Multi-Carrier Shipping Strategy: What it is and how to start it in 2023

Satanan.P -

There is no doubt that the way ecommerce brands handle transportation and logistics changed dramatically in the recent years due to the pandemic.

Shipping rates go up every year.

At the same time, the consumer more and more expect the seamless experience from the first glance of products online to the delivery of products to their hands with affordable and fast shipping.

The question is "How do ecommerce brands keeps their customers happy while dealing with the changes effectively?".

One of the answer is "Multi-carrier shipping strategy".

In this article, we will walk you through what multi-carrier shipping strategy are, how you can implement it and why you need to start this strategy for your ecommerce store in 2023.

  • What is multi-carrier shipping strategy?
  • Why you need to start multi-carrier shipping strategy in 2023?
  • How to start Multi-carrier shipping strategy?

1. What is multi-carrier shipping strategy?

Multi-carrier shipping strategy is a strategy to use a diverse carrier mix when shipping packages. Instead of relying on a simple shipping carrier, you can use multiple carrier accounts—both national carriers and courier services.

It is widely used by most ecommerce businesses, as a winning strategy. With multi-carrier shipping, ecommerce businesses can compare shipping rates, find the best and cheapest shipping options in term of shipping cost and transit time.

2. Why you need to start multi-carrier shipping strategy in 2023?

There are many benefits you can gain from the multi-carrier shipping strategy. Basically, you can:

  • Eliminate risk from a single shipping option
  • Access to wider shipping network
  • Keep up with the rising demand
  • Increase shipping efficiency while reduce costs
  • Increase customers satisfaction with a variety of shipping options offered

1️⃣ Eliminate risk from a single shipping option

Having a contract with only one carrier means you don't have a backup plan. It means you've put all your eggs in one basket. Multi-carrier shipping strategy can help you mitigate the risks like "International Mail Service Suspensions", "Emergency Situation Surcharge" and many logistics changes that can effect your ecommerce shipping operation.

2️⃣ Access to wider shipping network

There is no surprise that different carriers charge different fee to ship from and to particular locations as well as take different lead time. Using multiple carriers give you an access to a robust network and a power to offer a variety of shipping options. Especially for those who are selling cross-border, with wider shipping network from FedEx, DHL and UPS, you can ship to more destinations and addresses.

3️⃣ Keep up with the rising demand

The "on-time" and "fast" delivery is a one of a key to offer the outstanding online shopping experience. During the peak season or high demand period, you can utilize the different capabilities of different carriers to ensure the seamless shipping process.

4️⃣ Increase shipping efficiency while reduce costs

Nowadays, simply step to ship orders is to compare shipping rates & transit time and ship. By comparing shipping rates, you can see how much you'll save. By comparing transit time, you can decide which is the cheapest and fastest delivery option for your orders.

3. How to start Multi-carrier shipping strategy?

To start Multi-carrier shipping strategy, you can use "Multi-carrier shipping software".

Multi-carrier shipping software is a software to help online merchants easily fulfill orders through multi-carriers & multi-shops and quickly deliver products to customers' hand.

The software works by integrating with multiple ecommerce platforms and retrieving orders information required to make a shipment. It comes with feature to ship via multiple carriers and compare rates in single interface so you can choose best shipping option for your orders.

Ship&co gives you an access to all these features and more! It lets you syne orders from your ecommerce websites/marketplaces, compare rates and create shipping labels—all from a single web dashboard.

Easily connect ecommerce store with Ship&co to scale up your shipping power

Ship&co helps you scale up your shipping power and deliver parcels from your Store store to customers' hands faster. Start now to ship with DHL, FedEx and UPS with a 14-day free trial on Ship&co.

About Ship&co

Ship&co is a global shipping platform designed by and for e-commerce sellers. Created by the team behind Bento&co, who have been selling on Shopify since 2008, Ship&co provides a simple and easy-to-use web dashboard and shipping API. Ship&co helps online sellers ship packages faster by automatically syncing orders and creating shipping labels and invoices in minutes. With Ship&co, you can create shipping labels for FedEx, UPS, DHL, NinjaVan, Yamato, Sagawa, and more, with just two clicks to complete the process and mark your orders as shipped. For more information on Ship&co, visit shipandco.com or reach out to us via hello@shipandco.com !