As one of the most user-friendly website builders on the market, Wix’s popularity in direct-to-consumer brands is no surprise. With this brand, businesses can easily create their online stores, with over 500 designer-made stores and template options. Users can also customize their store from product pages to checkout.
However, while Wix is great before any e-commerce business launches its shop in it, it is essential to be prepared and have a shipping strategy in place before the orders start coming in. If you are wondering how you can streamline this aspect, then you have landed on the right page. Through this article, we will help you understand how you can easily streamline your Wix shipping and fulfillment strategy.
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Part 1. Wix Shipping Explained
Those who haven’t heard of Wix before might be confused. Well, if you are someone who heard about the service for the first time, then let us give you an insight into it. The go-to web creation platform offers businesses a complete suite of tools to build, manage, and grow their online presence with ease and confidence.
One can choose to start from scratch or use the designer-made template that the service offers. With the built-in business solutions and marketing tools, one can run and promote their businesses all from one platform.
Part 2. Wix Shipping Options
There are several different ways that online merchants can choose when shipping with Wix. If you are someone who wants to know about some of the best ones, then worry not because we have listed some of the exceptional ones here for you:
Inhouse shipping
Inhouse shipping is a great option for businesses that are starting out new, as it can help them keep their logistics costs low until they have gained a steady revenue in their line of business. However, this aspect also means that you will have to spend valuable time reviewing your shipping settings, along with added time packing boxes and waiting in line at the postal service.
Wix Shipping Apps
If any e-commerce merchant is looking for a more advanced solution, Wix App Market is for you. This shipping option offers e-commerce merchants a wide range of integrations and applications that together help the users automate the shipping and fulfillment process. Hence, one can easily spend less time on printing labels and shipping orders through this.
Partner with 3PL
Many e-commerce businesses also want to partner with 3PL services when they see a rise in their monthly order volume. This is because when these businesses partner with reliable and scalable logistics service providers, they eventually eliminate time-consuming fulfillment from their plates.
When an online merchant chooses the right 3PL service partner, they can avail themselves of a built-in integration with Wix. This would give them a stronger and growing fulfillment center network, which allows them to split inventory as they grow.
Part 3. How to Set up Wix Shipping
When it comes to setting up shipping, pickup, or even delivery for their e-commerce businesses, there are times when online merchants and e-commerce business owners can get confused. However, with the proper steps, this job can become a pretty streamlined process. Here is what you need to do when setting up Wix Shipping:
Set Up Shipping Regions
The Wix Stores have two regions already added to their main interface by default. These regions include one for your own country—the Domestic region—and one for the rest of the world—the international area. Both of these default regions offer free shipping. However, this is your starting point, and hence, the company gives e-commerce businesses full liberty in deciding which countries—or areas within those countries—they want to ship to.
To set up your regions, you have to:
- Go to the Shipping and Fulfillment settings on the website dashboard.
- Choose which regions you want to sip to, and then follow the commands and instructions that come up.
Set Up Shipping Options
Now that you have your regions all set up, it is time to set the shipping rates you want to charge. Although all the set areas would have free shipping by default, you can change it in the shipping option section. You can start by selecting one region and choosing the shipping rule that you believe would work best for that particular region, all while taking into consideration the type of products that you sell.
In order to set up the shipping options, follow the steps below:
- Go to the Shipping and Fulfilment settings on your website’s dashboard.
- Now, click on the Edit Shipping Rule.
- Select a rule from the drop-down menu, such as free shipping, flat rate, rate by weight, etc.
Offer Local Delivery
E-commerce merchants can also opt for the local delivery option to provide hand delivery in their region. To set it up, select a region, click on + Add Local Delivery, and define the delivery area.
In this delivery option, businesses can choose whether to deliver within a specific time frame (e.g., 1-2 business days) or allow customers to select which day they would prefer to receive the order.
Offer Local Pickup
In the local pickup section, e-commerce businesses can allow their local customers to pick up orders in person from one or more of their physical locations. When setting it up, you will have to click on Local Pickup.
Part 4. How to Integrate Wix Shipping with 3PL
We mentioned above that many users also choose to partner with a 3PL service when it comes to Wix Shipping because of how it brings fulfillment processing off their shoulders. If you are someone who is wondering how they can do the same and are in search of a great 3PL service provider, then look no further. NextSmartShip is one name that you should definitely give a try, and here is how you can integrate this shipping service as a 3PL when shipping with Wix:
Search Apps on the Wix App Market
Sign up for NextSmartship and fill out your basic information. Now, click on ‘sign up’ in the next step and complete the information about your online store. Now, choose the Wix App Market to integrate with your online store
Add NextSmartShip App to your Site
When you add Wix App Market to NextSmartShip, the products and orders will automatically synchronize with your website. You can also search for the NextSmartShip application on the Wix website and add the app to your site.
Log in to OMS and Start Fulfilling the Order
When the synchronization is done, using NextSmartShip as a 3PL for Wix Shipping will become much easier, and e-commerce businesses will find this aspect much more convenient. After this, users should log in to their OMS and start the fulfillment and order processing.
Conclusion
Wix is an exceptional e-commerce platform that helps merchants keep their stores up and running well. However, once the product sale threshold starts rising, one must be prepared to ship their orders more affordably and quickly, especially if they plan to grow their business online in the future. In such cases, NextSmartShip can work wonders. Partnering with this 3PL service would provide exceptional benefits and is one direction that online merchants should incline toward.
