ShipStation’s High-Volume Plan Is The Perfect Fit For Fashion And Jewelry Merchants

The fashion, jewelry, and accessory industries are highly competitive. The same goes for the ecommerce space. You’ve established a customer base and founded a highly successful business within your industry. It’s time to choose a shipping solution to streamline your fulfillment process. ShipStation provides high-volume shippers with automation tools and integration so that orders can be fulfilled quickly and accurately. Whether orders are fulfilled in-house or through disruption centers, ShipStation supports fashion retail merchants with a centralized shipping workspace. 

Centralize your stores and marketplaces

Selling through multiple stores and marketplaces leads to multiple sets of credentials. While checking multiple tabs to fulfill orders, you can increase the likelihood of missed orders. However, ShipStation merchants can integrate stores and marketplaces with their accounts, keeping all eligible orders on the same screen. ShipStation integrates with major marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart, so there’s no need to worry about switching selling channels. 

Most integrated stores include automatic order downloads, so you don’t have to manually download orders into your account. You can verify which stores or marketplaces allow automatic downloads by visiting their settings and looking for the checkbox below. 

Automate shipping to save time and money

Manually selecting carrier services and specific criteria for individual orders is extremely time-consuming, particularly for high-volume shippers. Not only does ShipStation provide merchants with the ability to create automated workflows, but our rate calculator helps you compare shipping rates across carriers. 

Automation rules apply specific criteria to orders to avoid manual entry. For example, if you wanted Priority Mail^® as the default carrier service for orders under three pounds, you could create a rule to apply this service to lightweight clothing orders. Automation rules can be used to automatically apply carrier services and insurance (which is great for high-value items like jewelry), automatically route orders to the correct fulfillment centers, prepay duties and taxes when and where available, and much more. 

With smaller items like jewelry, accessories, and clothing, finding the best rate is crucial; overpaying for small and lightweight items will add up over time. ShipStation’s rate calculator compares rates across carriers to find the best rate based on your shipment. Additionally, ShipStation merchants who use UPS on Shipstation can save up to 82%* on international shipments, 78% off UPS® Ground shipments, 73% off Next Day Air® and 2nd Day Air®, and up to 89% off USPS shipments.

*Discounts off UPS daily rates. Rates are limited to shipping from the U.S. only. Rates and any applicable discounts are subject to change at any time without notice.

Download our guide to learn how our high-volume shipping plan benefits fashion merchants.

Organize incoming orders 

Products in the fashion industry usually come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, not including customized options. When products come in different styles, every order detail is crucial to avoid sending customers the incorrect product. With features like order notes and order tags, order notes and details can be easily communicated to your team. 

Order notes consist of notes from customers, notes to customers, gift notes, and internal notes. Notes from customers can consist of requests for your business like carrier service preferences or special requests. Gift notes are equally important, as the packaging for gift orders might vary from regular orders. Additionally, order tags can be used to flag orders that will need special attention while being prepared, such as: 

• When items are fragile
• When an order is a high-priority 
• When an order includes an item or items on backorder

Avoid overstocking and understocking merchandise 

Overstocking products can lead to seasonal clothing and accessories taking up warehouse space until they’re needed again. Understocking products can lead to customers looking elsewhere, and the fashion industry is already competitive enough. However, ShipStation provides internal inventory management to easily track products as they’re shipped. Your business can enable inventory warehouses and block orders with inventory that has sold out or has an unknown quantity to maintain customer satisfaction. 

Integrate ERPs that grow with your business 

ERPs are essential for growing businesses, as they combine different areas of your organization into a single operating system. Each team within your business should be able to easily track their data and provide other groups with relevant information without a complicated workflow. For example, say your supply chain team notices a delay in materials needed for a necklace. Your merchandising and manufacturing teams should be able to easily track and receive this information as well to avoid promoting or overselling the necklace to customers. EPRs are designed to streamline these communications. 

ERPs like ShipStation for NetSuite help keep information current by importing order fulfillment data into Netsuite. After orders have been moved to a “fulfilled” or “shipped status in ShipStation, this order data can be entered into NetSuite. To integrate an ERP with ShipStation, contact us through this form, and one of our solutions specialists will contact you. 

Schedule a ShipStation demo with our Sales team today!

How ShipStation supports warehouse fulfillment 

Our recent study found that 30% of merchants are planning to introduce warehouse automation in 2023. The main objective for 44.8% of these merchants is for their teams to work faster, with the second main objective being to decrease warehouse mistakes. In short, your warehouse fulfillment will see more competition, so it’s imperative to keep your workflow as efficient and accurate as possible. 

Barcode scanning offered by ShipStation saves your team time and helps eradicate order errors. Barcode scanning can be used to: 

• Batch orders for ShipStation upload 
• Scan barcodes on packing slips to view order details 
• Create business-specific barcodes to scan for orders 

Additionally, pick lists provide your team with detailed documents including order descriptions and quantities. Barcode scanning and pick lists keep your team moving quickly without risking an uptick in fulfillment mistakes. Increasing fulfillment speeds will get orders to customers faster, meaning there’s a higher chance for repeat business. 

Utilize product bundles for accurate fulfillment 

Sometimes, customers are looking for full outfits when shopping for clothing and accessories. For example, a customer could be searching for earrings to match a necklace, leggings to match a shirt, etc… However, selling and shipping pieces individually can be costly, as each product will have its own shipping costs. 

Product bundles allow your business to sell products in packaged groups. Instead of selling a ring, necklace, and pair of earrings separately, your business can package these three items together and sell them as a unit. These bundles are also packaged together, so your fulfillment team doesn’t have to locate three separate items. 

Expand your ShipStation plan to match your business with our high-volume shipping plan. 

Streamline the returns process 

Without the ability to try on clothing before ordering, customers must use sizing charts to determine the best fit, leading to increased returns. With our recent study showing 81% of customers believe businesses should offer free returns and 44% stating they were less likely to shop with a brand that has a difficult returns policy, your business needs to prioritize returns.

From a branded returns portal to easily generated return labels, ShipStation merchants can easily create a returns process for their businesses. With the branded returns portal, customers can initiate their own returns process, eliminating the need to send a return label with shipments and keep customers waiting on a support team. If you need to generate a return label, it only takes a couple of clicks to send a return label to a customer. 

Shipping 7,500+ a day? Try our high-volume shipping plan. 

Insurance options for added security 

Shipping high-value accessories like watches and jewelry can be nerve-wracking. Customers are paying for expensive items that can potentially be lost in transit or stolen. Some carrier services include insurance options for additional security, but what if the jewelry is worth more than the free coverage?

That’s why ShipStation offers ParcelGuard for additional coverage. ParcelGuard covers up to $10,000 worth of eligible items* and gives merchants up to 67% off add-on carrier insurance options. ParcelGuard can be used with both domestic and international shipments and works with both branded and unbranded packaging. The cost of ParcelGuard is determined by the carrier used, whether a shipment is domestic or international, and is calculated per $100.

For example, say you entered your shipment value as $300, and your shipment is being shipped through USPS internationally. ParcelGuard would charge $.99 per $100, making the total cost of insurance around $2.97. Give your business and customers peace of mind without totally breaking the bank.  

*For a full list of ParcelGuard’s terms and conditions, visit their website. 

Increase customer communication and satisfaction 

Our recent study found that almost 43% of customers would like daily shipping updates, even if there haven’t been any major updates. Additionally, we found that 37% of customers want major shipping updates such as when their package ships, is in transit, is out for delivery, and is delivered. However, it’s difficult to send out communications for every single order purchased from your store. 

Automate your customer communications with the help of customer notification emails. Customer notification emails are automatically sent to customers when a package is shipped and delivered. Additionally, these notification emails can be customized with your business’s logo, color scheme, and other personalized details with branded email notifications and a branded tracking page. 

ShipStation’s branded tracking page allows customers to check their tracking link daily for updates, aligning with customer expectations. Customers can even sign up for SMS tracking notifications for eligible domestic shipments to receive updates straight to their phones. Including multiple tracking notifications for customers can boost overall customer satisfaction, which boosts sales. 

For more information on how ShipStation can keep your fashion-based business in style, download our guide.