information for them is visible. 

For lots of people, these two things are practically one in the same when choosing packaging. But knowing the difference is vital for both, as it can help you with better understanding what it is that you need to put into a cot to really make them shine in the realm of packaging. It also helps highlight some vital parts of what makes it better for the customers, so that if there is anything missing, you can add it to the future packaging you have.