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It’s the busiest time of the year for most retail businesses and with that in mind you might be considering how you can boost your sales and retain the customers that Black Friday and Christmas bring in.
A great way to do that is by offering international shipping to reach a much bigger audience and give your business a competitive edge.
It’s also important to know where your existing customers in the UK are sending their parcels to, so you can better understand their buying habits and offer them the delivery services they actually need.
Where Are Customers Sending Christmas Gifts 2021?
DHL recently published some stats on the most popular places that people in the UK sent their parcels over the last year. They found that 50% of all international parcels were sent to just 10 countries, including:
At Parcel2Go, we offer some of the best prices for sending parcels internationally. Whether you’re a business or a one time sender, we’ve got you covered. If you’re unsure about the new processes and regulations involved in shipping from the UK to Europe after Brexit, you can find all the information you need in our International Shipping Hub.
If you can’t see the right location above, take a look at all the destinations we deliver to.
A lot of people expect online retailers to offer international shipping so it’s a great way to show you are putting the customers’ needs first.
Now you know the most popular sending destinations, let’s look at the benefits of offering international shipping.
Should I Offer International Shipping?
If international shipping is an option for your business, then you should definitely think about providing this service. Some of the benefits can be:
- Reaching more customers
- Increasing your brand’s visibility
- Keeping up with competitors in your field
- Growing and expanding your business
- Building trust with existing customers by showing you understand their needs
Start by Offering International Shipping this Christmas
Depending on the nature of your business, you will probably bring in more profit at Christmas than other times of year so if you’re concerned about the costs of providing international delivery, now is a good time to start.
By offering international shipping at Christmas time, you cut out the middle man of those customers having to order to their home in the UK and then ship to family or friends abroad. This reduces the chance of them abandoning their cart to shop somewhere that can deliver their parcel exactly where they need it to be the first time around.
And as Christmas gifts are often sentimental, even people who don’t normally send parcels overseas will be more inclined to at this time of year.
If customers have a good experience sending a parcel internationally with you at Christmas, they’re much more likely to come back to your business when sending parcels abroad again. And if they do, you can easily manage your shipments to them with Smart Send - our easy to use shipping solution.
For example, with Smart Send you could create a rule that all orders from the USA below £30 will be shipped with FedEx International Economy® as the delivery service. And as international shipping costs that little bit more, you could use PrePay to get an extra 2% credit when you top up by £100 or more.
This is our way of saving you bags of time and money because we know that small businesses can struggle to compete with the price reductions that big brands offer during peak times.
Having an international shipping option could give you the upperhand by increasing your revenue, not only at Christmas but also in the long run.
Which International Courier Service Should I Use?
Shipping to USA:
For a cheaper option, check out Landmark Collection or for heavier parcels up to a massive 68kg and a slightly quicker delivery time, you could use FedEx International Economy®.
Shipping to Europe:
You could use or for a slightly faster service, DPD Classic European. We offer a variety of international DPD delivery services at a low price.
Shipping to the EU isn’t as simple as it used to be for UK based businesses and it can be difficult to manage these changes if you’re not sure how your business delivery has been affected by Brexit. That’s why we put together this helpful guide for UK business senders with EU customers, which explains everything you need to know.
Shipping Worldwide:
For a cheaper way to send parcels, you could use Evri International Collection. But if your products weigh more than 15kg or you’d like your parcels delivered in just 3-5 days, take a look at UPS Standard®.
What is the Cheapest Way to Send Internationally for a UK Business?
The cheapest way to send a parcel overseas with Parcel2Go is through Evri International Collection from just £8.89 per parcel excluding VAT.
For a small business or SME, the cheapest way to provide international shipping will depend on the size and weight of what you’re selling as well as if you want to offer express, standard or economy delivery.
To make international shipping cheaper for your business, you could:
- Avoid Offering Express Delivery Services - Although it will take longer to arrive, economy international shipping is the most affordable way to ship parcels. But remember to warn your customers that they need to buy early if they want their parcels to arrive in time for Christmas. To help you advise your customers on the date they need to get their orders in by, take a look at our last posting dates for Christmas.
- Use a Drop Off Service - The couriers mentioned above all offer collection services to save you having to spend your working hours dropping items off to be delivered - time is money after all. But if you do have the time, or if you’re only sending a small number of parcels internationally for now, using a drop off service will usually be cheaper. Why not try Landmark Drop Shop.
- Work with More Than One Courier - You can use different courier delivery services for different products, so you’re not paying as much for smaller sized shipments as you are for large or bulky items. Or you should choose a mid-price courier with a lot of services that can vary it’s prices depending on what you send, such as DPD.
While being price-conscious is important, you also need to remember that customers are relying on you to deliver their parcel to the right place when they need it, so you should choose a reliable courier with a tracking option if you can.
Parcel2Go offers cheap and reliable parcel delivery services from the UK to over 200 different countries worldwide - get your quote today.
