Listing Details| ID: | 1211 |
| Title: | Wholesale Dropshippers & Dropshipping Blog - http://ukdropshippers.blogspot.com/ |
| Description: | An online blog to learn and to share your thoughts with others to gain knowledge and to deliver your ideas to people about Wholesalers, Dropshippers, Suppliers and their resources. |
| Category: | Blogs: Business |
| RSS Feed: | Latest posts |
| Added: | March 13, 2007 10:32:13 AM |
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| Latest feed from Wholesale Dropshippers & Dropshipping Blog Basic modes of shipment used in export business. This article is about different modes of transportation used by wholesalers and suppliers for delivering goods to their customer. Let’s have a quick look on every method’s advantages and disadvantages.Article Body:In order to supply their products to the customers, wholesalers and trade suppliers have to choose among various shipment methods. They normally consider some factors before settling on the shipping mode. These factors arei. Business Sizeii. Costiii. Safetyiv. Delivery Timev. Goods to be deliveredA shipment method will be evaluated by following characteristics.i. Speedii. Costiii. Safetyiv. ConvenienceDifferent methods have different positives and negatives. Some are safer, some really fast and others have a plus point of being inexpensive. You can choose any of the methods discussed below which suits your requirements.Air transport:This method is by far the fastest and much safer, unless you are offering some electronic product or service online which can be downloaded in real time. Despite of being safe and fast, suppliers (specially the small ones) are often reluctant to use this mode, mainly because of high cost associated with it. This should be helpful when delivering some valuable goods or when a quick delivery is needed.Water Transport:Most probably the oldest method used in trade for overseas supplies. In ancient times traders traveled by means of water, carrying several goods and products to sell in foreign countries. Inexpensive but relatively slow, certainly not a good choice when quick delivery is needed. However, when the time is not an issue and shipment is quite large, maritime transportation becomes an automatic choice. Road Transport:This is the most widely used method, especially in domestic trade. Even when air or water transport is the prime source of shipment, road transportation is still needed to carry the goods from ports to buyer. Although limited to domestic trade, this method is both time saving and cost effective. Additional Methods:There are some other rarely used methods like rail cars, or a combination of two or more of these. Another form of shipment rising out of the internet growth is electronic shipment which takes place on internet in no time after the customer has made payment.It is not always easy to choose a method over the others. You can start by considering the questions like these. What do you want to deliver? Do you need to fulfill an urgent order? Can you afford some expensive medium without sacrificing a big part of your profit? If you are delivering some food items, can they be preserved for longer period? The best selection entirely depends on careful evaluation. Laws that you need to know when dropshipping Just like any other business, online business, e-commerce or dropshipping are also supposed to abide by some laws and regulations. No matter what is the nature of online business, buyers and seller are hardly face to face, except of the information they exchange with each other, they are total strangers. Many fraudulent minds try to exploit this limitation. The purpose of e-commerce laws and regulation is to make online transactions as safe as possible. For buyers they provide protection against numerous types of frauds, for sellers it allows them to improve their credibility. These rules and regulations are mainly applicable to payment, advertising and privacy issues.Advertising: Internet advertising is just about a decade old but its growth has been second to none. Businesses are attracted by the fact that they can access a lot of customers while spending minimum. There are so many advertising options to choose from (websites, corporate blogs, e-mail marketing, banner advertisements, affiliate marketing), but unlike other advertising mediums where customers watch some advertisement, go to the market and try the product themselves before purchasing it, they have to rely totally on advertised material while making a decision in e-commerce. This is why advertisement should be factual, and not consisting of false claims. Prices (with clear mentioning of "including" or "excluding" tax) should be stated clearly. Customers should not be misled in any way. Payment & Shipment: Customer should take utmost care when placing orders after reading the terms & conditions. A confirmation for both the order and payment should reach the customers as soon as possible. Ideally, a printable receipt of the payment should be provided to the customers. Shipment must reach the customers in due time. Supplier is responsible for any damages which occur to the product in shipment unless the contrary is clearly mentioned in terms & condition. Spam & Privacy:Spam is the bundle of uninvited e-mails or messages, from some unknown businesses or persons; we receive in our inbox regularly. Internet spam is as old as internet itself. E-mail marketing is not illegal, but you need to clearly mention your contact details and an option for the recipient to stop you from sending anymore promotional messages. Another problem which internet users face is the violation of their privacy. User name and passwords, storing cookies on customer computers and data sharing with third parties are the areas where an extra cautious approach is needed. How important is Customer Support Service for your online business Every business has one thing in common i.e. it depends on "customers" to be successful. Customers make or break some business. In order to be profitable, businesses need to first attract, then hold and in the end maintain its clientele. Customer support service is the department which looks into these all important tasks of making sure that your customers do not go elsewhere.Customer Support in Online Business:The basic principles remain the same in both online and offline businesses but priorities do change. One area which becomes crucial in online business is Customer Support Service. You can fill your website with as many details, descriptions, FAQs, specifications and instructions as you want, and still the customers will be willing to communicate with you or your representative before they make some purchase. Not to mention its importance in dealing with the after sale queries. Staff should be fully capable of managing angry customers because the word of mouth spreads faster in cyber world.Mostly three types of supports are used for online consumers; you can choose all three or any of them.1. Email Support2. Live Chat3. Telephone HelplineE-mail Support:The most widely used, most convenient and a must for any online business regardless of its nature. You provide them with your e-mail address so they can write their complaints, concerns or comments in detail. They don’t need to wait for business hours and it gives the business and the customers, a chance to explain their position in a detailed manner.Live Chat:More and more businesses are now providing “Live Chat” option for their customers. Customers are not required to log into some specific messenger or anything like that. All they need to do is, click on the live chat icon and a new chat window will open, where they can type their message, which will be replied by the business representative accordingly. There are many free services available at internet to facilitate you in providing this feature to your customers.Telephone Helpline:Large businesses all over the world depend on telephone help lines as their primary source to provide 24 hours support to their customers. This method is a little bit costly and not really necessary for small businesses. However, this can be very effective if you are able to afford such service. Also this is the most express response your customer can get from you. |