“There is no one size fits all recommendation that you could give all ecommerce companies around shipping. It really depends on what are they selling? Who are they? Who are they selling it to? And then it’s a more nuanced answer.”
There are many shipping solutions available to brands today, but are any of them truly easy to use, transparent, and scalable? Laura Behrens Wu couldn’t find one, so she and her business partner built it themselves. Now, their company, Shippo, is valued at more than $1 billion, has thousands of customers, and is making shipping easier for all kinds of brands. How? Find out on this episode.
Key Insights
Is free two-day shipping necessary?
It’s nice to have but it’s not something that every brand needs, which is good because many brands can’t afford to make that kind of guarantee. Instead, brands need to focus on what Behrens Wu says consumers care about more: having expectations set and then met. Brands need to provide clear and transparent information about shipping costs and timelines, otherwise, their conversion rates will suffer.
“There is a common misconception that consumers need shipping to be two-day free shipping. The bar that Amazon set, is not necessary. I think what consumers really care about is having the expectations set correctly.”
How are new entrants in the last-mile market staying competitive?
With major shipping companies available, many people wonder how smaller players are surviving, let alone having any major impact. The answer is that many of the new companies entering into the last-mile space are carving out space for themselves in certain regions, and setting themselves apart with ease of use. When a company can nail one major aspect of shipping — like one-day shipping or localized shipping — they can find more success than if they try to overreach and compete with companies with more resources.
“Because specialization, these shipping providers are competing, but they’re competing on certain dimensions, not across the board.”
Mentions:
“Laura Behrens Wu is the Co-Founder and CEO of Shippo. Shippo simplifies shipping for eCommerce companies by offering discounted shipping rates and a streamlined solution across all different shipping providers. It’s Amazon-level shipping for all e-commerce stores. Laura runs a 65 people team based in San Francisco and is most interested in the data component that comes with shipping.”
Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce
Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mision.org.
