Sustain International Business Growth By Speeding Up Your Shipping Process

Expanding your business into international markets is one of the most effective growth strategies, but there are a lot of hurdles you need to overcome. The speed of shipping is one of the biggest problems that you will face because customers have certain expectations. If you can’t get products out quickly, people will be disappointed and that will be reflected in the reviews that they leave and your overall sales numbers. 

Obviously, international shipping is going to take longer and it’s important that you manage your customer’s expectations. It’s much better to under-promise and over-deliver than it is to tell them you can get their products out in a few days and then let them down. You also need to find ways to make things as quick as possible. These are some of the best ways for businesses to speed up international shipping. 

Avoid Hold-Ups At Customs 

Getting your products through customs can be a bit of a nightmare and a lot of businesses struggle with long shipping times because they make mistakes with the customs process. If your shipments are turned back at the border, this is going to hold things up and it’s your customers that ultimately suffer. You can avoid any hold-ups if you use a customs brokerage to handle everything for you. They will make sure that everything is above board and when your products arrive at the border, all of the necessary paperwork is sorted for you. It’s the best way to get peace of mind and avoid any disasters at the border. 

Roll Out International Shipping Gradually 

When you are expanding your business, it’s important to move slowly, and this is especially true when you start shipping products overseas. If you decide to expand into ten different countries at once and the orders start rolling in, you’ll soon find yourself out of your depth. You’ll be dealing with multiple shipping companies and trying to navigate all sorts of different customs laws. Before you know it, you’ll be making mistakes left, right and center, and customers will end up waiting a long time or getting the wrong orders. It’s best to start with one country that has relatively simple customs laws, so you can get to grips with international shipping. Then, once you have a good system in place, you can gradually start rolling it out to different countries. 

Use A Fulfillment Company 

Having somebody else handle the packing and shipping process for you can make things run a lot smoother, so consider hiring a fulfillment company instead. Outsourcing to a third-party is often cheaper because you don’t need to manage the costs of running a warehouse and then hiring a courier company separately. A fulfillment company also has a much better infrastructure in place, meaning that they are better equipped to deal with international shipping in a timely manner. 

If your international shipping process runs at a snail’s pace, it will be impossible to sustain long-term international growth. But if you can speed things along using these tips, your business will flourish.