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For most of your customers, fast shipping is no longer a perk. Because of the increasing popularity of fast shipping options such as Amazon Prime, North American consumers expect to receive their orders within two days whenever they shop online.
And when giants like Amazon deliver their products within two days, offering overnight shipping in Canada can help small businesses become more competitive by providing premium shipping experiences for their customers.
In this article, we’re going to examine the different types of overnight shipping, how much they cost, and the cheapest ways to deliver your products overnight. Read on to find out more.
Standard overnight shipping, also called next-day delivery or one-day shipping, is one of the fastest delivery services offered by courier companies.
This service guarantees that your customers will receive their products the following business day after they place their order.
Couriers that offer overnight delivery use daily cutoff times. Orders placed after the cutoff times will most likely need an extra business day to reach their destination.
For your customers, overnight delivery is nothing short of magic. They see a product they like on your website, they buy it, and they receive it the next day. But, as you can imagine, the process behind the scenes has nothing to do with magic and everything to do with logistics. Let’s break down the logistic process.
When the customer places the order before the courier’s cutoff time, your team has enough time to find the product in your warehouse and pack it for delivery.
The shipping company collects the package, sorts it, and routes it accordingly.
After receiving the package, the shipping company delivers it overnight to a hub that’s close to your customer’s location using ground or air shipping, depending on the distance.
A courier picks the package up from the hub and delivers it to your customer during the next business day.
Overnight shipping is better than other shipping options because it helps your business stand out from the competition. When you include overnight shipping in your delivery options, you’re creating a premium post-purchase experience for your customers.
That’s because online shoppers appreciate speedy deliveries. In 2018, 25% of online shoppers canceled their orders because the delivery was not fast enough. 53% of shoppers consider speed of delivery as the second most important factor when ordering online, after the availability of free shipping options.
Overnight shipping costs differ from one shipping company to another, but the cost is always influenced by a number of factors, including weight, size, delivery zones, and carrier agreements.
Packages cost more to ship than envelopes, and heavier packages cost more than lighter ones. However, the weight of the package is only important if it’s larger than its dimensional weight.
Carriers use the package’s dimensions to calculate its dimensional weight. Dimensional weight, also known as DIM weight, is the result of the package’s length multiplied by its width and height, and then divided by a number called DIM divisor.
Shipping companies calculate the overnight shipping rate based on the greater number - that of the package’s actual weight, or that of its DIM weight.
Carriers use shipping zones to determine how much to charge based on the distance between your warehouse and the customer’s location.
Here’s where you can read more about FedEx’s pickup and delivery charge tiers for Canada. And here’s where you can find out more about UPS’s Canadian zones and rates.
The final cost of your overnight shipping is also based on the agreement between you and the carrier. Some carriers may offer discounts for small businesses shipping or those that have high shipping volumes.
When you create a Ship Expert account, you get affordable shipping rates with volume discounts normally reserved for high-volume businesses, no matter how many packages you ship.
You can send overnight packages with Canada Post, FedEx, and UPS. Let’s take a look at how much it would cost to ship a small 6 in x 6 in x 6 in a package that weighs 2 lbs from Toronto, Ontario to Edmonton, Alberta.
Shipping a 6x6x6 package that weighs 2 lbs with Canada Post’s Priority service would cost about $55 without insurance.
Shipping the same package over the same distance with FedEx’s Priority Overnight would cost around $76 without insurance.
Shipping the same package with UPS’s Express Early would cost about $73 without insurance.
Canada Post offers the cheapest overnight shipping service available in Canada. However, due to the long distances between Canadian cities and towns, Canada Post does not guarantee overnight delivery for long-distance deliveries.
Most courier companies that offer overnight delivery provide similar services, albeit at slightly different rates. Your final shipping rate will depend on the package’s DIM weight, true weight, as well as the additional services you book for the shipment, such as
If you want to make sure that your products reach your customers in a safe and timely manner, the first thing you should focus on is making sure that they’re properly packaged. Find fitting boxes and use dunnage to make sure that your products won’t move during the delivery.
Once your packages are ready, you should deliver them to the post office or schedule the pick-up before the shipping company’s cutoff time. Otherwise, the packages will not reach their destination on the following day.
If you want to offer overnight shipping as a delivery option, you should first make sure that your team is capable of finding and packing your products in a timely manner. This will help you ship the packages before the carriers’ cutoff time.
Another thing to consider is finding cheap overnight shipping service providers. Ship Expert can help you with that. Use Ship Expert’s calculator to find the cheapest shipping option for every package. And when you ship your products with Ship Expert, you access volume discounts and package insurances that will help you keep your costs low and your customers happy.
While overnight shipping is a more expensive delivery option, it’s also a people pleaser. Offering overnight delivery can help your business become more competitive and improve your customers’ post-purchase experience.
Director, Ship Expert
Greg Woo is a seasoned expert in the logistics and distribution industry, with a career spanning over two decades. He has a comprehensive understanding of shipping and distribution needs, and has extensive experience integrating with e-commerce stores as well as customer specific WMS (warehouse management systems) and ERP’s (enterprise resource planning software). His tenure in the industry and established courier and LTL partnerships have allowed clients to benefit from reduced shipping expenses, as well as improved operations through software and specialized integrations.
Greg is currently the Director at Ship Expert Inc., a role he has held since February 2015. Prior to his role at Ship Expert, Greg held significant positions at Juxto, a telecommunications and managed internet service provider.
