Flat rate shipping is an ideal choice for implementing a uniform rate for shipping. Though flat rate shipping is beneficial in many ways, sometimes you should avoid flat rate shipping. Let’s get to know more about this.
What is Flat Rate Shipping?
Flat Rate shipping is used when you want to apply a uniform rate for shipping a package regardless of the weight and size.
There are many reasons sellers prefer to use flat rate shipping:
- First, because it applies one price for shipping all packages within a definite weight as provided by the shipping carrier to any location. Hence it simplifies shipping.
- It can be the best marketing tool to encourage buyers to spend more on your online store to make the most of the postage cost.
When you are using flat-rate shipping options, compared to the standard ones, the customers are skeptical about the hidden charges they might pay for the shipping services offered. Especially when it comes to overseas customers, they have no way to know what additional charges they end up paying upon delivery.
There are also arguments about the fact that using a flat rate can actually save some money. However, when you are calculating the break-even point to find out cost savings, it requires a serious and complicated comparison of package volumes, distance, and weight. And if you notice, most of the time, if the items sent are not heavy, the regular flat rates seem cheaper. On the other hand, if the items are heavier, a flat rate doesn’t seem to be a cheaper option for shipping.
Find out: 8 Ways You Can Save Yourself From Extra Expenses For Shipping
What are the negatives of using flat rate shipping?
Flat rate shipping is not a cost-effective option for all online sellers, with certain considerations including:
Speed: Flat rate shipping often offers delivery within 3 business days, which is not as fast as the express options available.
Cost: For flat rate shipping, the cost is fixed for all. Hence if you want to ship something that doesn’t fit into your flat-rate box, you need to look for other options or pay more for the extra packaging.
Hassles: Flat rate shipping makes shipping done easily. The rest of the hassles linked with shipping, like packaging and order fulfillments are not coming into the picture with the flat rate shipping. If you have your own order fulfillment options, then better, else it is difficult to arrange the space for storage and the time to fulfill the order.
So what is the better alternative for this?
Being ambiguous about the shipping charges is not the right approach to keep your clients happy. The best way is to show the breakup charges on the checkout page, to ensure the customers are not paying any unnecessary charges while purchasing from you. As you know, if you want to show the breakdown charges on your WooCommerce store, you can make use of plugins like ELEX WooCommerce DHL Express / eCommerce / Paket Shipping Plugin with Print Label.
The plugin lets you show the breakdown of the overall price in the right way to show the charges that sum up the price of an item. To get that done, you can enable the Show Break Down Charges settings in the plugin’s settings.
Once the setting is enabled, you can see the breakdown charges on the checkout page.
This sounds convenient and transparent when it comes to displaying the charges. In this way, the customer doesn’t get confused about the charges for shipping.
Yet another way is using the shipping calculator to show and let the customer compare the shipping rates on their own.
To Conclude:
Flat rate shipping is an ideal choice when it comes to shipping smaller packages at an economical rate. Being transparent about the shipping charges is the best way to build trust in your store.
Further Reading:
- USPS Flat Rate vs. UPS Flat Rate: Which Should You Choose?
- USPS Priority Mail vs USPS Flat Rates: Which Is Best In eCommerce Shipping?
- FedEx One Rate vs USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate – A Detailed Comparison
- 8 Strong Reasons to Consider USPS Flat Rate Shipping
- An Ultimate Guide on USPS Domestic & USPS International Shipping Rates
- A detailed guide on USPS flat rate boxes
