ECommerce is booming—more than 33% of the population is shopping online, and the industry is expected to surpass $8 trillion by 2027. The Pitney Bowes US Parcel Shipping Index noted that, on average, 165 parcels were shipped per household in 2023. Today’s consumers expect personalized shipping experiences, from same-day delivery to sustainable packaging options and carrier preferences.
In the US, it is predicted that 21% of shopping will happen online this year, and online shopping will continue to increase to 22.6% within the next two years. With growth comes complexity. Selling on multiple platforms like Amazon, Shopify and direct-to-consumer (DTC) unlocks new revenue streams, but creates logistical challenges that can slow down fulfillment and eat into profits.
If you’re selling across multiple online channels, there’s a better way to manage your orders in one place. With ShipAccel, retailers can integrate fulfillment operations into a single, AI-powered dashboard, enabling them to optimize processes, reduce costs, and enhance the customer experience.
Key challenges of scaling an eCommerce business
As online sellers expand, they face several fulfillment hurdles:
- Fluctuating order volumes due to seasonal peaks, promotions, and high-volume shopping periods.
- High shipping costs from carrier rate adjustments and surcharges.
- Manual inefficiencies that slow down fulfillment and increase errors.
- Managing multiple sales channels, each with different shipping policies and customer expectations.
In a 2024 survey, 23% of consumers stated that slow delivery times caused cart abandonment. Operations managers need to find the right balance of cost and speed to keep up with demand. Globally, 2.71 billion people shop online, with an expected rise to 2.77 billion by the end of 2025. To reduce costs, retailers need to navigate fulfillment challenges across multiple sales channels.
In 2023, carrier revenue in the US reached $197.9 billion, underscoring the increasing financial burden for retailers looking to scale. While major carriers continue to adjust pricing structures, leading to higher delivery costs, retailers selling across multiple channels need to coordinate different shipping policies, carrier preferences, and consumer expectations for each marketplace.
To help online sellers tackle this challenge, ShipAccel can seamlessly integrate with multiple marketplaces, warehouse management systems, and enterprise resource management systems to streamline operations.
The multichannel integration allows online sellers to:
- Consolidate orders from Amazon, Shopify, WooCommerce, eBay, Wix, Magento, TikTok, BigCommerce and more into one dashboard to avoid fulfillment delays.
- Use AI technology to dynamically select the best carrier based on platform requirements or set preferences.
- Automate carrier compliance and labeling to prevent penalties.
- Enhance efficiency by integrating WMS and ERP and automate shipping processes.
Why personalization matters in eCommerce fulfillment
Today’s consumers want more than just fast shipping—they expect customized delivery options at checkout, preferred carrier selection, and real-time tracking updates.
AI-powered solutions enable online sellers to offer multiple delivery options at checkout, from same-day, two-day, express or free shipping, recommend the best carrier per customer preference and provide real-time order tracking with personalized status updates for the consumer.
ShipAccel’s flexible solutions assist with these added pressures, offering eCommerce brands ways to scale efficiently and sustainably while ensuring the customer has a positive shopping experience.
Personalization matters. 71% of consumers expect personalized experiences from brands they shop from, and 73% of consumers state that the overall shopping experience is an important factor in their purchase decisions, leading to brand loyalty. Having transparent and reliable delivery influences customer loyalty because it directly impacts the shopping experience. A seller who consistently meets delivery promises demonstrates reliability and efficiency, both of which are crucial for building trust and creating repeat business.
How ShipAccel’s AI-driven solutions help retailers scale
Scaling an eCommerce business comes with challenges. Statistics show that only 10% of eCommerce retailers succeed, with a large majority failing within the first six months. Common downfalls associated with growth include inaccurate inventory management, unexpected costs, and limited expansion opportunities. Retailers must find solutions that adapt to their needs while leveraging the power of AI to reduce inefficiencies and improve workflows.
ECommerce brands and retailers benefit from a unified platform that offers solutions to expand across multiple selling channels and reduce complexities.
ShipAccel simplifies the operational logistics of scaling:
- Integrate seamlessly with Amazon, Shopify, Walmart and DTC product orders.
- AI-driven personalization with custom delivery options.
- Automated carrier selection to meet platform requirements and guideline compliance.
- Unified, real-time tracking and visualization across FedEx, UPS, USPS and regional carriers.
- Customized returns communications for an end-to-end branded experience.
- Customized shipping labels to meet the preferences and needs of a specific audience.
- Smart fulfillment routing to optimize shipping speed and cost.
- Visualization of frequent shipping destinations for future warehouse expansion.
- Advanced analytics for strategic decision-making and operational improvement.
The future of scalable eCommerce shipping
ECommerce sales in the US have skyrocketed—from $260.4 billion in 2013 to $1.2 trillion in 2023—and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. The brands that master multichannel fulfillment while offering a personalized, data-driven shipping experience will win in the long run.
AI-powered shipping solutions will continue to revolutionize eCommerce by:
- Enhancing automation and minimizing manual errors.
- Streamlining multiplatform order management.
- Reducing operational costs and optimizing delivery strategies.
Why ShipAccel is the right partner for growth
With over 24 million eCommerce stores worldwide, competition is fierce. To scale successfully, online sellers need flexible, intelligent shipping solutions tailored to their business needs.
ShipAccel is designed to make the process of scaling your brand seamless.
Discover how ShipAccel can streamline your eCommerce fulfillment. Schedule a demo today.