Tuesday, March 24, 2015

TrueShip Reviews - ReadyShipper Shipping Software's Multitude of Functions Make it a Winner for Ecommerce



There are more TrueShip reviews appearing on the Internet and that is no small coincidence. With recent studies identifying the importance of shipping and returns in consumer satisfaction and conversion, companies like TrueShip are under closer scrutiny. TrueShip offers ecommerce solutions software that can integrate with some of the most popular marketplaces, shopping carts and carriers. Their subscription based pricing scheme makes their software suite very affordable, what the reviews are looking at is whether affordability translates into an effective and efficient product. With so much at stake in ecommerce, making sure you have the right supporting solutions is vital to the success of your business.

Why not just use the included shipping features of the marketplace or carrier?
Here is the question that many people who are new to online marketplaces always ask. Every marketplace and shopping cart comes with a built in ecommerce shipping feature, as do most of the carriers offer online shipping features too. The problem is that they don't put the information together.

Even if you are only managing one online store, making sure that the time you spend managing your orders and label processing is kept to a minimum, while creating the maximum impact on your ship fulfillment times is essential to creating high conversion. Another aspect that the shopping cart and carriers don't handle as well as a program like ReadyShipper are returns. Being able to guarantee your customers that their online returns will be handled quickly is going to pay off in the long run. ReadyShipper also is a desktop program. That means you can work with your orders from wherever you are. This becomes very important on the ground when you can't connect to the Internet.

What are the TrueShip solution products?
TrueShip is a Scottsdale, Arizona based company that offers full featured ecommerce solutions that will integrate all of your fulfillment operations under one interface. TrueShip reviews have been appearing about the company ever since the launch of ReadyShipper in 2006.

One of the main standout facts about this company is they are solely focused on ecommerce shipping solutions. This isn't a sideline product for them, but their flagship product. They have also created a series of supporting software that can expand ReadyShipper's capability as well.

TrueShip and their ReadyShipper products have received accolades and positive mention from such industry analysts as:
  • Inc.,
  • Internet Retailer,
  • Inbound Logistics,
  • iSource,
  • Modern Materials Handling,
  • Logistics World,
  • and Retail Online Integration.

That says a lot when all the TrueShip reviews are weighing in positively about the company and the product. That can be an important factor in deciding whether or not to go with their product.

Why that is important to you

All of that is important in your consideration of which software you want to use because a company that has been around since 2006, and who only addresses ecommerce shipping needs, is going to be the company that will be there to help you with the product and to issue updates as the industry changes.

Other companies that only have a product line dealing with shipping solutions aren't going to dedicate the resources to supporting their product that TrueShip will. They will also lack the expertise with ecommerce shipping that will inform updates and new releases because it is not their primary focus. With TrueShip, everything begins and ends with shipping – and now there are many marketing studies that support this focus too.

What volume shipping does ReadyShipper handle?

ReadyShipper can handle volumes from a small business, up to high volume shipping needs while also allowing you to take advantage of the volume discounts from the major carriers. The key to working with the carriers isn't that ReadyShipper can produce compatible labels and postage, it lies in the reporting ability ReadyShipper offers that allows you to track volume and negotiate volume prices easily.

What carriers do they work with?

ReadyShipper allows you to work with all of the major carriers, and account and order management systems as well. Many of the systems come pre-installed with the out of the box ReadyShipper program, but it is also easy to add carriers that have a compatible API. The main management systems and carrier services that ReadyShipper integrates with are:

  • OrderMotion
  • LimeLight
  • QuickBooks
  • Monsoon Commerce
  • Channel Advisor
  • AcctVantage ERP
  • CoreSense
  • Stamps.com
  • ReadyReturns
  • UPS
  • Endicia
  • Express1
  • FedEx

ReadyShipper makes it easy to keep your accounts up to date with status and tracking, while also allowing you to integrate the information into your order and accounts programs. TrueShip reviews have tested each of the integrations and rated ReadyShipper high with increased productivity and efficiency. With these carriers installed, you can also access many of their discount programs for volume shipping and digital postage. ReadyShipper's reporting feature lets you analyze your shipping behavior so you can negotiate for better volume discounts too.

How much does it cost?
With all the fanfare about TrueShip's products you would expect the cost of their program and services to be expensive. The opposite is true. One of the things that TrueShip identified as a need in ecommerce was a low-cost, featured shipping management program. Their team was able to see into the future to predict the success of ecommerce to the degree that they didn't have to create a system that was burdensome or expensive.

ReadyShipper is a resource light program that starts with a 14-day free trial, and then continues on with a $29.95 a month subscription. It comes with set marketplaces and shopping cart integrations pre-installed, but you can add to that from their list of compatible APIs for an additional $9.95 per month, per instance.

TrueShip believes that efficiency should be reflected in all of your operations, and purchasing a shipping management program that costs thousands of dollars a year to run because it allows you access to markets you don't even use doesn't make good cost sense. With ReadyShipper, you pay for what you need and that is a part of why they can keep the costs so low.

The TrueShip product line

ReadyShipper is the flagship product for TrueShip, but as all the TrueShip reviews point out, it is really the core of the ecommerce shipping suite products that they offer. Their other three products – ReadyLabels, ReadyReturns and ReadyCloud – all serve to expand the functionality of the ReadyShipper product. Each product is added onto the ReadyShipper service at an additional charge per month for subscription.

In a nutshell, ReadyShipper allows you to ingrate your accounts management software with your ecommerce marketplace accounts, shopping cart accounts and carrier support to streamline your order fulfillment process. It is designed with an interface inspired by the ease of use design of the interface common to Apple products. From box to use, it takes about one hour to learn how to use this product well.

With it, you can:

  • Connect to the most widely used marketplaces and shopping carts;
  • Import orders;
  • Perform order edits;
  • Generate digital postage;
  • Generate shipping labels;
  • Send one-click customer update notifications.

ReadyLabels

The TrueShip ReadyLabels software allows uses to print all-in-one invoices. These can include a comment card, packing list, invoice and peel-and-stick shipping label. While ReadyShipper allows you to do all of this using standard thermal printing, ReadyLabels allows you to use inkjet and laser printers, too.

ReadyReturns

ReadyReturns is a plug in that can be added to almost any store site, allowing customers to manage their own returns easily. It integrates with the ecommerce API, so there is enhanced tracking and processing information available. This is a fully customizable product, allowing you to set the terms and conditions for your item return offers.

ReadyCloud

ReadyCloud offers cloud based reporting that can also serve as a backup to your ReadyShipper installation. Get real time reporting, and real data security, by keeping what you need in the cloud.

Using ReadyShipper – A Case Study

Over 70% of the shoppers said that the cost of shipping was an influential factor, coming in a close second at 50% were the returns policy. The functions and features that ReadyShipper introduces into your fulfillment process are going to allow you to stand out from the crowd.

With thousands of ecommerce stores offering products similar to yours, it takes more than stellar SEO to get your share of the market. You have to be able to deliver your orders in the way your customer wants, and handle any returns, in order to keep your customers and get the kind of reviews that bring in more. Here is a case study of how ReadyShipper can work for a company so you can see how easy it is to make a difference in your bottom line.

Start using it within an hour of installation

For example, let's say that Company A is tapping into the market of restoring classic sneakers. Believe it or not, this is a fast growing fashion service industry. They also have a store of classic sneakers in limited styles that they sell. They have put the money into a solid SEO marketing strategy and are getting the right conversions, but their retention rates aren't that good. In reviewing their customer feedback, they notice that it is the unpredictable ship times and complicated return policy that is turning customers away.

Company A then decides to try ReadyShipper. One problem they already know that they have is that their office is not where their production facility and inventory are located. Production and inventory are in two separate areas, and there is no Internet connection at their inventory point beyond what is available via mobile networks.

Company A chooses to use ReadyShipper, with ReadyLabels, ReadyReturns and ReadyCloud. This gives the office the ability to manage the order and fulfillment information, while the production facility and ship can receiver updated information via a Cloud connection. Both facilities can print the necessary labels and shipping lists on-site that the office has created for them. As ReadyShipper is a desktop application, it is installed in all three locations.

Once the product is installed, each of the managers in the separate facilities spends one hour going over the documentation and watching tutorial videos. The inventory manager calls for phone assistance and learns the features of the program that way. Within one hour of installation, all three have produced their first test labels. By the end of the second day, Company A has tested an order that was processed by the Office and the information uploaded to ReadyCloud and accessed by both facilities.

While the order was being processed, the “customer” contacts the Office and can be given an update on their order immediately based upon the information in ReadyShipper that is kept up-to-date by edits made to the record in ReadyCloud.

The inventory company is also capable of producing a return label that is attached in the system to ReadyReturns, so that if this particular customer has an issue with the order they receive, they go to the same website they ordered it from, enter in their order information in the ReadyReturns widget and have an immediate shipping label produced for the return. That information then gets updated in ReadyShipper so both Office and Inventory can make adjustments to their records.

That is a process that without an integrated ecommerce shipping program would entail endless emails and phone calls, complete with the lag time associated with each step. The old way leaves customers hesitant to order again, and their comments may dissuade potential customers from ordering. The new way, as many of the TrueShip reviews found when testing out similar scenarios, impresses customers and increases conversion and retention.

With ReadyShipper in place you now have a digital solution that automates and integrates:

  • Order receiving;
  • Billing;
  • Packing lists;
  • Shipping lists;
  • Label generation;
  • Return label generation;
  • Returns management;
  • Inventory control.

Digital solutions use an API to provide this connection between all of your input fields across different interfaces from the order form to inventory to shipping, which then unites the information in one manageable format. This speeds fulfillment, but increases the accuracy of fulfillment and the ability of your team to respond to customer inquiries, issues complaints and returns.

Where can you use TrueShip products?

One thing that all the TrueShip Reviews point towards as being the effective edge the company has over its competitions are the partners it can count on in its roster of integrated platforms.

These partners include some of the top names in ecommerce business, such as:

  • WooCommerce
  • Shopify
  • Amazon
  • Volusion
  • Ebay
  • Network Solutions
  • 3dcart
  • Yahoo
  • ReadyShipper also integrates with other major ecommerce sites such as Rakuten, Shopsite, PayPal, BigCommerce, Magento, Etsy and New Egg.

The benefit of using ReadyShipper with these ecommerce solutions is it can give you a way to manage your orders online and offline, provides full API integration so you can import and export data, provide customers with increased speed in notifications and feedback, plus process shipping lists, labels and return orders too.

Labels, documentation and discounts
The main feature of ReadyShipper is the ability to create shipping lists and labels based upon the information imported from your integrated marketplace or shopping cart. You can print labels using any thermal printer, as well as digital postage, direct from the ReadyShipper software.

With ReadyLabels, you also gain the ability to print all in one labels. These can include shipping lists, packing lists, a perforated comment card and a peel-off 4” x 6” label. Using any of the TrueShip programs is made easy by their well organized and concise documentation. There are printable instructions. Online FAQs, tutorial videos and live support help you with every aspect of the program.

One thing that you will want to explore with your ReadyShipper suite is how it opens the doors to accessing discounts for shipping with the major carriers. Discounts can arrive from the use of digital postage services, accessing volume discounts with shippers, and through being able to automate your in-house shipping process. With ReadyShipper, maximizing the discounts available with flat rate shipping is made easy too.

Summary findings TrueShip and ReadyShipper

Just as all the rest of the TrueShip reviews have discovered, we find nothing bad to say about the product or the company. In fact, in a 5 day test using an eBay store, the software made such a difference in our experience that we willingly give it a 5 star rating.

There are several high lights of this review to be reminded of:

  • Shipping and returns are one of the most influential factors on your customer service satisfaction and conversion rates.
  • The software is designed to be easy to use.
  • There is full documentation support, and that is backed up with live email and phone support too.
  • This is a desktop application, not a web or cloud based one, which means no risk of downtime for you.

ReadyShipper makes it easy to streamline your shipping operations and it is customizable. This makes it appropriate for all ecommerce merchants no matter what volume you have. Better still, ReadyShipper can grow with you as your volume increases without costing you anymore. With a 14 day free trial and affordable monthly subscription rate, this is the only ecommerce shipping solution that you need.