4 Ways Filipino Online Businesses Can Ship Products to Customers
As an online business owner, it’s important for you to have a solid plan in place when shipping products to your customers. Through our years of experience in ecommerce and logistics, we know it can be confusing, tedious, and overwhelming. Here are four ways online businesses can ship to customers here in the Philippines.
If this seems like too much work or if you want to just automate your shipping processes, check out how Shipmates can help your online business make your shipping process more efficient!
1. Drop-off shipments at a courier’s branch
Most couriers in the Philippines require you to drop off shipments; couriers like LBC, JRS, DHL, etc. At the courier’s branch, you have to get a queuing number, fill out some paperwork (including the waybill/manifests), weigh your shipments, and choose the correct boxes/pouches. You leave your packages with the clerks who will then ship it out through their fleet.
Easy, right? Although it may seem easy, this might be the most time-consuming shipping process you can do as an online business owner. Depending on the branch or number of shipments you have, this option can take up almost the entire day. The commute, unpredictable traffic, and the time spent on the booking process could be used for other things such as growing your business or even having a Netflix break.
2. Schedule online with the courier to pickup shipments at your address
If you have no plan of physically visiting the courier store near your area, then you’ll need a courier service that will pick up shipments at your address. Typically, couriers that offer arrangements like this require registering with them for a fee or a minimum number of shipments per month ~ 300 shipments at least.
It’s a commitment.
This process might be easier than dropping off shipments at a courier’s branch, but it’s still tedious and prone to errors. You’d still have to export orders from your website and manually upload them to the courier’s dashboard. Worst case, you’d have to book orders one by one. And there’s no efficient way to validate customer addresses.
3. Deliver products on the same day using on-demand shipping couriers
Because of the quarantines, customers have been clamouring for on-demand or same day deliveries. They either want their products on the same day, or have them delivered on a specific day. Only on-demand couriers such as Lalamove or Borzo can provide these particular services.
Booking a couple of on-demand deliveries can be manageable at first, but once you get to tens or even hundreds of same day shipping requests, it can be a nightmare. You definitely have to book each order one by one, and this takes up so much time.
Not to mention that you have to book and track all your orders on the small screen of your phone!
4. Using an automated shipping software
As an online business owner, you need to make sure your customers get their orders as fast as possible; while handling other aspects of your business: marketing, business development, HR, or cash-flow management.
With all these things in mind, you simply can’t afford to spend too much time on one thing, such as shipping - which is why we created a shipping platform for small or large ecommerce businesses. Shipmates automatically syncs orders from your Shopify store or upload them using an Excel file, enabling you to book all your orders with a few clicks.
You don’t have to drop off at a courier’s branch. No need to commit to one courier. You don’t have to fill up shipping manifests or waybills anymore. All you have to do is to book orders on Shipmates, pack them properly, and wait for the couriers to pick the orders up. Your shipping tasks can be completed within 10 minutes.