Tape, Boxes, and eCommerce

I find it incredible how resilient our country is.  Even when dictators are destroying our economy our local businessmen and women are growing it.  It is not because of the regulations put in place, no it is because we are going around the stupidity and creating eCommerce companies to keep our workers employed.   It is a marvel to see and even when legislators and politicians want us to fail we refuse to.  That is why you need to make sure you have the right equipment and tool to succeed in eCommerce to keep our country afloat.  If you are transitioning your company to sell more online then there is a whole lot to know.  Some of it is in the difference between running a brick and mortar store and an eCommerce store and there are costs that sneak up in different ways.

 

One of the small and subtle differences between these types of companies is how they actually get the product to their customer.  In a brick and mortar store, it is easy.  They simply pick up the product and check out at the cash register.  At most people put the items in a bag and many stores don't even do that anymore.  That is because they call it eco-friendly not too bad so many places don't have that cost at all.  So the cost of getting products to people in brick and mortar is super low and in some cases nonexistent. That is not how eCommerce works at all.

 

In eCommerce, you have to not only sell the item but also have the product shipped directly to the customer.  This comes with a lot of costs and products involved.  This means you may have to go out and purchase a box or bag for each item sold. You may need to buy tape and markers and even labels for each item to be shipped.  On top of that and all the packagingsupplies, you then have to ship the item by the carrier.  That costs a lot of money all in of itself.  So these costs have to be thought of and accounted for and the cost of these small items like a bag or box can add up to be incredibly expensive. These costs for packaging supplies have to be accounted for and thought of before you go ahead and start selling online.

 

This may be a problem because now that cost is usually offset by not having a brick and mortar storefront cost.  That cost can end up being troublesome if you are still doing both.  Many companies are at 40% foot traffic allowed and that is it.  They are trying to make up for it with extra online purchases but those costs are there and can hurt. It is the location that you buy your boxes and tape from that can help cut down on that extra cost.  I like to advise people to find large online shipping supply companies who are able to give large bulk discounts and undercut prices from Amazon by simply not selling on Amazon.  It is a worthwhile search to find a good company that will supply you at a much lower cost and it can help keep you competitive in this wild environment. So give it a shot and go out and crush it.