As an online fashion brand and e-tailer, you’ll already be well aware that shipping clothes to your UK customers isn’t that complicated. So long as you have suitable packaging and a cost effective and efficient company looking after your deliveries, you’re good to go.
Does the same apply, however, if you want to ship clothes and apparel internationally?
Well, in many ways, yes, but as always, it’s not as simple as that thanks to different cross border requirements and even local customs in the customer’s own country.
First of all, let’s look at the basics.
Packaging
When making sure your products are protected in transit, you can probably use the same packaging you use for your UK customers. However, be mindful that when choosing the packaging for UK customers you didn’t have to worry too much about the cost of shipping over long distances that some packaging can make international shipping of clothes and apparel very expensive.
A lot of clothing, by the very nature of its fabric material does not always need a rigid box to be transported, clothes don’t tend to be fragile. Some high end or delicate items may well need a box but consider using sealed bags, with or without bubble protection for things like t-shirts, jeans, or similar.
If you must use a box, there are options that could also incorporate your branding and protection for an all-in-one approach too, which could also save you money.
Whatever packaging you choose, make sure you follow these golden rules for shipping clothes and apparel:
- You can put multiple items in the same bag/box but make sure they’re wrapped individually using with paper, at least, to avoid damage
- Layer the clothing folded, not rolled. This will reduce wrinkles and may even mean they arrive ready-to-wear for your customer
- If using a box, use the smallest size possible. It seems obvious, but not only will this prevent items from moving around too much, but it will also keep the box strong and also save on shipping costs.
- However, with delicate items, be sure to leave some space away from box walls so any external damage doesn’t affect what’s inside.
- On the flip side, if you’re using a bag, fold down and secure to limit excess space.
- Make sure there is a space for visible shipping labels and ‘fragile’ or ‘handle with care’ labels
Rubashka Streetwear have created this great video to help their fellow clothing e-tailers:
Shipping costs
Shipping costs are usually attached to three main things. The size of the package, the weight of the package and the cost of the items you’re sending.
The last one is something you can’t do much about when it comes to shipping, but you can help reduce the size and weight of a package by simply using as little packaging as possible, within the tips already given above.
Once you’ve done that, you then have to decide who is going to get your customer’s order to them safe and sound.
We’ve already written about what you should be looking for when choosing a shipping company for your overseas orders. Link to <Read this before you outsource your order fulfilment’ piece>
In a nutshell, however, you should make sure you consider making sure that your customers don’t feel that any of the cost or ‘red tape’ of shipping overseas is being passed on to them.
Finding an international shipping company like Asendia, is therefore really important to make sure costs are low and logistics are easy. You can then look at what your postage and packing rates and policies might be.
- Price on order: Customers can choose and pay for the exact shipping costs they are happy with. Slower delivery will be cheaper but express orders will attract a larger additional cost
- One price for all: This is a simple way of subsiding more expensive orders by making smaller orders pay a little more. It might sound a bit unfair to those who just want the odd item but then it does encourage them to buy more
- Free delivery: Two words a customer loves to read. Of course, nothing is really free, and someone will have to pay for this somehow. So, you could increase your product prices by a small amount to cover costs across the year or offset costs by only offering shipping on larger orders
Returns
Offering free returns really goes a long way to securing an order and giving customers peace of mind that they won’t be stuck with a hefty bill if they need to send something back.
Clothing is a very subjective product and what may look very appealing on screen might look very different when a customer tries it on. While there may be sizing issues or simply “it didn’t look how I thought it would” you must make returns easy and cheap, if not free.
Invesp found a massive 67% of shoppers will check a business’s return process before making a purchase. Meanwhile, Flow found an average of 71% of consumers are unwilling to pay for returns.
Be mindful then that you need to have a shipping company that understand the importance of making returns as simple as possible.
They won’t just need to know the local area they’re delivering to, but also have two-way International fulfilment centres, that will support you with easy to print off return labels and provide pick-up from the customer directly or nearby.
That will all go a long way to helping a customer’s peace of mind that once they’ve ordered, they’ll be able to return the item for a refund if things aren’t as they hoped, and not only will they buy once, but they’ll also come back again and again.
To find out more about Asendia’s support for a customer friendly returns process, get in touch.
Local cultures and customs
While you could spend some time working out taxes and customs paperwork yourself, this can take a lot of time, so it’s best to have a shipping partner who knows what’s going on to help you with this, especially as rates can change without warning.
You also need to consider the shopping habits of your new overseas customers as they can often be very different to what you may be used to. In Russia, for example, a courier with a clothing delivery will often wait until the customers has tried everything on and will leave with the items that they want to return.
Sometimes they may only pay on delivery too, only paying the courier for the items they keep.
In Saudi Arabia, customers don’t expect to do anything if they are returning an item. They won’t to take a package to a local post office or parcel locker, they’ll expect a courier to pick it up at a time and location convenient to them.
So, make sure you choose an international parcel company that works for you and your customers and ask them the right questions when doing our research.
International mail logistics company Asendia is well rehearsed in all aspects of international shipping, employing 1,500 staff at 35 global locations delivering to 200 countries.
If you simply need to ask a few questions about how to get started or you’re ready to start shipping abroad, get in touch and see how Asendia can help make your eCommerce business global.
To find out more about how Asendia's leading international parcel delivery and returns solution could help your business, get in touch.
