Many companies overlook the importance of quality shipping services. However, transportation can significantly affect your customers’ experience and impact revenue. Besides your customers’ satisfaction, convenient shipping can benefit your business in many ways.

What are the options?

Owning a small business is not easy. You have to manage most things by yourself and operate a high volume of responsibilities, which is exhausting. How do you arrange proper shipping if you’re running a small business linked with manufacturing or retailing goods? While striving to maintain operational efficiency, high-level customer service, and focus on marketing, thinking about shipping can be overwhelming.

There are many choices when it comes to business shipping. Depending on the volume of items you’re shipping and your customer demand, you can use many logistics options. Ultimately, it comes down to two main alternatives: parcel shipping and freight shipping.

Parcel small business shipping

Parcel shipping is one of the most common types of shipping. It suggests items weighing less than 150 pounds and are less than 165 inches in combined length and girth. If the package length is 108 inches, the girth must not exceed 67 inches. If you move small orders directly to your customers, parcel shipping is a suitable option. It’s relevant for custom orders or valuable items that often entail residential delivery.

Small business freight shipping

Freight shipping is how most of the goods in the world are moved. If your shipment weighs more than 150 lbs, exceeds 108 inches in length, and 165 inches in girth – it’s considered freight. Freight shipments include moving oversized items, breakable pieces, oddly shaped packages, etc. Besides, you can use this mode to transport a more significant quantity of items, placing them on a shipping pallet.

What is the best choice for small business shipping?

Most of the shippers consider only regular parcel services for their business needs. However, package services are not always the best way of high-quality and affordable transportation. If you send many parcels or oversized items, you should consider other options rather than just looking at regular shipping services.

While parcel services often charge too much per parcel cost, your freight volume might not be enough for total truckload freight shipping. There’s no reason to worry – there is a balance between less-than-truckload or LTL shipping options.

What are online shipping services?

More and more individuals and businesses are switching to online shipping services. Online shipping services provide shipping solutions for small businesses and individual shippers without dealing with brokers or carriers. Whether you need to transport large items, multiple pallets full of goods, or oversized parcels that standard delivery services don’t accept, online LTL shipping companies can help.

Online services operate as a self-service platform that connects you to a vast network of professional carriers and drivers. The shipping process can be simple, whether it is bulky items or supplies for your business.

How do they work?

For most of the services, all you need to do is log onto the website, set your requirements and shipment dates, and choose from various available carriers. Online shipping platforms save you tons of time, while less-than-truckload allows you to move goods at an affordable price.

When picking the LTL shipping mode, you agree to share the truck space with other individuals. Thus, you’ll only pay for the used space and save transportation costs. If the delivery deadlines aren’t too strict, LTL shipping will help you move the products safely and affordably.

Benefits of online shipping services

Online shipping platforms have become the most effective way of organizing future shipments and booking spontaneous ones. Besides eliminating unnecessary logistics operations and saving time, shipping services provide small businesses with more benefits:

• Increased visibility. Since shipment tracking and visibility are crucial to small businesses, online services provide transparent tracking and 24/7 access at every delivery step. It can help you control the shipment flow and share location data with your customers.
• Paperwork management. Shipping platforms can help you get the required paperwork and fill it out according to state standards. Correct paperwork streamlines the process of cargo revision and going through checkups.
• Additional services. Sometimes, your shipments will need special handling or particular delivery procedures. If you’re unsure what extra services suit you and their pricing, you may address your shipping platform for assistance.
• Customer support. Online shipping platforms prioritize creating a positive logistics experience for their customers. For that reason, they always provide access to customer support service to answer your questions and help resolve possible issues.

Delivering with GoShip

Online shipping services like GoShip can help your business find affordable and straightforward shipping options. We aim to connect you with your perfect carrier match and remain within your logistics budget. On our website, you’ll find many professional transporters and compare their rates in real-time. Using our digital tool, you can get a free quote in a few clicks.