Can shipping and label printing be automated?

Many merchants, when they first get started in ecommerce, put buckets of time and energy into their website, products, and customer service. This is totally understandable, as these are the creative and human-oriented aspects of running a business that appeal to many people and draw new sellers into the game. The aspects that make business owners excited to get out of bed in the morning are naturally going to draw more attention. When it comes to shipping and fulfillment, however, many sellers start to snooze.

The questions of how to create a shipping label or how to label a package in the first place seem tedious and boring. This combination of boredom and confusion means that a lot of sellers refuse to research tailor-made solutions for themselves and their business, but rather buy shipping label software off the internet and be done with it. Sometimes the first one they happen to see. Other merchants might be taken in by fake shipping label scams, hoping to save some cash. Read on to discover quick solutions that won’t take up too much of your time or mental energy, so you can get back to the parts of your business that truly need your attention.

What is a label?

The simple answer is that it’s just instructions on where to send packages. It can be a sticker or slip pasted onto a package in order to make sure it’s routed through to its final destination, but labels can range in sophistication and technological advancement anywhere from custom-made QR codes or barcodes to handwritten shipping labels on box tops. Without fail, though, every example must contain the customer’s name, address, and any barcodes that are necessary to make sure the package isn’t lost in some distribution facility somewhere.

There’s a variety of ways to generate a prepaid shipping label meaning that you have no shortage of options regarding how to get it done. The three major US couriers, that is to say USPS, UPS, and FedEx, have the ability to generate and print shipping label sheets directly from the comfort of your own home. This means the ability to create UPS shipping label stickers, or USPS or FedEx stickers depending on your preference, isn’t dependent on your ability to find the time to go down to the shop itself.

Do you need a specialized shipping label maker?

The question of how to print shipping labels is quite a simple one. All that’s required to create a shipping label is an internet connection, a debit card, and a printer. Simply navigate to the website belonging to your courier partner of choice, follow the on-screen instructions, and print. You can then affix the sticker or paper to the box that needs to be shipped and drop it off. Often couriers offer a small discount if you generate your label online, as that saves time and effort for their workers in the stores. For reference, standard sizes range from 4 x 6 inches to 6 x 3 inches to 4 x 4 inches, meaning it’s wise to select a box large enough to accommodate this size of slip and avoid any complications or glitches in scanning resulting from awkwardly twisting a barcode around a sharp corner. A larger package also allows room for respectable amounts of packing materials, which will shield and protect your goods from bumps and bruises all the way to their final destination.

Do I really need to do all this myself?

If you’re still experiencing package label woes, don’t worry. In this day and age you have little need to make a shipping label yourself. If you have your shop properly integrated with your warehousing and 3PL provider, it’s often the case that your partner can automatically generate and affix the stickers during the picking and packing process, meaning that you have very little need at all to deal with this aspect of the business. Even shipping itself can be automated if the correct steps are taken.

P2Pseller can help with all of that. From warehousing to value-added services to yes, routing and delivery, we can facilitate a relationship with a 3PL provider who will generate and affix labels on your behalf, meaning that you don’t have to worry about shipping your goods around to different facilities or having to take valuable time out of your day to worry about delivery instructions. We’d love to show you what we’re capable of. Register a free account with us today and browse our offerings, totally commitment free, from our convenient website or mobile app.

In conclusion

Dealing with the technical parts of running an ecommerce business can feel boring or overwhelming, especially if you’re new to the game. Thankfully, due to modern technology and the impending ecommerce revolution, most of these parts you’re unexcited about? You don’t have to handle them yourself any longer. This frees up more time for you to develop your marketing strategies, source cool new products, and engage with your customers on a more personal level. These are the reasons why you got into business in the first place, so why waste time on the boring bits when you don’t have to? P2Pseller is proud to have your back.