Thanks to a wave of stylish celebrities like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Lisa Haydon and Genelia D’Souza, pregnancy now has a new set of fashion rules and expecting mothers have plenty of chic trends to try. If you are planning on cashing in from this profitable industry, then don’t think twice and ‘go online’. Owning an online store for maternity wear is more profitable than ever before. In order to ensure a competitive edge in the market, all you need to focus on is quality products, an attractive website and a solid logistics strategy.
Most entrepreneurs who plan on setting up an online store, often overlook one of the most important aspects of an online store – their shipping requirements. Although it comes at the end of a customer’s journey, it is your delivery service where your customer has a physical interaction with your brand. Which means that your shipping and delivery service can leave a long-lasting impression on your customer. Therefore, it is important to plan your shipping in advance and find a reliable ecommerce courier service for your shipping.
If you are on the way to start an online store for maternity wear, congratulations! With more and more expecting parents relying on the internet to shop for maternity wear and baby products, the industry is buzzing. Moreover, maternity wear has become a fashion statement as pregnant women now are becoming more conscious of the clothes they put on during pregnancy. Although the industry caters to a niche audience, you can create a loyal group of customers for your brand by providing an unforgettable shopping experience with efficient logistics.
Here are a few tips to help you plan your shipping strategy for your online maternity store:
Prompt Delivery to earn Customer Loyalty
Delivering fast gives an edge to any business. But it is even more important as expectant or new moms need things on an urgency basis. Most often a pregnant woman will decide to buy a new dress when she finds out that she is short of regular clothes that fit her. This means that they will be expecting their maternity wear on an urgent basis. As an online seller, you need to deal with such demands in a professional manner and ensure faster deliveries with a reliable ecommerce courier service.
Unlike other businesses, you are dealing with a customer base that is susceptible to frequent changes in body shape and sizes. Also, with the coming of a baby, the necessities of a nursing mother keep increasing and changing. Therefore, it is extremely important to ensure faster and more efficient logistics to ensure timely deliveries for every single order.
Delivering Beyond Metros
Do not aim for a localised online store. Maternity wear products cater to a niche audience – which means the bigger the audience, the better your sales. While your marketing can help you attract customers, you have to make sure that you are well-equipped to deliver the products. Imagine if an online shopper reaches your site, finds a product and decides to buy. Upon reaching the checkout stage, they find out that your ecommerce courier service cannot deliver to their address. You are not only losing a potential customer here, but also generating a negative impression in the customer’s mind.
That is why it is important to rely on a courier company that can help you deliver to large demographics. Or even better, depending on multiple couriers to further expand your reach. For a small business owner, this can be easily achieved with the help of a logistics aggregator platform. Using the services of an aggregator platform for your logistics can help you compare multiple couriers from a single dashboard and choose the ideal option for your orders. So, along with expanded reach, you get increased savings.
Pack a Surprise
Don’t just send the order, send a feeling; send a guide on the stages of pregnancy and tips to look beautiful, fresh and energised; send a list of baby names, or send poems on motherhood. You can create an unforgettable unboxing experience with custom boxes for each type of product. You can add funny quotes, pregnancy and parenting advice within your packaging materials. Combined with a strong logistics strategy, such measures will help your brand create a special bond with your customers. This not only creates loyal customers but also helps in increases word-of-mouth advertising.
Make COD Available
Catering to new customers, especially in smaller towns and cities means you need to provide cash on delivery as a payment option to your customers. This consequently means that you need a solid COD support from your shipping partner. Therefore, look for a shipping partner who can provide end-to-end support for your cash on delivery payments with real-time tracking. That way, you can always keep track of your shipments and provide timely and accurate information to your customers.
Make Returns and Refunds easy
Just like every other online business, your maternity store is also bound to have product returns. In order to make them smooth and simple, you require the services of an ecommerce courier service that can efficiently handle faster returns and replacements. You also need to make sure that you provide a simple return policy that is clearly mentioned on your website. This gives an impression of professionalism and increases the trust that a customer shares with your brand. Moreover, they keep your customers informed of your policies and decreases the number of frantic customer calls that are about enquiring product returns.
In conclusion, efficient shipping is the backbone of your online store for maternity wear. That is why it extremely important to focus on your logistics and create a well-functioning strategy for your shipping and delivery services. Using the services of an aggregator platform for your shipping requirements can fulfil most of your shipping needs.
ShipKaro is a shipping aggregator platform that mainly caters to ecommerce clients and provides integrated services of India’s leading courier companies. The platform helps you automate your shipping and provides a tracking facility for all your orders. So, with ShipKaro, you can just relax and keep focussing on your business growth. Above all, keep selling and keep growing!
Need further tips on logistics of your online maternity store? Drop a comment and let us know!
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