Are you looking for a robust shipping software for your e-commerce business? Your search ends right. We’ve got some really cool innovations going on in the world of shipping software.
But here is the harsh truth about the e-commerce business.
Providing a stellar shopping experience for your customers doesn’t end at checkout. You need to continue that experience throughout the shipping process until the product is delivered to the customer’s doorstep.
Online shoppers today increasingly expect timely deliveries, accurate order tracking information, and hassle-free returns. How well your business meets these expectations significantly influences their perception and loyalty towards your business.
A recent survey revealed that 20% of online shoppers wouldn’t order from the retailer again after a poor delivery experience.
Given these high stakes, it is absolutely important to provide a seamless e-commerce experience to your customers. Right from the moment they place an order to when it arrives at their doorstep and processing returns. Everything has to be smooth and friction-free.
This is where shipping management software comes into play!
In this article, we’ll explore five of the best shipping software for ecommerce businesses in 2024. We’ll highlight their key features, benefits, and key differentiators to help you choose the right one for your business.
Why Ecommerce Businesses Need Shipping Software
Shipping software—sometimes called third-party logistics (3PL) software—helps businesses manage and automate their shipping and post-shipment processes within a single platform.
Reasons why ecommerce businesses need these tools include:
Meet rising customer expectations
Nearly two-thirds of global shoppers expect to receive their online purchases within 24 hours, with about 40% expecting delivery in less than two hours. This is especially important for categories like healthcare and financial products. As the consumers get more demanding, you need a shipping solution to enable faster deliveries and efficient operations.
Manage costs
Shipping costs account for nearly 90% of total order fulfillment expenses. With the right shipping software, you can significantly reduce order fulfillment costs.
Provide flexible shipping options
In a 2023 survey, most shoppers expect a two-day delivery without paying extra. More and more consumers opt for overnight or next-day delivery as their second choice. Shipping software empowers you to offer flexible delivery options to your customers without missing a heartbeat.
Track and manage inventory
Some shipping software also keeps track of your inventory levels to help you prevent running out of stock and lost sales.
Warehouse Management System (WMS) Integration
Using WMS integration, you can get real-time visibility into inventory levels across multiple locations. This in turn ensures efficient pick, pack, and ship processes.
Shipping Cost Optimization
This is perhaps the sweetest advantage of using shipping software. You can identify the most cost-effective shipping method in real time for each order using automated rate comparison across multiple carriers.
Consider factors like package dimensions, weight, destination, and delivery speed to find the best balance between cost and service level. You can also leverage volume discounts and negotiated rates with carriers to further reduce shipping costs.
Enable transparent order tracking
These tools send automatic updates to customers so they can easily track their orders in real time.
Manage returns and exchanges
With an ecommerce shipping solution, you can efficiently process returns and exchanges to maintain trust and retain revenue.
Key Features of Shipping Software for Ecommerce
Not all features are created equal. When you are choosing a shipping software, you need to consider the most essential features first. Here they are:
1. Multi-carrier shipping support
A shipping carrier is a company that transports and delivers your customers’ packages to them.
Most ecommerce shipping solutions support multiple carriers, allowing you to compare shipping rates, delivery times, and services from carriers like FedEx, UPS, USPS, and DHL.
With this feature, you can save costs, improve performance, and avoid delivery disruption.
2. Real-time shipping rate calculation
You can also use shipping software to display live shipping rates from multiple carriers at checkout. This enables you to charge your customers accurately based on package weight, origin, shipment type, dimensions, delivery time, and destination.
3. Automated shipping label generation
A shipping label contains crucial information that a carrier requires to transport your package from its origin to its destination.
Ecommerce shipping tools accelerate the packing and dispatching process by automatically generating shipping labels (often in bulk) based on order details.
This helps businesses eliminate manual entry, reduce errors, and quicken the order fulfillment process.
4. Order tracking and customer notifications
Your customers are eager to know when their orders will arrive. A 2022 research from Verte shows consumers regard package tracking as the most important feature when ordering online. According to the research, almost all consumers actively track their packages—with nearly 20% of consumers tracking their packages several times a day.
Shipping software enables automated order tracking and sends real-time updates to your customers.
5. Bulk Order Processing
A good shipping software can actually save you a ton of time. You can handle large volumes of orders during peak seasons without burning midnight oil. You can streamline your operations and ensure a seamless order-processing workflow.
6. Shipping Analytics and Reporting
Data is the lifeblood of your e-commerce business. And the ability to gain insights into your shipping operations is invaluable. It will help you make data-driven decisions. For instance, you can analyze things like shipping costs, delivery performance, and customer feedback to enhance your shipping strategy.
8. International Shipping Capabilities
If you are selling internationally, the shipping software should be able to help you with the entire workflow of cross-border shipping. It includes things like customs documentation and compliance with international regulations.
9. Return Management
The shipping software should make it really easy to manage the return process. Using features such as automated return label generation and tracking, you will be able to take returns gracefully and provide a great customer experience.
With that said, let us dive into the nuances of choosing the best shipping software for your ecommerce store.
How to Choose the Best Shipping Software for Your Ecommerce Business
Here are some key factors to consider while choosing a shipping software:
1. Considerations for small vs. large ecommerce operations
If you own a small ecommerce business, you may most likely prioritize cost-effectiveness and ease of use when choosing a shipping solution.
The ideal platform offers essential features like automated label printing, real-time shipment tracking, returns management, and multi-carrier support.
It also provides free or low-cost pricing so you don’t overpay for advanced features you don’t need.
On the flip side, larger businesses require software that offers scalability, a wide range of integrations, and more advanced features like batch processing, custom reports, and extensive automation capabilities to manage complex shipping workflows.
2. Integration with ecommerce platforms (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento)
Ensure that the shipping software you choose directly connects with ecommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento.
Integration with these platforms allows for real-time data synchronization and seamless order fulfillment.
3. Scalability and customization options
Scalability is another key factor to consider when choosing a shipping solution.
As your order volume increases, your shipping software should be able to handle the additional load without requiring a switch or sacrificing performance.
It’s also important that the tool offers a wide range of customization options. For example, being able to tailor workflows, personalize tracking pages, automate tasks, and set custom shipping rules (based on order weight, destination, etc.) can significantly boost your business efficiency.
Top 5 Shipping Software Solutions for Ecommerce
In this section, we’ll explore and compare five of the best shipping software for ecommerce businesses.
1. ShipStation
Source: ShipStation
ShipStation helps businesses maintain control over their shipping process.
This platform allows businesses to import orders, integrate with ecommerce platforms, manage shipping tasks, and print shipping labels in one location.
Key features
- Supports over 180 carriers and selling platforms, including UPS, DHL, Amazon, Shopify, and WooCommerce.
- Allows you to customize labels, packing slips, and tracking pages.
- Sends automatic order tracking updates to customers and sales channels.
- Streamlines order and inventory management.
- Provides up to 89% savings on shipping rates.
Pros
- User-friendly and easy to set up
- Integrates with multiple sales channels
- Offers comprehensive inventory management
- Automates shipping and fulfillment processes
Cons
- Occasional technical issues including errors and glitches
- Limited customer service and support
Pricing
- Free
- Starter: $9.99/month
- Bronze: $29.99/month
- Silver: $59.99/month
- Gold: $99.99/month
- Platinum: $149.99/month
- Enterprise: $229.99/month
- High-volume: Custom quote
G2 Rating: 4.3/5
2. ShippingEasy
Source: ShippingEasy
ShippingEasy simplifies order management and fulfillment for ecommerce businesses.
With ShippingEasy, you can manage orders, automate shipping with rules, track shipments, and notify recipients in one easy-to-use platform.
Key features
- Automatically imports orders from marketplaces and ecommerce platforms like Shopify in real time.
- Allows businesses to provide personalized customer experiences with branded labels, tracking pages, and emails.
- Provides discounted shipping rates.
- Offers advanced reports and insights on shipping, customer orders, unshipped items, and sales data.
- Helps businesses encourage repeat business with its customer marketing capabilities.
- Streamlines return management.
- Offers multi-carrier support.
Pros
- Easy to set up and navigate
- Offers customer marketing capabilities
- Provides good customer support
- Helps with inventory management
- Saves costs for businesses
Cons
- Pricing can be high for small businesses
- Searching through shipment history is often difficult
- Has occasional glitches and crashes
Pricing
- 30-day free trial
- Growth: $19.99/month
G2 Rating: 4.6/5
3. Shippo
Source: Shippo
This multi-carrier shipping software offers an intuitive platform for managing shipping logistics.
With features that streamline the process of creating shipping labels and handling customer tracking, Shippo empowers businesses to enhance their shipping efficiency and provide better customer experiences.
Key features
- Provides the best discounted rates from over 40 carriers.
- Integrates with multiple e-commerce platforms including Shopify and Magento.
- Offers shipping insurance to help you safeguard your shipments.
- Allows you to set up shipping rules for faster label creation.
- Enables bulk label purchase.
- Provides detailed analytics and reports.
Pros
- Offers great shipping rates
- Easy-to-use interface that’s easy to implement
- Provides real-time tracking notifications
Cons
- Limited integrations compared to competitors
- Customer service needs improvement
- Sometimes delays in refunding users for unused labels or shipping errors
Pricing
- Free
- Professional: Starts at $19/month
- Premier: Custom
G2 Rating: 4.1/5
4. Easyship
Source: Easyship
Easyship is a leading cloud-based shipping software that helps ecommerce businesses manage and automate all their shipping needs.
By leveraging its comprehensive features, businesses can effectively manage shipping, improve transit times, automate workflows, and exceed customer expectations.
Key features
- Gives you access to over 250 shipping couriers
- Integrates with warehouse partners, marketplaces, and e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Woocommerce.
- Provides a wide range of configuration options.
- Streamlines shipment and finance management.
- Helps businesses offer consistent delivery experiences with automated messages, dedicated tracking pages, and branded tracking capabilities.
- Offers shipping insurance.
Pros
- Offers a wide range of shipping couriers
- User-friendly and simple to use
- Offers affordable shipping options
- Provides good and responsive customer support
Cons
- Initial setup tends to be cumbersome
- Sometimes overcharges customers for shipments
Pricing
- Free
- Plus: $29/month (14-day free trial available)
- Premier: $99/month (14-day free trial available)
- Scale: Custom
G2 Rating: 4/5
5. Aftership
Source: Aftership
This shipping solution facilitates order fulfillment, reduces costs, and simplifies shipment management.
E-commerce businesses can use Aftership to automate shipping workflows, automatically generate labels, compare shipping rates in real-time, and offer multiple delivery options to customers.
Key features
- Allows for proactive shipment management and tracking to optimize delivery performance.
- Automates the return and exchange process for businesses.
- Offers warranty automation to eliminate manual processes.
- Provides top-notch shipping protection to enhance claims operations.
- Offers accurate delivery estimates using AI.
- Integrates with over 110 carriers and 70 technology partners including e-commerce platforms.
Pros
- Easy to use and beginner-friendly
- Offers excellent customer support
- Streamlines package tracking with real-time updates
- Provides marketing tools
Cons
- Pricing plans may be expensive for small businesses
- Some users have complained about missing packages or incomplete deliveries
Pricing
- Essentials: Starts at $11/month (Starts at $9/month when billed annually; 7-day free trial available)
- Pro: Starts at $89/month (Starts at $69/month when billed annually; 7-day free trial available)
- Team:$10/member/month
- Enterprise: Custom
G2 Rating: 4.7/5
Comparison of Best Shipping Software
| Software | Key features | Pricing | Key Differentiator(s) |
| ShipStation |
|
| Branded shipping and inventory management |
| ShippingEasy |
|
| Integrated customer marketing features and advanced reporting |
| Shippo |
|
| Significant discounted rates (up to 90%) and shipping insurance |
| Easyship |
|
| Robust configuration options, finance management, and access to over 250 couriers |
| Aftership |
| From $11/month (billed annually) | AI-powered capabilities, warranty automation, and shipping protection |
Conclusion
Selecting the right shipping software can do wonders for your ecommerce business.
From automated shipping workflows and real-time order tracking to inventory management, these tools can help you improve operations, lower costs, and offer one-of-a-kind customer experiences.
Each of these tools has its strengths, so you need to carefully assess your business’s specific needs before making your choice.
If you have a large business and need access to a global warehousing network and extensive shipping services, EasyShip might be a good fit.
In case you need a platform that will help you deliver top-notch tracking and post-purchase experiences, you may like what Aftership has to offer.
If the cost efficiency is your priority, Shippo and EasyShip both offer highly discounted rates that can help you cut shipping expenses.
If automation and customization are your priorities, ShippingEasy and ShipStation will give you more flexibility in your shipping processes.
Fortunately, most of these platforms offer free plans and trials, so you can test their features and easily identify the best one for your business!
FAQs
1. What are the key features of shipping software for ecommerce?
Key features of ecommerce shipping solutions include:
- Multi-carrier support
- Real-time rate calculation
- Automated shipping label generation
- Order tracking with customer notifications
- Advanced reporting and analytics
- Integration with ecommerce platforms
- Inventory management
- Shipping insurance
- Support for international shipping
- Return and exchange management
2. How does shipping software integrate with ecommerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce?
Most shipping software offers real-time integrations with ecommerce platforms to automatically import order details, update stock levels, and reduce errors.
3. Can shipping software help reduce shipping costs for small businesses?
Yes. Shipping software compares rates from multiple carriers in real time to help businesses select the most cost-effective options for their shipments.
Plus, many of these platforms offer discounted shipping rates.
4. Is it easy to automate shipping label creation with ecommerce shipping software?
Ecommerce shipping software makes the label creation process seamless. With just a few clicks, businesses can generate labels for multiple orders at once.
This feature is particularly useful for large businesses since they typically manage high order volumes.
