While many shipping calendars are still underrated among many shipping sellers, they built a reputation for helping many entrepreneurs maximize their time correctly and avoid transport issues.
Shipping calendars are especially helpful when shipping from Canada to the United States because of the distance and other elements surrounding this venture.
But, what is a shipping calendar, and how essential is it in the business? Let us find out!
Managing the supply chain and maintaining a balanced inventory is already challenging. But with the help of shipping calendars, the shipping process can be more efficient. Like any calendar, a shipping calendar is used to sort out plans and schedule every shipment to ensure they are delivered on time.
Furthermore, you can create shipping schedules with these calendars, allowing you to develop an effective logistics process for every package shipped and increase potential earnings on various levels.
Scheduling shipments is a standard practice among large and small companies to enhance efficiency, prevent time-related issues, and provide hassle-free transactions between partners and customers.
If you have not used a shipping calendar in your business, you better start having one now. Regardless of the current shipment volume, you can start developing that habit so that you won’t have to adjust once you begin shipping many shipments in the future.
Here are some of the things you can include in your shipping calendar.
It will only be called a shipping calendar if you indicate the shipping schedules and delivery dates. If you are shipping nationwide, having different times is ideal because you can focus more on each region. You also have more time to double-check all parcels because you don’t have to ship everything simultaneously.
So, you can deliver products to British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and other parts of Canada on their respective schedules. This technique also applies to cross border shipping and international shipping because there are more places to consider.
Many people ship on holidays, like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Thanksgiving, to connect to loved ones living far away. So, you should include these days to give you a heads-up on when to expect the surge of shipments.
It is also better to give the shipping company prior notice about your shipments to give you insight into how long the delivery time will be during the peak season. If you are shipping overseas, it is also an excellent idea to consider the destination country’s special celebrations to maximize the shipping schedule.
However, the advantage of including these days on your shipping schedule is you can also offer a shipping discount to the customers to attract them further into choosing your business.
Milestones in businesses should be significantly celebrated because these are measurements of how far your brand has been. It is excellent to include your promotions to give yourself a heads-up on which days or weeks can surge shipments.
As milestone promotions are another way to attract customers to buy your products, you can expect that you will ship more than usual on these days.
While the United States is still considered international, Canadian sellers have more advantages than other nationalities because of these two nations’ Free Trade Agreement (FTA). However, cross border shipping rate is still expensive for many brands, especially for smaller businesses and start-ups.
So, you’ll need to select a shipping partner that offers a flexible shipping service at an affordable shipping cost. But, apart from these factors, they should be able to prove their ability to help your brand upskill, deliver packages faster, and above all, provide a convenient and efficient shipping process to its shippers.
Good thing Stallion Express and Shippsy are here to help you out. They are Canada’s leading shipping providers, helping thousands of users reach their customers and get the items they need personally for their business.
Stallion Express, also known as Stallion, handles all shipments within Canada, going to the US, and internationally*. Since they offer a wide variety of shipping services, you can choose the most suitable shipping option for each package.
Additionally, they have a faster shipping time than the national carrier, allowing all parcels can reach their destinations in a shorter period. This feature benefits both the seller and the customer because they have faster ROIs (for sellers) and get the things they want (for customers). In this case, it’s a win-win situation.
*Stallion only accepts shipping from sellers and does not ship personal items. Furthermore, they only handle export shipping and not import.
On the other hand, Shippsy handles all shipments from the US to Canada. However, unlike Stallion, Shippsy is available to both sellers and non-sellers. The shipping rates when importing products from the US can be expensive. Adding to this, the process can be lengthy and require too many customs clearance documents.
Shippsy will do everything for you to cost-effectively bring all the items you want from popular US retailers. Plus, you can import products and supplies cheaply and quickly if you have a business.
Note: Stallion and Shippsy fully comply with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) regulations. So, please make sure that you don’t ship or request to ship products under the Prohibited Items List to avoid account suspension and penalties.
You have multiple shipping options for Stallion, such as priority mail express, standard, and economy shipping. Once you create a shipment, you can pick the most suitable choice for the goods. They work closely with the United States Postal Service (USPS, United Parcel Service (UPS), and FedEx USA to maximize the opportunities we can provide you. Moreover, they have Stallion Economy USA to lower the shipping cost incurred.
Meanwhile, Shippsy has three shipping services: Parcel Pickup, Package Forwarding, and Pallet/Skid Service. The Parcel Pickup service lets customers get the package at the nearest Stallion Branch for an affordable cost*.
Meanwhile, the package forwarding option is offered to customers who need more time to get their packages and opt to have the items delivered to their home addresses. Once the box is ready to be delivered, Shippsy will handle it to the package forwarder (Canada Post) for a minimal fee.
Pallet/skid service is for more oversized volume items. So, it is perfect for customers who have businesses and import product materials and supplies. It is also recommendable for oversized things.
With different factors to consider, the answer to this question can be subjective. You can use it when shipping time-sensitive products. However, since it is a more expensive option, use it less frequently if you want to save more.
While establishing a business is already challenging, maintaining it and continuing to ship across the border and internationally can be overwhelming.
Stallion also offers domestic shipping, partnering with Canada Post and UPS to serve thousands of Canadian sellers to grow their brand across the country. They also have Stallion Economy Standard and Stallion Economy Canada to reduce the shipping cost for domestic shipments further.
If you wish to connect with Stallion, you may call our hotline at +1 877-863-7447 or email us. We can assure you that our reliable customer service representatives will reach out and help you as soon as possible.
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Diana leads the growth marketing initiatives at Stallion Express. As a personal trainer turned digital marketer, Diana is obsessed with equipping eCommerce entrepreneurs with everything they need to scale their online businesses. You can catch her doing yoga or hitting the tennis courts in her spare time.
Read all posts written by Diana Zheng
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