Dropshipping is a decision that your customers will make when making a purchase on your store. Delivery times are one of the most important factors. It is important to understand the Oberlo Shipping Time and what dropshipping options are available. Let’s now get to it.
How do I check the shipping method available?
Aliexpress offers drop-shipping merchants many options for delivering products to customers. Every delivery option comes with its own shipping cost and time. To give your customers estimates of shipping costs and times, make sure you check the shipping options available for each product.
It’s easy to find this information on Aliexpress. Click on any product page to view the shipping method section under the Quantity.
The most popular shipping options of Oberlo explained by:
When you process orders for customers, you will be able to manually choose the shipping option. It can be time-consuming to choose the shipping option each time you receive an order. You can instead set up a default shipping option for all orders within your Oberlo settings.
To set up your default shipping method, you can visit Settings > Suppliers.
What time is your order shipped after payment?
Once your customer has placed an order, you must purchase the item from your supplier. Oberlo makes it easier by adding the customer’s item details and shipping details to your Aliexpress checkout. To ensure your customers receive their orders, Oberlo will automatically add the customer’s item and shipping details to your Aliexpress checkout.
Once you have paid your supplier, they must ship the order to your customer within 2-7 business days.
Which shipping option should you select and why?
Which shipping option do you prefer among these choices? ePacket is the answer. Here’s why.
Fast shipping for paid costs
Oberlo will dropship your products to Aliexpress. This is because Oberlo only supports Aliexpress. Shipping costs can be high because most Aliexpress suppliers are located in China. Your package must travel all the way from China.
Only ePacket is a viable option. It offers a reasonable balance between shipping costs and delivery times. Although the Aliexpress Shipping Standard option costs less, it can take too long to ship, which could discourage customers from purchasing at their checkout. Shipping costs can be high, even though UPS, DHL, or FedEx are quick. Dropshipping via Aliexpress has one main benefit: low-cost products that you can source from China. If shipping costs are too high, this will negate the benefit.
Although ePacket shipping times can be longer than those of the faster options, they are usually acceptable to customers. This shipping method was actually designed for dropshipping companies.
Order tracking
Another advantage of ePacket’s service is the ability to track your orders. All parcels delivered by ePacket carriers are provided with tracking numbers. You can request this number from your supplier. Dropshipping is a great way to let your customers know where their orders are. Your customers will be able to see if their order has been shipped.
As we have already mentioned, ePacket will give you a tracking number from your supplier that you can use with your customer to track the parcel via sites like 17track.net or ePacket China Post.
Sign up for the Basic, or Pro Oberlo plans to view your order and see the shipment status.
Dropshipping is not about long shipping times.
Your supplier can ship orders to your customers in 15-30 days using ePacket. However, this is still a relatively long shipping time when compared to US domestic shipping that takes 2-5 days.
Dropshipping is a different kind of dropshipping. Long shipping times do not really matter and customers are still able to buy. Here’s why.
Dropshipping novices are often unable to understand how long shipping times can be sustained when customers who live far away from the business have become less patient. This is partly due to Amazon’s rise. They might ask themselves , “Why would anyone wait for two to three weeks to receive something from a dropshipping company, when they can get it next day on Amazon?”.
It is not unreasonable for them to believe that, because online shoppers love quick delivery. We want what we have ordered to be delivered immediately. This saves us from worrying about what happens if it doesn’t arrive or if the product does not meet our expectations.
This is not the right way to think about dropshipping’s long shipping times. It is important to understand that Amazon customers are very different from dropshipping customers. Their psychology and expectations may be different.
Customers can search Amazon for the items they are looking to purchase when shopping online. Customers already have an idea of what they want, so they compare different sellers’ products in terms price, features, shipping times, and other factors before they make a purchase decision. The customer will get a sense of how long it takes to ship the product they are interested in, and then they will choose the fastest shipping option.
People don’t buy dropshipping products because they intend to buy them, but they do so out of an impulse. The customer buys out of impulse when they see your ads and see the product you are selling. There is no need to compare shipping times and features. If they feel the price is fair and the shipping time is reasonable, they will make a purchase decision.
Dropshipping is a way to get lower prices than Amazon. Dropshipping products are shipped straight from the source, which means there are no intermediaries that could increase the markup and raise the price.
This low base price allows you to mark up your profit more. The higher profit margin can compensate for the lower conversion rates caused by long shipping times.
These are reasons dropshipping on Aliexpress differs from selling through Amazon. You can’t compare the two models since they are identical. Don’t worry about shipping delays and build a dropshipping business today.
How to handle long shipping times
Shipping times will not have an impact on dropshipping businesses, but there will be complaints. One part of your operations must deal with these issues from time to time: customer service.
Let your customers know that long shipping times don’t bother you
Your customers might be impatient while they wait for their orders to arrive. They may send you frequent emails to inquire about their order status.
This is not something you should worry about. If a customer emails you asking about their order’s location, they really want to hear a friendly reply that will calm them down and assure them that their orders have arrived safely.
You should contact your supplier if the package does not arrive within the specified timeframe. If your customer contacts you and the package does not arrive within the specified time, tell them it is normal.
If you care deeply about your customers, and offer great customer service, they will be more likely to be willing to wait longer for their goods and be happier about it.
Be clear in your product copy about shipping times
You should also make sure to clearly publish shipping times in your product copy. This will let your customers know what to expect when they place orders. Once they do so, they agree to wait 15-30 days. If they request a refund due to shipping delays, you won’t have to do this.
Here’s a sample shipping disclaimer you could use: “Some popular products can take up to 2-4 weeks to arrive. We want to make this clear and hope you are willing to accept it.”
Your customers may try to file a claim against Paypal. However, if you make this shipping disclaimer public, it will help you win the dispute. You should be clear and upfront about shipping times to avoid any problems later. Your customers will not miss your disclaimer if it is bolded or in color.
