As your business grows, shipping often becomes more complex. It’s a great problem to have because it means orders are pouring in. But it’s critical to invest in streamlining your shipping process.
There’s a wide variety of shipping apps, so how do you choose? We break down what to look for and give you our top five recommendations.
What to look for in a shipping app
Features and Services: Any shipping app will cover basics like label printing. But great apps have special advantages like fulfillment services or international courier integration. Determine what key features and services would best benefit your business.
Compatibility: Does the shipping app integrate with your e-commerce or sales platforms? Integration streamlines your process, saves time, and prevents aggravation.
Cost: Which shipping apps have plans within your budget? Does the company offer a free trial of their paid plan?
Also, consider billing options. If you only ship seasonally, consider a free plan or a pay-as-you-go plan.
Top 5 Shipping Apps
To help get you started, we’ve compiled a list of our five favorite shipping apps.* We’ve categorized them by benefits so you can find the best fit.
*Note: Unless otherwise stated, plan fees do not include the cost of packaging and slips.
Best Apps with Free Plans
Shippo
Shippo makes it easy to compare carrier rates and connect to a carrier.. Once you choose a carrier, print the labels, and you’re good to go. When packages ship, Shippo sends you and your customers tracking and delivery notifications. It can also generate return labels and sync orders with multiple channels, including Etsy, Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and more.
Cost: Shippo offers three plans. The Starter plan has limited features and is free if you use Shippo’s default carriers. Using the Starter plan with your own carrier costs an additional $0.05 per package.
For those with higher shipping demands, the Professional tier runs from $10/month for 60 labels up to $200/month for up to 10,000 labels. This plan has five user accounts, branded customer experience, and automations.
If you are looking for an enterprise solution, contact their sales team.
Easyship
Easyship prioritizes global shipping options. They integrate with many international couriers and will even calculate your tax and duty costs and prepare your customs paperwork. You also gain access to their global network of 3PL partners.
Other features include the option to show couriers and delivery times at checkout, create branded shipment pages and emails, schedule pickups, monitor finances, and integrate with e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, BigCommerce, Shopify, and Magento.
Cost: They have three plans, as well as the option to contact them about an Enterprise plan. Their free plan allows 100 shipments and one user. It also has some feature restrictions, including the inability to connect to your carrier account, no automatic order sync, and no pre-generated return labels.
Easyship’s Plus plan ($29/month) and Premier plan ($49/month) offer 30-day free trials and increase the number of shipments and users. Either plan provides access to branded tracking and automatic order sync. The Premier plan also includes multi-box shipments and progenerated return labels.
Best Mid-Range App: ShipStation
ShipStation is a well-rounded shipping app that lets you import your orders, manage inventory, and print shipping labels in bulk. It can automatically print return labels and create branded packing slips and tracking pages.
ShipStation has a mobile app to track and manage your shipments. And it integrates with multiple order sources and shipping carriers, but using the platform is a separate charge.
Cost: ShipStation offers a 30-day free trial. The Starter tier includes one user and 50 shipments for $9/month.
The tiers increase from there, ending with their Enterprise tier. For $159/month, subscribers get 10 users and 10,000 shipments.
Most Advanced Shipping Features: Ordoro
Ordoro is a great option for businesses looking for a full suite of advanced features. Beyond label printing and tracking, Ordoro offers branded labels, a barcode scanner modal for the pick and pack process, customer notes, automation options, analytics, multi-channel and multi-inventory sync, dropshipping options, and more.
Cost: Ordoro has three plan options. Express, their most affordable option, has a 15-day free trial. After the free trial, prices start at $59/month, including automation options, barcode scanning, shipping presets, and discounted USPS rates.
The Pro plan starts at $499/month and offers return label creation, inventory tracking, dropshipping options, and supply management options.
Ordero offers Enterprise plan options beginning at $999/month.
Full-Suite Shipping & Warehouse Software: ShipHero
ShipHero is perfect for businesses looking for a shipping app that provides warehouse management or fulfillment. Its shipping software integrates with many platforms, including Shopify and Amazon. You’ll have access to order and inventory tracking, shipment notifications, location management, barcode scanning, and automation rules such as smart warehouse routing.
ShipHero’s other standout feature is its fulfillment services. ShipHero’s seven North American warehouses can store, pick, pack, and distribute products.
Cost: Shipping and warehouse management is available in three tiers. The bottom tier starts at $499 and includes all of their base features. For $1,850, you’ll gain access to lot and expiration dates and warehouse routing. For their Enterprise tier, contact their sales team.
Fulfillment pricing includes everything from receiving the package to shipping and postage. The complete pricing table is available on their pricing page. For reference, a two lb. package that’s 6 x 6 x 8 inches costs $10.27.
The Perfect Apps for your Business
As you’re growing your business, the sales and shipping apps you choose make a world of difference. The right tools will help you increase sales, streamline operations, and improve customer satisfaction.
Now that you’ve got your shipping app covered, check Brandboom’s powerful sales platform. Increase your sales with amazing line sheets. Streamline your workflow with seamless order management, invoicing, and more.
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