How to choose your delivery method?
If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re not sure what’s the best way to deliver your products to backers. After the ups and downs of the month-long crowdfunding Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaign, a well thought out logistics strategy is a critical final step to your campaign. Messing up on shipping will likely harm the brand image and product hype that you’ve spent so much time and money on building. Therefore, it’s no surprise that one of the biggest questions we get asked is, “What’s the cheapest and quickest way for me to send my products out?”.
We’ve mentioned in previous articles the questions you should ask when preparing for crowdfunding fulfilment. This article will take a deeper look into finding the ideal delivery solution for your campaign. Obviously, everyone wants the speediest shipping method at the most economical price, but this is rarely achievable. To better align your expectations, we would suggest that you aim to identify the perfect balance between cost and delivery time.
To start, note down the value and weight of your product. If both the value is low and the product is lightweight (e.g. USB chargers), we would suggest that you use local postal delivery service. The benefit is it’s a relatively cheap option and has wide location coverage (with no additional charge for remote areas). However, the flip side is that the delivery time is longer, so make sure that you manage your backers expectations on how long it’ll take. As this method has the lowest level of traceability, and can have the highest level of lost parcels, we suggest you build in a 5-10% buffer to allow for replacement products.
If your product is heavy and the value is high (e.g. a drone), the only realistic option is to use an express courier service. The advantage is that delivery time is fast and shipments can be easily tracked, but this comes at a cost.
If you’re looking for an in-between solution, that’s where the value of a fulfilment service provider like ESG comes in. We can help you design a tailor-made fulfilment solution that has both the benefits of local postal delivery and express courier service, while minimizing the disadvantages at the same time. What you get is a solution that is cheaper than average express courier services, but faster than postal delivery, and is able to reach even the most remote regions. The biggest advantage is that our solutions are able to fulfill your customers’ requirements as closely as possible. For example, if the shipments need to be consolidated in the UK first, and then shipped to European countries, we can use bulk freight to deliver to UK, then use express courier for the last mile delivery. Whatever your needs, we usually have a flexible solution for it.
For a more in-depth understanding of the delivery options, and a customised logistics solution for your product, reach out to us for some free tips from fulfilment experts!