When it comes to businesses that ship products, every time and cost advantage is imperative. Shipping costs now surpass almost every other area of business fulfillment. According to Gartner, shipping businesses will increase 28% yearly, with the need for same day shipping driving up logistics costs even further. So if shipping is a key area for your business, how do you ensure your customers experience your product while cutting down on this accelerating business expense?

Shipping software solutions are typically purchased with a monthly fee and meant to integrate with your eCommerce platform by:

1. Skipping the post office

Shipping software allows your employees to purchase and print shipping labels and print packing slips right from warehouse computers.

2. Shipping rates in real-time

Prior to shipping, your employees can also get real-time shipping rates and calculations from a variety of carriers. The shipping software imports these rates in real time so they’re automatically calculated for customer address, dimension, and weight of product.

3. Different shipping options at your fingertips

In addition to real time shipping rates, shipping software solutions offer a variety of shipping rates—complete with popular carriers, priorities, speeds, etc.

4. The best rates

The best shipping software providers have already done the groundwork by getting the very best discounted rates, as much as 70% off, that the big carriers offer to priority customers.

5. Customizable labels

To support your brand, many shipping software solutions offer the ability to customize packing slips with branded company logos, business contact info, and even pre printed return labels with prepaid (or unpaid) shipping.

6. Reporting

Many shipping solutions also come complete with reporting software, which can provide full summary views of all shipments in a certain timeframe, and also to identify high shipping areas and other areas where cost savings may exist.