Automation can be found everywhere, in every form, shape, and size. Technology has started to shift towards more advancements, and automation has become one of its major and crucial cores. 

Chatbots, garage door openers, online payment, software to book a schedule, robotic cleaners, and uncrewed vehicles—automation is spreading its web to almost every space, making life more convenient.   

Automation can be found even in the shipping business. As the e-commerce industry grows, companies seek new opportunities to increase their potential and efficiency in providing a better customer experience.  

The blend of automation and shipping helps to automate the process, decrease the overall manual labor, and simultaneously save time and cost. 

In this article, I will discuss the rise of automated shipping and how it is helping to reshape the industry’s functions.    

The Definition Of Automated Shipping 

Automated shipping involves automating all the functions of commercial shipping. Automation does everything from packaging new orders to picking items from the inventory, packing boxes, and transporting them to the consumers.  

This generation needs speed. It can be a day-two-day delivery or even within a day. This automation aims to reduce manual labor and use time efficiently for such speedy deliveries. 

Automated shipping reduces the huge need for a workforce. Seeing how the industry has been introduced to robots, sensors, and more feels fancy. All it needs is to add a single-layer algorithm or software to the infrastructure.     

What Does Automated Shipping Mean To You?

Automated shipping aims to achieve a faster turnaround for your businesses and your orders to be shipped. 

So, automation can help reduce human errors and other risks while shipping goods.  

Shipping automation requires the ultimate use of technology. But how? You use technologies like robotics in your shipping and logistics, inventory management, order fulfillment, and many more.        

How Can Automated Shipping Help You Speed Up Your Growth? 

Automated shipping always fosters better efficiency, which can lead to more productivity. In other words, the process helps you fulfill a large number of orders and process them faster.  

Automation can also optimize your supply chain, including your route for transportation.   

Here are a few areas where automated shipping can help you boost your overall growth.  

1. Saving Time

The most crucial benefit you can achieve from automated shipping is saving time. 

You can reduce the workforce once you automate various tasks, such as picking, label generation, and packing. As a business owner, you may already know that manual labor takes up more time to finish a specific task than technology would take.    

Automated technologies can save time in your shipping operations. They can also free human labor from tedious work and let them focus on more important strategies.      

2. Saving Cost

Another important area where automation helps a lot is saving money. Time is equivalent to saving costs, and this direct correlation helps businesses in the long run. 

So, by investing in automated technologies, you can engage your workforce and generate more revenue.  

I know there is a myth that automation will replace human labor. But it doesn’t happen that way. Various operational models can help you create a balance between human labor and automation.  

3. Various Opportunities To Grow 

Around 60% of businesses believe recruitment and productivity are crucial and challenging factors. Finding a suitable person to help run your operation takes work. 

When your order volume is large, automation can help you in such areas and help increase efficiency. As a result, you can continue and satisfy your consumers. 

Automation can successfully omit the friction point and lead you to expand your business. It allows you to fulfill a huge order, preventing your business from slowing down.      

4. Tracking Inventory With Accuracy 

As I mentioned earlier, customers prefer speed these days. They need their packages delivered fast, and they even refuse to pay an extra penny for the same.  

In fact, recent data has revealed that added costs are one of many reasons why people tend to abandon the items from their cart. 

Infoshop is one of the software that provides you with good shipping times at a reasonable price. So, you can use Infoship for a fast delivery while avoiding all the extra costs.   

5. Improvement In Shipping Times 

In any business landscape, data is one of the most important factors that helps your business stay running. However, it is also important to keep the data together to keep your business running.  

Thanks to automation, you can manage all your data in one place and funnel it through a single system.  

6. Combines Data And Helps With Better Insight

It also helps to increase overall visibility, leading to better forecasting of your demands and decision-making.  

7. Better Customer Experience

If you are engaged in the business landscape, you already know that better order fulfillment can help you to have a better customer experience.  

Always remember to experiment is very crucial. Data says that if your consumers are not satisfied with your business, 71% of the consumers will not make a purchase from you.  

Automation helps you reduce small mistakes that can lead to such consequences. It also allows you to fulfill orders better and retain your customers.    

Ways That You Can Use To Automate Your E-commerce Shipping 

Shipping may be one of the most time-consuming and costly processes run by e-commerce businesses. You must deal with different carriers and shipping zones, track your shipment, and ultimately keep your consumers satisfied.  

But the real question is, how can you automate your shipping processes and save time by focusing more on revenue generation?  

This section will explore how the shipping industry is automating e-commerce shipping using competent tools and practices.  

📦 Choosing A Suitable Platform 

The first approach towards automated shipping for your e-commerce is choosing a suitable platform. You can choose from platforms such as Shopify or BigCommerce.  

These platforms offer you shipping features and integrations as a third-party application so that you can have a better shipping process. 

As for the extra payments for subscriptions or other fees, it totally depends on what platform you are using.    

📦 Setting Up A Few Shipping Rules

In this stage, you focus on setting up your shipping rules. These shipping rules include basic parameters of how you want your orders shipped. Factors such as weight, dimension, product type, or values can be included while setting up the rules.  

For example, you can set up a rule that the carriers must follow, charging zero shipping charges when the cart value is $30.  

With shipping rules, you can optimize the overall cost and speed.   

📦 Automating Your Label Printing Process

Label printing basically includes generating and printing all your shipping labels, which will contain the sender and receiver’s information, barcode, and postage amount.  

You can automate this printing process to save time. Automated label printing does not require ink or toner.  

With just one click, you are all set to go. The thermal printing devices will automatically print the labels in no time.  

📦 Automation In Your Order Fulfillment

In this fourth stage, you can automate your order fulfillment operations. For example, you can opt for shipment services such as ShipBob, which will store, pack, and ship your orders. 

Automating your order fulfillment operations can help you with better inventory and reduce the daily hassle.  

📦 Automation In Your Tracking And Notification Processes 

The fifth step of automating your e-commerce shipping is to automate your tracking and notifications. 

The tracking and notification will give your consumers real-time information about the shipments. Tracking apps such as Aftership or Tracktor can help display tracking numbers and notify consumers through email or SMS. 

Automated tracking and notifications can improve your customer services, consumer retention, and loyalty.        

📦 Automate The Entire Fulfillment Process With ShipBob

If you are a small business owner looking for opportunities to automate your e-commerce shipping, ShipBob can be a better option.  

ShipBob is a leading 3PL or third-party logistics company that can help you fulfill orders.  

Once you sync your e-commerce business with ShipBob technologies, orders placed at your stores will automatically be sent to ShipBob, where your inventory is stored. Upon receiving the orders, ShipBob will pick them up, pack them, and ship them for you.   

The automated technologies at ShipBob help you efficiently manage your inventory and fulfillment of orders. They also send you the data so you can forward it to your consumers.  

This way, you invest less time worrying about your orders and shipments.    

Bottom Line

Do you know what is the best part of automation? It can reduce manual labor and simplify the task. It is like freeing you from the same repetitive tasks.  

“Set it and forget it” automates all the mundane.  

Autonomous drones and vehicles, or software, make it easy for shipping companies to save costs and time. The implementation of automated shipping is useful in packaging, labeling, and sorting the entire system. As a result, you are able to improve your shipping accuracy and increase the speed of the shipping process.   

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