Navigating the complexities of ecommerce shipping can be a daunting task for any online business, but with the right tools, it can become a seamless and even enjoyable part of your operation.
Enter ShipperHQ, a dynamic shipping management platform that’s revolutionizing the way ecommerce businesses handle their shipping needs. From real-time rate calculations and multi-origin shipping to handling special requirements for perishable goods, ShipperHQ stands out as a comprehensive solution.
This article delves into the intricacies of ShipperHQ, exploring its myriad features and capabilities, and how it can transform your shipping process into an asset that drives customer satisfaction and business growth.
Whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, understanding the power of ShipperHQ could be the key to unlocking your ecommerce potential.
Read further to learn more about ShipperHQ, in our review we will detail its features, pros and cons with our rating, and a conclusion about why you should use it.
Click on “open” if you want to see exactly what we will talk about in the rest of this article.
Overview
What is ShipperHQ?
ShipperHQ is an ecommerce shipping software designed to enhance the checkout experience for online retailers and their customers. It integrates with various ecommerce platforms like Adobe, BigCommerce, Magento, Shopify, and others, offering a top-of-funnel solution that connects these platforms to carriers and logistics services.
The software specializes in providing customized shipping rates, pickup and delivery options, and transparent delivery times, aiming to increase conversions by addressing common issues like cart abandonment.
ShipperHQ also supports complex shipping needs, such as dealing with perishables or products with specific shipping restrictions, and offers integration with over 50 carriers worldwide.
Its focus is on improving operational efficiency and customer satisfaction by offering a transparent and streamlined shipping process, which is crucial for ecommerce success.
ShipperHQ specifications
Features | Address verification / Checkout / Discounted Shipping Rates / International Shipping / Pickup Management / Product Page Shipping Calculator / Rates comparison / Shipping Insights / Shipping Rules / eCommerce Integrations |
Best suited for | Small businesses, Mid size businesses, Large enterprises |
Website languages | English |
Website URL | Visit official website |
Support link | Support page |
Live chat | No |
Company address | 4801 Southwest Parkway, Building 2, Ste 240, Austin, TX 78735, US |
Year founded | 2008 |
Pricing
ShipperHQ pricing: How much does ShipperHQ cost?
Pricing range | From $75 to $600 per month |
Pricing types | Monthly subscription |
Free plan | No |
Free trial | Yes, 15 days |
Money back guarantee | No |
Pricing page link | See plans |
ShipperHQ pricing plans
ShipperHQ offers a range of pricing plans tailored to different business needs. Here’s a detailed breakdown of each plan:
Essentials
- Price: $75/month
- Carriers: 2
- Shipping Rules: 5
- Advanced Features: 1
- Monthly Rate Requests: 2,000
- Support: Basic
Starter
- Price: $200/month
- Carriers: 4
- Shipping Rules: 30
- Advanced Features: 2
- Monthly Rate Requests: 5,000
- Support: Priority
Standard
- Price: $350/month
- Carriers: 6
- Shipping Rules: 50
- Advanced Features: 3
- Monthly Rate Requests: 10,000
- Support: Priority (email/chat/phone), Configuration assistance
Advanced
- Price: $600/month
- Carriers: 8
- Shipping Rules: 100
- Advanced Features: 4
- Monthly Rate Requests: 20,000
- Support: Dedicated, Configuration assistance
Enterprise
- Carriers: Unlimited
- Shipping Rules: Unlimited
- Monthly Shipping Requests: Custom limit
- Support Services: Dedicated
- Advanced Features: Unlimited
- Dimensional Packing: Unlimited Boxes
- In-Store Pickup: Unlimited Locations
- Multi-Origin Shipping: Unlimited Origins
Additional Features Across Plans:
- Dimensional Packing: Varies from 5 to 200 boxes, depending on the plan.
- In-Store Pickup: Ranges from 1 to 20 locations, based on the selected plan.
- LTL Freight, Rate Shopping & Custom Method Names, Backup Carrier Rates, Dynamic Address Type Lookup, Delivery Date & Time are included.
- Shipping Insights and Landed Cost Engine are available in higher-tier plans.
- API Access and Enhanced Checkout are offered as add-ons.
Each plan is designed to cater to businesses of varying sizes and shipping complexities, offering a scalable solution as the business grows.
Features
ShipperHQ features: What can you do with it?
Diving into the features of ShipperHQ, we uncover the elements that make it an indispensable tool for ecommerce businesses.
Each feature is meticulously designed to address specific shipping challenges, from the flexibility of in-store pickups and multi-origin shipping to the precision of LTL Freight and Address Validation.
This section will explore how these features not only simplify the logistics of shipping but also contribute to a more satisfying and seamless customer journey, ultimately leading to higher conversion rates and customer loyalty.
Delivery Date & Time
The Delivery Date & Time feature in ShipperHQ enhances the ecommerce experience by providing customers with clear and accurate information about when their orders will arrive. This feature is particularly important in today’s fast-paced ecommerce environment, where delivery speed and accuracy are key factors in customer satisfaction.
Businesses can set blackout dates, holidays, and store closures to ensure that delivery dates are realistic and achievable. This level of customization helps avoid customer disappointment and builds trust in the brand.
The feature also allows for the setting of maximum transit times, lead times, and cutoff times, which is especially useful for perishable goods or time-sensitive items. Customers appreciate the ability to select future delivery dates and times, giving them control over when they receive their orders.
This flexibility is a significant factor in improving the customer experience and can lead to higher conversion rates.
The Delivery Date & Time feature is available on several major ecommerce platforms, including Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, Shopify Plus, and Magento, and supports integration with major carriers like UPS, FedEx, and USPS.
Dimensional Packing
Dimensional Packing in ShipperHQ is a critical feature for ecommerce businesses that need to calculate shipping rates accurately. This feature automatically determines the most efficient packing configuration for any combination of products in a customer’s cart.
By creating custom packing rules, businesses can address the unique shipping needs of different products or product groups, ensuring that each item is packed in the most appropriate manner.
This includes the ability to set different box sizes and types for different carriers and products, which is particularly useful for businesses that ship a wide range of items. The support for multi-package products and the option to ship items separately provide additional flexibility, catering to various shipping scenarios.
Dimensional Packing also allows for the addition of box and pallet packing weight and padding, as well as per-box surcharges, ensuring that shipping costs are calculated with a high degree of accuracy.
This feature is invaluable for businesses that ship oversized or bulky products, as it helps to avoid undercharging or overcharging for shipping, maintaining profitability while ensuring customer satisfaction.
Enhanced Checkout
Enhanced Checkout in ShipperHQ significantly elevates the online shopping experience by offering a highly customizable and user-friendly interface for shipping and delivery options. This feature is designed to convert casual site visitors into repeat customers by providing them with a seamless and intuitive checkout process.
It includes advanced functionalities like split shipping, which allows customers to ship different items in their order to multiple addresses, and mixed fulfillment, enabling a combination of shipping methods within a single order.
The date and time slot selectors empower customers to choose delivery or pickup times that best suit their schedule, enhancing convenience and satisfaction.
Additionally, Enhanced Checkout integrates with Google Maps, providing customers with accurate and detailed information about pickup locations, including store hours and contact details.
This feature also displays custom shipping rates and delivery dates for each item in the cart, taking into account their specific shipping origin and grouping. Post-purchase, customers have access to detailed shipping and packing information, adding transparency and trust to the buying process.
Enhanced Checkout is particularly beneficial for enterprise merchants using platforms like Adobe Commerce, Magento, Shopify Plus, and BigCommerce, although some functionalities may vary across platforms.
In-Store Pickup
In-Store Pickup by ShipperHQ is a response to the increasing preference for online shopping with the convenience of local pickup.
This feature enhances the customer experience by displaying pickup locations within a specified distance radius, making it easier for customers to find the nearest available pickup point.
It integrates seamlessly with Google Maps API, providing customers with an interactive map to locate pickup locations, complete with store hours and contact information. This integration not only adds a visual element to the shopping experience but also aids in accurate and efficient location selection.
Customers have the flexibility to choose pickup dates and times, aligning with their convenience and schedule. This level of control is particularly beneficial for customers who prefer planning their pickups around their daily routines.
The feature is adaptable for various ecommerce platforms, including Adobe Commerce and Magento, and is a valuable addition for retailers offering a hybrid of online and physical store experiences.
By implementing In-Store Pickup, businesses can cater to the growing trend of BOPIS (Buy Online, Pickup In Store), potentially increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Shipping Rules
Shipping Rules in ShipperHQ are a powerful tool for ecommerce businesses, offering unparalleled control over shipping rates and options presented at checkout. This feature enables businesses to tailor their shipping strategy to specific scenarios, such as geographic location, product type, order value, and package weight.
Users can easily adjust live or custom shipping rates, applying surcharges or discounts as needed. This flexibility is crucial for running targeted promotions, offering free shipping under certain conditions, or implementing time-sensitive shipping deals.
Additionally, Shipping Rules can restrict shipping methods for particular products or locations, ensuring compliance with shipping regulations or logistical constraints.
This feature is instrumental in creating a customized checkout experience that aligns with the business’s unique shipping policies and customer expectations. By leveraging Shipping Rules, businesses can optimize their shipping strategy, enhance customer satisfaction, and potentially increase conversion rates.
Product Page Shipping Calculator
The Product Page Shipping Calculator is a feature in ShipperHQ designed to address a common challenge in ecommerce: cart abandonment due to shipping cost uncertainties. This calculator allows customers to see estimated shipping rates and delivery dates directly on the product page, before they proceed to checkout.
By entering their zip code, state, or country, customers can receive tailored shipping information, making the buying process more transparent and trustworthy.
This feature integrates seamlessly with ShipperHQ’s existing configurations, such as Shipping Rules and Delivery Date & Time, ensuring that the rates and dates displayed are accurate and specific to each product.
The customization aspect of this calculator is a significant advantage, as it caters to the unique shipping needs and preferences of different customers. This upfront transparency in shipping costs and delivery times can significantly reduce cart abandonment, as customers are more likely to complete a purchase when they have all the necessary information beforehand.
The Product Page Shipping Calculator is an essential tool for ecommerce businesses aiming to enhance customer experience, increase conversion rates, and build customer confidence in their brand.
Shipping Insights
Shipping Insights in ShipperHQ bridges the gap between the checkout experience and post-order fulfillment, providing businesses with critical insights into their shipping operations. This feature offers a comprehensive view of how orders are packed and shipped, enabling businesses to replicate efficient packing strategies during fulfillment.
Shipping Insights provides detailed information on various aspects of shipping, including dispatch dates, carrier methods, packing strategies, and comprehensive cost breakdowns. This includes detailed information on fees and LTL (Less Than Truckload) shipping details, which are particularly important for businesses shipping large or bulky items.
By having access to this data, businesses can make informed decisions to improve their shipping margins and optimize their fulfillment processes. Additionally, Shipping Insights offers a detailed overview of multi-origin order fulfillment, providing valuable information on box sizes, packaging materials, and shipping origins.
This level of detail is crucial for businesses managing shipments from multiple warehouses or distribution centers, ensuring that each order is fulfilled in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.
Multi-Origin Shipping
Multi-Origin Shipping is an essential feature for businesses operating from multiple warehouses or distribution centers. This feature intelligently calculates shipping rates based on the nearest warehouse to each product in a customer’s order.
It allows for the assignment of different carriers for each shipping origin, adding flexibility and efficiency to the shipping process. By defining specific service areas for each origin, businesses can optimize their shipping strategies, ensuring that customers receive their orders in the most efficient manner.
This feature also includes the capability to rate shipments from the origin closest to the customer if the same products are available at multiple locations. This not only reduces shipping costs but also minimizes delivery times, enhancing customer satisfaction.
Multi-Origin Shipping is particularly beneficial for larger ecommerce operations that manage a diverse range of products across various locations, helping to streamline their logistics and improve overall operational efficiency.
LTL Freight
LTL (Less Than Truckload) Freight in ShipperHQ is a specialized feature designed for the shipping of heavy or oversized goods. It provides instant freight rates at checkout, simplifying the process for both the retailer and the customer.
This feature supports a wide range of over 30 LTL carriers and third-party logistics providers, offering a broad spectrum of shipping options. By assigning freight classes to products or shipping groups, ShipperHQ ensures accurate and fair pricing for LTL shipments.
One of the key benefits of this feature is its ability to automatically include accessorial freight charges, such as liftgate services, inside delivery, and white glove services.
This ensures that all potential costs are transparent and accounted for at the point of checkout, avoiding unexpected charges later in the shipping process. LTL Freight is a valuable tool for businesses dealing with large, bulky, or heavy items, providing a streamlined solution for a traditionally complex shipping scenario.
Address Validation
Address Validation is a crucial feature in ShipperHQ that enhances accuracy in shipping and billing. It works in tandem with major carriers like UPS and FedEx to validate customer addresses in the United States.
This validation process is vital for ensuring that shipments are sent to correct and deliverable addresses, reducing the risk of failed deliveries and returns.
By accurately distinguishing between residential and commercial addresses, the feature helps in applying the appropriate shipping fees, avoiding unnecessary surcharges that can occur with incorrect address types. This is particularly important for businesses as it protects profit margins and reduces the likelihood of disputes over shipping charges.
Address Validation is a key tool in maintaining customer satisfaction by ensuring accurate delivery and billing, and it can be used for any carrier configured in the ShipperHQ account, making it a versatile and valuable addition to any ecommerce shipping strategy.
Backup Carrier Rates
Backup Carrier Rates in ShipperHQ provide a reliable safety net for ecommerce businesses during carrier downtimes. This feature allows businesses to set up alternative shipping options, such as different live rate carriers or predetermined flat or table rates, to be used as backups.
These backup rates are automatically activated in the event of an outage with a primary carrier, ensuring that the checkout process remains uninterrupted and that customers always have access to shipping options.
This functionality is crucial for maintaining business continuity and customer trust, especially during high-volume periods or carrier outages.
By having Backup Carrier Rates in place, businesses can avoid potential sales losses and customer dissatisfaction that can occur when shipping options are suddenly unavailable. This feature offers peace of mind to both the retailer and the customer, knowing that there is always a plan B for shipping, regardless of external circumstances.
Rate Shopping
Rate Shopping in ShipperHQ is a dynamic feature designed to streamline the shipping selection process for customers. It intelligently compares shipping rates across various methods and carriers, automatically presenting the most cost-effective option.
This simplification is crucial in reducing decision fatigue and confusion at checkout, where too many options can overwhelm customers. By displaying only the cheapest shipping method, Rate Shopping not only speeds up the checkout process but also enhances the customer experience by making it more straightforward and user-friendly.
This feature is particularly beneficial for businesses that deal with a wide range of products and shipping scenarios, as it ensures that customers are always offered the most economical shipping option.
Additionally, Rate Shopping can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, as customers appreciate the transparency and ease of use. This feature is a valuable tool for ecommerce businesses looking to optimize their shipping strategy, reduce cart abandonment, and improve overall customer satisfaction.
ShipperHQ API Integrations
ShipperHQ’s API integrations extend its powerful shipping capabilities beyond the online storefront, embedding them into various business systems for a cohesive and efficient operation.
With ERP & CRM Integration, sales and customer-facing teams can offer accurate shipping quotes and delivery options directly from their everyday tools, enhancing customer interactions and streamlining sales processes.
This integration was notably beneficial for Yakima Chief Hops, as highlighted by their Director of Software Engineering, Jordan Gottlieb, who acknowledged the significant value it added to both their customers and the organization.
In the realm of Ecommerce Platform Integration, ShipperHQ stands as a vital asset, enabling businesses to gain a competitive edge. By leveraging complex shipping rules, tailored rates and methods, and specific product groups and restrictions, ShipperHQ delivers precise rates at checkout.
This functionality is adaptable across various platforms, ensuring that businesses can implement their unique shipping logic seamlessly.
The integration with Order Management Systems (OMS) brings shipping and packing details directly to the forefront. This feature allows businesses to access detailed shipment information captured at checkout, facilitating the fulfillment of orders as promised, which in turn saves money and elevates the customer experience.
Furthermore, ShipperHQ’s integration with Point of Sale (POS) systems empowers brick-and-mortar stores to offer personalized shipping rates. This is particularly useful in scenarios like buying in-store and shipping to home, ensuring that in-store teams can provide the same level of tailored service as the online experience.
These integrations collectively enhance the functionality of ShipperHQ, making it a versatile and indispensable tool for businesses looking to optimize their shipping processes across all channels.
Conclusion
ShipperHQ review: Why you should use it?
ShipperHQ is designed to enhance the ecommerce shipping experience, offering a range of features that cater to various shipping needs. It’s an ideal solution for businesses looking to increase conversions at checkout with customized rates, pickup and delivery options, and transparent delivery times.
The software helps combat cart abandonment by providing accurate delivery dates and expedited shipping options, meeting customer expectations and potentially increasing sales.
Pros:
- Customized Shipping Options: Tailors shipping rates and methods to customer preferences and business needs.
- Increased Conversion Rates: By showing delivery dates and expedited options at checkout, it can significantly boost sales.
- Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with major ecommerce platforms and supports over 50 carriers worldwide.
- Transparency and Efficiency: Offers clear delivery dates and a streamlined checkout process, enhancing customer satisfaction.
Cons:
- Complexity for Small Businesses: The range of features and customization options might be overwhelming for smaller operations.
- Cost: The pricing plans, while scalable, may be a consideration for businesses with a tight budget.
- Learning Curve: Implementing and optimizing the software’s full capabilities may require a learning period.
ShipperHQ’s ability to address a variety of shipping challenges, such as selling perishables or products with restrictions, makes it a versatile tool for ecommerce businesses. Its integration with multiple carriers and platforms, combined with its focus on improving the checkout experience, positions it as a comprehensive shipping solution.
FAQ