When considering free shipping software, you want something that’s high quality, has the features and support you need, and can scale as your order volume grows. No surprises or hidden costs. Let’s take a closer look at free shipping software for small businesses.
Table of contents
What is free shipping software?
Why is the software free?
Though technology companies could charge a subscription fee for the shipping software (and many do!), some choose to offer it for free. Because there are so many small businesses that need cost-effective shipping, the revenue numbers add up, even without subscription fees.
What are the best free shipping software brands?
- Descartes XPS
- Pirate Ship
Other popular shipping software starts with a free plan and offers paid plans:
- Easyship
- ShippingEasy
- ShipStation
Which shipping problems are solved by free shipping software?
Higher Shipping Costs
Shipping costs are an important factor for online shoppers and can be the difference between a customer deciding to purchase from a small business or not. Besides influencing conversion rates, shipping costs significantly impact business profitability, growth, and income forecasts, which are influenced by tighter margins.
The Solution: Free shipping software helps by providing pre-negotiated, deeply discounted shipping rates for carriers such as USPS, UPS, DHL, and FedEx. In addition, many programs include a rate shopping feature that provides easy multi-carrier shipping rate comparisons, ensuring the best deal for each shipment.
Tedious Manual Tasks
Without shipping software, small businesses must complete tasks manually, like typing shipment information, searching for affordable shipping rates, selecting a service, printing labels, and emailing customers their tracking information. Time is money, and manually tasks use up valuable resources small businesses can’t afford to waste.
The Solution: Most free shipping software features include business automation rules. These rules are built on if/then logic to automate tedious, repetitive tasks and reduce the risk of human error. Because they are customizable, you can tailor the workflows to your specific business needs. Some even offer lights-out automation you can set and forget.
Where’s My Order?
Sometimes, an order or package goes missing in transit. This has a negative impact on customer satisfaction and stock levels, as you are expected to ship a replacement item. Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to these consequences because every dollar and every customer matters at this stage.
How much time do you spend trying to keep track of orders and shipment tracking information? How many times a day does a customer contact you, wondering when their order will arrive? Tracking is a pain point for customers and small businesses alike, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
The Solution: Free multi-carrier shipping software also usually offers integrations for multiple sales channels, such as Shopify, Amazon, and eBay. All orders flow into one program so you can easily see and manage all shipments in one place. Plus, the software displays real-time tracking, updates order status, and emails tracking info to customers.
When should I consider paying for a shipping software plan?
No longer a small business
Paid plans can offer enterprise-level scalability. If your business grows significantly, you may need to move to a paid plan that can support a larger business with more complexity. However, free shipping software is more than capable for a small business.
Want more users
Many free plans only offer a few user seats. As your business grows and you expand fulfillment operations, you may need more ship station workers. When this happens, you can either have everyone share a user login or purchase more user seats for your shipping solution by moving into a paid plan. However, Descartes XPS lets you add more users for free.
Want more features
Software companies that offer both free and paid plans often limit the number of features in the free plan, dangling the fancier features like a carrot to move you toward a subscription. It’s important to consider the cost vs. benefits of paying for more features.
Why should I try Descartes XPS shipping software?
- Free—no limit on shipment volume, no label fees, and no cost to add users
- Discounted rates from USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL–save up to 89% on shipping
- Easy rate shopping to find the best shipping service for each order
- Automation rules to reduce manual labor and fulfill orders faster
- Integrations with 90+ carriers, sales channels, and other programs
- Live support for all customers via chat, email, and phone
Key takeaways
- Free shipping software is worth using if you want a cost-effective way to streamline fulfillment operations and ship faster.
- It’s usually robust enough to resolve the most common shipping problems that small businesses encounter.
- Technology can automate workflows and prevent shipping bottlenecks, acting like another employee in a small workforce.
- When your business’s size and complexity demand more users, features, capacity, and special rates, it’s time to consider a paid plan.
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