Shipping Policy
A well-thought-out shipping policy not only helps us proactively set the right expectations around shipping times and costs, but it also becomes an asset whenever customers come with questions about our orders.
Our shipping policy is a living document for our business, one that we update and adjust as our operations and circumstances change—especially when the unexpected forces we to adapt.
Whether we’re creating a new shipping
policy from scratch or updating our existing policy to curb customer support inquiries, we’ve put together this resource to help you cover and communicate the right details—with a template to get you started along with examples we can borrow ideas from.
What our shipping policy should include Shipping policy examples :-
- Free shipping policy template
- Where to communicate our shipping policy
- What our shipping policy should include
What we cover in our shipping policy and how we communicate it will be highly dependent on our current business operations and supply chain. The goal is to be transparent with customers.
As 2020 brings unforeseen shipping delays and increased carrier costs, it’s more important than ever to keep your shipping policy up to date with the following key points in mind:
Essential shipping details are easy to find. While it is common practice to keep a link to your shipping policy page in the footer of your website, consider how you can also surface important shipping details in the right place at the right time (e.g. on our product page or website banner).
Clear and concise presentation. Don’t make customers comb through our shipping policy page for the information we need. Whenever possible, make it easy to navigate with clear subheadings, tables, bolded text, and links to learn more.
Order processing times. After an order is placed, how many days will it take to get it ready to ship? It’s worth communicating if we’re excluding weekends and/or holidays, and if we have certain cutoff times for processing orders (e.g. orders received after 5pm will be processed the next business day). If changes occur within our supply chain, due to peak periods or as a result of COVID-19, we should update your processing times to reflect it.
Domestic and international shipping options. What are the qualifying regions for our domestic shipping options? International shipping can be broken down in its own section where we list the countries you ship to and estimated delivery timelines. If we offer several shipping options,we can list them in a table so the information is easy to scan.
Shipping costs. Break down your shipping costs for the customer. If we have a free shipping threshold, we can communicate in various places as an incentive for customers. Any potential surprise fees should be surfaced too, such as duties and taxes the customer may incur.
Local delivery and buy online, pickup in-store. If we offer local shipping options, such as local delivery or buy online, pick up in-store, we can explain the steps customers will need to follow after ordering and clearly communicate our local delivery coverage.
Transparency around returns, changes and cancellations. On top of accommodating returns through a dedicated return policy, we can also summarize how our business evaluates refunds, order edits, exchanges, and what our process is in the event of a lost or damaged order.
Potential service interruptions. Orders may take longer to arrive due to variables outside of our control. our shipping policy page is where ou can communicate approximately how much longer and explain to customers why.
It is not uncommon to update our shipping policy every few months, especially whenever ou add new shipping options or carriers, expand our fulfillment network, or anticipate delays.