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Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Online Shipping Times: What is a Realistic Shipping Time?

I was at dinner with a group of people the other day and we started talking about shopping online and about actual shipping times verses expected shipping times.

Color me an expert at shipping! I've run an eCommerce business full time since 2004 and a couple of years before that part time.

It started with a story from, we'll call him Bob, who placed an order from a major retailer on Saturday evening. He paid for overnight shipping and was furious when his order arrived on Tuesday. He had expected it on Sunday.

Understanding how shipping works will allow you to plan better when you shop online.

Think of the day you actually order as a pre-shipping day.
Your purchase will most likely be processed the next day, unless you placed your order very early in the day (normally noon of the shippers time zone). If you place your order on a Friday, assume it will not physically ship until Monday.

Here at Beachcombers, orders received before noon will ship the same day. This saves you one day of ship time!

The day of actual physical shipping (rather than the day the order is placed) is day zero (shipping day).

The day after the order has physically shipped is day one.

I'll give a couple of examples using the USPS...


Shipping Example #1

Order Placed 2:00pm Tuesday

Tuesday - Pre-Shipping Day
Wednesday - Actual Ship Day (Day Zero)
Thursday - Day One
Friday - Day Two
Saturday - Day Three
Sunday - Delivery Not Available
Monday - Day Four
Tuesday - Day Five

If you ordered overnight shipping (1 day) you should get your package on Thursday.
If you ordered 2 day shipping you should get your package on Friday.
Most domestic packages will arrive Friday, Saturday, or Monday depending on how far the order travels.


Shipping Example #2

Order Placed 3:30pm Friday

Friday - Pre-Shipping Day
Saturday - Pre-Shipping Day
Sunday - Pre-Shipping Day
Monday - Actual Ship Day (Day Zero)
Tuesday - Day One
Wednesday - Day Two
Thursday - Day Three
Friday - Day Four
Saturday - Day Five

If you ordered overnight shipping (1 day) you should get your package on Tuesday.
If you ordered 2 day shipping you should get your package on Wednesday.
Most domestic packages will arrive Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday depending on how far the order travels.


Shipping Example #3 (with EARLY order time)

Order Placed 9:30am Tuesday

Tuesday - Actual Ship Day (Day Zero)
Wednesday - Day One
Thursday - Day Two
Friday - Day Three
Saturday - Day Four
Sunday - Delivery Not Available
Monday - Day Five

If you ordered overnight shipping (1 day) you should get your package on Wednesday.
If you ordered 2 day shipping you should get your package on Thursday.
Most domestic packages will arrive Thursday, Friday, or Saturday depending on how far the order travels.


UPS and FedEx Shipping
Make note, if using UPS or FedEx, they do not offer weekend delivery (except with a very high extra charge), so Saturdays work like Sundays for both UPS and FedEx deliveries. Their expedited services offer the same basic delivery times (1 and 2 day), but standard ground shipping can be 5-10 days.

If you absolutely NEED something by a specific day or time I suggest sending and email or calling the business you are placing the order from to verify their shipping policies.

I hope you found this useful!
Jody

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