Shipping software is a common tool used by businesses today to streamline the process of shipping and order fulfillment. As many businesses now have their own online stores, it is important to manage multiple orders placed online and then ensure smooth and timely delivery. Managing this task manually can be time-consuming and prone to human errors. However, dedicated shipping software can track orders seamlessly and minimize the likelihood of process-related errors in the following ways:

1. Ensuring accurate address entry
Using cart plugin software called address verification systems (AVS), shipping software ensures that the delivery address is accurate. AVS ensures accuracy by prompting the customer to be as precise as possible. Research suggests that 74% of failed deliveries can be attributed to incomplete or incorrect addresses. What happens is that while the customer is checking out, the plugin prompts them to select the right delivery address. So, by getting this plugin, businesses may be able to reduce failed deliveries.

2. Automating tasks
The process of delivering an order is lengthy, involving many tiny tasks like getting the order ready for shipping, inspection, packaging, and more. To reduce the time and effort, shipping software can automate the following tasks:

– Generating the label, downloading it, and then printing it
– Getting discounted shipping rates from the courier services for specific orders
– Providing a courier rate comparison for easy selection and transparency
– Sharing real-time rates with the customers as they check out
– For international orders, software can apply the right tax and duty pricing
– Sharing the tracking information with the customer so they can keep track of their shipment
– Delivering the post-purchase notifications
– Keeping track of the inventory and sharing real-time updates
– Generating the appropriate documentation for customs

With such tasks taken care of, one can focus on other tasks like inspection and packaging and avoid worrying about errors in the automated tasks. 

3. Providing transparency
The shipping software process provides some visibility and transparency to the customers by sharing information like tracking details of their parcels. With real-time tracking data, it becomes easy for businesses to check the location of the order and the ETA. The enhanced visibility also allows businesses to keep an eye out for delays and potential delivery issues and keep customers informed accordingly. Data suggests that customers value such transparency and are less likely to make inquiries about their shipment as they can just check the real-time shipping information. 

4. Ensuring size accuracy
Another way that shipping software helps in reducing errors or delays is by calculating the courier costs using the size of the package. There are a few packaging guidelines that every courier company must follow to avoid surcharges on items that exceed the size or weight limit. Now, what shipping software does is send tips to the business on the packaging requirements for the product, especially products that are ordered most often. This helps businesses get accurate rates of shipping from the couriers. Further, if the package exceeds the desired weight and size, the courier company may delay the shipment and wait for the business to pay the surcharge instead of carrying out the order regularly. To help avoid such issues, the shipping software will send prompts to correct the size of the package. In this way, businesses can adhere to the shipping guidelines and avoid delays.

5. Providing real-time inventory updates
Stockouts, or selling inventory that is not available, can lead to huge losses for the business. Not just the immediate monetary loss of refunding the order amount, but also in terms of brand reputation. This is because when customers are told that the order they placed for an item that seemed to be available on the website is out of stock, they are not likely to order from that business again. Estimates suggest that this issue costs businesses close to $1 trillion in revenue. This is why inventory management tools are extremely important to avoid such discrepancies in item availability. This feature automatically updates the inventory data based on the orders, shipments, and returns from the customers. So, the software calculates the inventory and shares updates, letting businesses know what is in stock and what has been sold out. The exact benefits of using this feature are:

Higher efficiency: Real-time inventory data helps businesses stay up-to-date on their inventory numbers and planning processes, like restocking or editing availability information on the website. This ensures that the shipment is not on hold due to any discrepancies.

Order accuracy: Shipping software can update the inventory based on orders and returns and reduce human shipping errors as all the data processes go through fewer people.

There are several shipping software companies available in the market that offer unique features and services to businesses to help them become more efficient and save money on shipments. One should review all the available options and check the services they provide, their costs, and online reviews. One should also compare plans and pricing to choose a service provider that offers the most value for money. Taking on adequate research can help businesses find the right software for their shipping needs.