Correct shipping can increase sales

The right shipping methods are important for the customers who will be shopping in your online store. Which shipping methods are right for you depends on how large and how many packages you are shipping.

What shipping providers are there and what should you choose? 

Shipping can seem like a jungle and there are a wealth of providers out there. 

Are you going to have a corporate agreement, or are you going to send parcels with Posten? Should you choose PostNord? Bring? Hero home? Schenker? DHL?

Of course, this depends a little on what you're sending. To whom. And in what volume.

Send to private individuals:

If you are sending parcels to private individuals, there are mainly two carriers that are total suppliers and offer to send parcels to the entire Norway, both to the mailbox, pick-up point and delivered to your door: 

• PostNord
• Bring
• (Hero Home)

Then there are also other providers, for example for Same Day Delivery, express delivery etc: 

• Porterbuddy
• Widerøe Smart
• DHL

Shipping to businesses:

If you are sending packages to companies, you immediately have many more providers to choose from.
Feel free to compare prices to find the supplier that best suits your volume, size of shipments and geographical location. Mentions some providers here: 

• PostNord
• Bring
• Schenker
• Best transport
• Local courier companies

Are you completely new to the game?

It is not a given that it is cheapest or best for you to use a business agreement on shipping. Many newly started or small online stores choose to start by sending parcels e.g. with Posten: Postal and shipping services in Norway and abroad to keep costs down.

Read more about the pros and cons of a corporate agreement vs. for example Norgespakke here

What shipping choices do you want to give your customers?

The shipping choices you offer to your customers are important for your online store conversion. This is a topic we could have written a lot about, but we're barely touching on it now.

Surveys show that 9 out of 10 customers in Norwegian online stores check the shipping price and conditions before choosing to shop in an online store they have not shopped in before.

We also know that price alone isn't the only thing they're looking at. Customers today want freedom of choice, they want to choose whether they want the parcel delivered to the mailbox, on the doormat, to the pick-up point or delivered to their door. And they want to be able to choose for themselves whether they want to pay a little extra to get the package delivered faster.

Customers care about easy returns. And many are willing to shop more to achieve free shipping.

All of this is something to take into consideration.
There is no definitive answer here, but we will give you some points to think about regarding shipping in your online store.

Checklist

1. What choices do customers get from your competitors?
   Can you find a balance where you both match the competition, while at the same time you can have a profitable operation?
   
   

2. What choices do you want to give your customers?
   What are you going to offer and what do you focus on? Low price? Fast delivery? Delivered to your door? Delivered on the job? Green profile? Think about what your customers will appreciate and what makes them want to make their purchase in your particular store.
   
   

3. Free Shipping - Do You Have to Have It?
   Many stores have Free Shipping on orders over XX kr. If you are going to offer this - have a conscious relationship with where you draw the line. Make sure you don't give away the shipping cost without it actually giving you something back.
   
   

4. How are returns experienced in your store?
   All online stores must adhere to the right of withdrawal of 14 days, but it is up to each store how they will facilitate (or not facilitate) this for their customers.
   
   

5. Clear and correct expectations
   Most important of all. More important than both cheap shipping and fast shipping – it's that the expectation you give the customer – has to match reality. And that it is easy to find out which prices and conditions apply in your online store.

Mystore Shipping

We have negotiated the corporate agreement on shipping FOR you!

As a customer of Mystore, you get the opportunity to use Mystore Shipping. A favourable freight agreement in cooperation with Bring and PostNord, which anyone who is a customer of Mystore can make use of - if they want. A seamless experience and a discounted business deal that gives small and medium-sized online stores a better opportunity to compete with the big ones!

• Free collection (applies to PostNord only. With bring you get a 20% discount on pick-up subscription)
• Be efficient and professional from day one
• Everything in one place

Professional and efficient operations

Even if you're a new online store, you'll benefit from having a professional shipping setup to avoid mistyping. You save time so that you can spend your time on what is important for creating traffic and sales in your online store. With Mystore Shipping, you get access to easy order processing, with automatic printing of shipping labels.

How to create shipments and print shipping labels?

You can create transmissions manually, e.g. directly with the carrier or via a TA system, but for the smoothest way of working, we recommend creating transmissions directly from your control panel via a so-called EDI ( Electronic Data Interchange) integration.
 

Shipping information will then be retrieved directly from your orders and automatically added to your shipping labels, then the tracking number will be entered on the order giving you and the customer a good overview.

By using an EDI solution, you will reduce the time you spend processing your orders. And you will reduce possible errors that can delay the packages of your customers. 

You have two different options. If you use Mystore Freight, you can create several types of shipments via the Booking Widget / MyBring API (read more about this in your control panel: Tools > Mystore Freight > Get Started) or you can have an agreement with an external transport management provider (TA provider). Examples of TA suppliers are: Logistra, nShift / Consignor, Proteria and Axia Frakt.

For the most seamless way of working, we recommend Logistra. 

Below we have listed the three most commonly used methods for printing labels: Logistra, PostNord Booking Widget and MyBring API. 

Logistra

Logistra is the most streamlined EDI integration we have. The integration supports Bring, Postnord, Helthjem, Schenker, DHL Express and over 500 hundred other carriers, and offers transfer of freight information directly in order processing.

In order to use Logistra, three things must be in place:

• Subscription to Logistra. See a list of prices here. 
• Label printer and DirectPrint supplied by Logistra. Read more about this here.
• Mystore integration "Logistra". This can be ordered here.

Helper articles regarding Logistra:

• This article gives you an introduction to ordering Logistra and using the service. Read more here.
• This article discusses how to link a Mystore shipping module to a specific shipping module at Logistra. Read more here.

PostNord booking widget

In order to use this integration, you must have the Mystore freight agreement.

1. Order Mystore shipping
2. Choose the PostNord booking widget as your EDI solution when filling out the application
3. Customer support will then install this once the shipping agreement is approved

Helper articles regarding the PostNord booking widget:

• This article introduces you to ordering and using the PostNord booking widget.
  Read more here.

MyBring

MyBring is a free service that allows you to print shipping labels directly in order processing. It is only possible to print "Bring - Package to pick-up point" via Mybring EDI in the control panel.

Contact Support if you would like to order this integration. 

Help articles regarding MyBring:

• This article introduces you to using the integration. Read more here.

Setup of shipping methods

When you know what you want to offer your customers, this can be set up in your control panel, so that customers get the choices they should in the checkout / checkout in the online store. 

You can find information and instructions on how to do this here: https://support.mystore.no/knowledge/frakt#fraktalternativer