You have to choose the best shipping software for small businesses so that you can get organized, streamline your shipping workflow, save on shipping, and keep your customers happy with on-time delivery, tracking, easy returns, and more.
In this guide, I’ve ranked and reviewed the 15 best shipping software for small businesses as well as my top 3 recommendations to help you make an informed decision.
ShippingEasy is an online shipping software solution for small business in the early stages of their growth. Get low-cost shipping from the USPS and UPS, and print labels in no time.
Gain full visibility and control over all orders from all different sales channels at every stage of the shipping process. ShipStation helps you sync, manage and ship your orders.
Ordoro is an all-in-one platform that helps you connect all your sales channels to easily manage hybrid fulfillment models with automated order and delivery routing.
According to recent studies, high delivery prices cause you to lose 54 percent of your customers.
Yes, it’s true!
The final stage in creating a successful E-commerce firm is shipping items to your customers.
However, even a slight error in your manual shipping estimates might result in a loss for your business. You aren’t even aware that you are overcharging or overpaying for shipping.
Because small businesses have different pricing and setup than large enterprises, their shipping demands vary, and they may struggle to keep up with the rising shipment requests.
This demands the adoption of small company shipping software, which may significantly improve the efficiency, automation, and profitability of shipping.
What is Shipping Software?
In basic terms, shipping software interfaces with your e-commerce site that can accurately compute shipping estimates, lower shipping costs, and manage distribution and fulfillment in less time.
Furthermore, it collects data that allows you to better understand your customers’ purchasing habits and create effective inventory management.
Choose the shipping software that has a shipment tracking function that allows your customers to trace their packages at every stage of their journey.
Monthly subscriptions are available for shipping software that comes with different plans, robust features, analytic tools, customer support, etc.
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Why Does an eCommerce Business Need a Shipping Solution?
👉 In an E-commerce business, you have to equally take care of both pre and post-purchasing requirements of your customers.
👉 Late deliveries and high shipping costs will divert your customer to your competitors even when you make high-quality products.
👉 Because big E-commerce giants have already set one-day or next-day delivery expectations in the consumer’s mind. Thus, it gets difficult for small e-commerce businesses to compete with them in terms of shipping duration.
👉 Another great aspect of this small business shipping software is that it makes the shipping process fully automated and brings data and stats that you can analyze to make successful business rules.
👉 Shipping solution software gives you the freedom to control all the post-purchasing activities accurately through any interface like PC, Mac, and Android. It works in 4 steps;
- Auto-sync orders
- Manage orders
- Print labels and attach slips
- Automate shipping updates and emails
👉 It is compulsory to seek shipping software that allows you to create and print customized labels for inventories, warehouses, logistics, and shipment in just a few clicks.
It is an essential step since it assists the receiver in identifying their package while also creating branding for your product.
It can also help to create return labels and tracking features for returning orders.
👉 If you sell on multiple platforms, you surely had felt difficulty managing shipments for each platform. Here, shipping solutions provide a detailed and single view of all the placed orders from every selling platform at a time.
👉 Your shipment may be updated as RTO (Return to Origin) sometimes due to the non-delivery of your product. You can’t avoid it completely but can take action to reduce it. Going through detailed reports of your orders will help you to find out the responsible factors.
👉 Return management is also easy as software contains a return order option combined with reverse pick-up, refunds, and return status tracking. There is also an option for customers to let the seller know the reason behind returning.
👉 There is multi-carrier shipping software that has multiple courier partners that you can choose at a time to speed up your high-volume delivery. These all facilities are available under a single cloud-based application at discounted rates.
👉 Remember if your customer gets a good delivery service, he/she will become your regular customer and can also bring leads to your company by word of mouth. So, you should not miss that opportunity! You can start a blog to reach your customers!
How to Choose the Best Shipping Software?
Shipping Volume
You should choose the best shipping software for small business+ that can manage high shipping volume effectively. Here, multi-carrier shipping software is useful.
It is important to consider this point before choosing any shipping software as neglecting this aspect can lead to more RTOs and you can suffer loss.
Serviceability
You should ask yourself questions like-
- What are the services available under this shipping software?
- Do they justify their services with the price they charge?
- Are these services useful and do they charge extra for certain services?
- What are people’s reviews regarding the services?
Better servicing is always a seller’s need. So, you should not compromise on the serviceability of the software. Shipping software that upgrades its services from time to time and has better online resources for seller reference is a nice option.
Features
You need to understand that each shipping software comes with its pros and cons. You have to find the one that contains the features you required the most.
You should check these important features;
- Free starter plans
- Presence of marketing tools and add-ons
- Robust reporting, and analytics
- Customized labeling
- Return order management,
- Open API solutions
- Advanced inventory management
- Multiple shipping carriers
Ease of Use
The intuitive interface of the software will help you to utilize the software efficiently. There is no use of data if you can’t draw any conclusion from it.
Thus, choosing software that assists you with suggestions or conclusions by analyzing data will help you at the initial stage of managing shipment.
Cross-platform compatibility is another great feature so you can access shipment even through your phones.
Customer Support
You need better customer support that is available 24/7 to help you anytime if you get stuck at any point.
It is the responsibility of a shipping software provider to clear all technical and non-technical features of the software.
You should ask for some tips and guidance if you newly purchase the software and the provider should not hesitate for the same.
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15 Best Shipping Software for Small Businesses in 2022
1. Shipping Easy
It has an intuitive interface with various marketing and shipment management tools. ShippingEasy is the best software solution for small businesses because of
- 30-day free trial
- Discounted shipping rates
- 65 pre-built integrations
- Open API and EDI solutions
- Satisfactory inventory management tools
- Excellent customer support and
- Easy to use interface
- Add Additional Users to any plan with 5$ per month
ShippingEasy Pricing Includes;
Starter: It is an economical option for new businesses with low shipment volumes. It is available for a single user at $5/month for 50 shipments.
Basic: You can optimize your business with a starter pack of $29/month that fulfills 500 shipments.
Plus: It is recommended by the app for an e-commerce business to upgrade their small business high volume order. You can avail this option at $49/month for 1,500 shipments.
2. Shipstation
It is the best shipping solution software for small businesses that are scaling up their shipment orders. Its features are;
- Presence of 53 shipping carriers and 288 plug-and-play integrations
- It can be operated on mobile devices
- Excellent return management system
- Easy to use interface
- Fulfils international shipping demands
- Custom pricing availability
Shipstation Pricing Includes;
- Starter plan for $9/month that fulfills 50 shipments for a single user
- Bronze plan for $29/month that fulfills 500 shipments for a single user
- Silver plan for $49/month that fulfills 1,500 shipments for 2 users
- Gold plan for $69/month that fulfills 3,000 shipments for 3 users
- Platinum plan for $99/month, that fulfills 6,000 shipments for 5 users
- Enterprise plan for $159/month that fulfills 10,000 shipments, 10 users
3. ORDORO
It offers a greatly advanced inventory management system with unlimited warehouses and users for all plans.
It includes features like;
- Automated purchasing
- Integration with 8 shipping carriers and 34 other e-commerce sites
- Open API and EDI solutions for pro plan
- Good dropshipping features
- Better customer support
- 15-day day free trial
The only drawback of this shipping software is its high price and non-compatibility with mobile devices.
Thus, it is a good option for only businesses that get high-volume orders and has multiple users.
You can easily pay for your subscriptions by saving $10000 in 6 months.
Ordoro Pricing Includes;
- Express plan can be activated by paying $59/month for 1,000 orders/ month
- Pro plan can be activated by paying $499/month for 3,000 orders/month
- Enterprise can be activated by paying $999/month for 4,000 orders/month
- Flex pricing is available that charges an extra $20 for every additional 1000 orders/ month when exceeded the maximum limit of orders.
4. Shippo
Shippo is the best shipping solution for a small business where its starter pack includes no monthly subscription.
Its features are;
- Free starter plan
- API access even in the free plan
- No label fee for Shippo’s default carriers including USPS, UPS, and DHL Express at every plan
- Unlimited platform integrations
- Custom branding
- Unlimited carrier accounts and global carrier discounts
- Dedicated customer support
Shippo Pricing Includes 3 Plans;
Starter: It is a free plan with labels of your connected carrier accounts
Pro: It offers branded customer experience with a price starting from $10/ month up to 60 labels. It increases to $200/ month for 10,000 labels.
Premier: It is a customized shipping solution with up to 15 user accounts.
5. Shipengine
It is the best software for small businesses that includes multiple useful APIs for better inventory management.
- 69 shipping integrations
- Discount on shipping rates
- Check real-time rates of different carriers with the Shipping rate API
- Better Customer support
- Global address validation
- Order APIs for viewing all orders at a time
Ship Engine Pricing Includes 4 plans;
- Start-up plan comes with $50/ month for 1000 shipments
- Growth plan comes with $135/ month for 3000 shipments
- Scale plan comes with $210/ month for 5000 shipments
- Enterprise plan is meant for 5000+ shipments/ month and a customized plan with dedicated customer support is provided at this level.
6. EasyPost
EasyPost is best for small businesses who want to try shipping software free and then switch to custom pricing where you get an unlimited shipment and tracking features.
In our list, Easyfeature has one of the unique and simple pricing plans;
- It partners with UPS, Amazon, FedEx, and DHL Express.
- No fee till 120,000 shipments in a year
- Free address verification label
- SmartRate API
- Free marketing tools
- No additional charge for additional carrier
The only drawback it has is that multiple users are not allowed in any plan and thus they support single users in both of their pricing plans.
By going through their reviews, you will find that many people had complaints regarding their customer support service.
EasyPost Pricing Includes Just 2 Plans;
Developer: You need not pay any subscription fee and can have free 120,000 shipments/ year.
Enterprise: You can avail of unlimited shipments, tracking, and address verification features in just shipping insurance up to 0.4%. Feel free to contact their sales department for your custom pricing.
7. ShipWorks
ShipWorks will be the best option for new small-scale businesses who want guidance and necessary tools along with multi-carrier shipping software at a decent price.
You get benefits like;
- Unlimited users at every plan
- A.I order routing
- Guidance to set up and consistent customer support
- Rate tool API
- 2+ ship from locations
ShipWorks Pricing Includes;
Essential: $349 per month for 12,000 shipments/ month
Professional: $599 per month for 25,000 shipments/month
Elite: $799 per month for 50,000 shipments/month
8. ShipBob
If you think your business needs more customization and better third-party logistics, you need ShipBob.
It has features like;
- You can do branding by adding your custom boxes
- Discounted shipping rates
- Offers return order management at a $3 processing fee
- Shipping costs are customized so you can pay more accurately
- Great online resources for your guidance
ShipBob has not mentioned its pricing and thus you need to contact their sales department. However, most of the reviews written online claim it to be expensive.
9. Veeqo
Veeqo is a nice small business shipping solution software that has a unique pricing model. It has 30+ built-in integrations with powerful reporting and marketing tools.
Its features are;
- Multichannel inventory integration is available
- Better warehouse management
- Built-in shipping software with Royal Mail, DHL, DPD, and more
- Digital scanners for pickup
- Discounted shipping rates
Online reviews state that Veeqo has poor return order management.
Veeqo pricing models have no shipment limit in their plans. Even if you ship 100 orders/month you can take a premium plan subscription for availing premium features like unlimited warehouse control.
Accelerator: In this plan, you can ship via 20+ shipping channels. Return order management is not available for this plan
High Growth: You get access to purchasing and forecasting tools. Return order management is available in this plan.
Premium: At the premium level, you get more visibility of manual stock management.
And Enterprise for high volume merchants.
10. 2Ship
This shipping software has the best plans for small businesses with economical pricing included with some special features like;
- Ship requisition feature
- Enforce full logistics policies on every user
- Bulk entries handling feature
- Virtual distribution of orders
2ship has unique plans for low volume shipments that has 3 plans;
Basic: It charges you $25/ month for 100 labels and 1BOL.
Enhanced: It charges you $50/ month for 250 labels and 3BOL.
Ultimate: It charges you $75/ month for 500 labels and BOL.
You have to pay an additional fee of $3.50/ month for an additional user.
11. Desktop Shipper
It can help you to increase your productivity through its customization feature for each integrated profile.
Some of its features are;
- Carrier mapping
- Address validation API
- Advanced search
- Proper Batch manangement
- Subscribed filters for your personalized shipping
- Seller fulfilled prime feature to increase your sales
- Automated custom forms
- Rate shopping to get the best price for each parcel
Desktop Shipper pricing for small businesses has 3 plans;
Starter: It costs $25/ month for 500 shipments with 2channels/integration
Plus: It costs $75/ month for 1,500 shipments with 5 channel/integration
Pro: It costs $150/ month for 3000 shipments with 5 channel/integration
12. Shippit
Shippit is a reliable shipping software that provides expert shipping services with 99.99% uptime. There is a transit protection policy for each shipment.
It has more advanced features like;
- You can connect your carrier
- You can negotiate for shipping rate
- Smart carrier allocation
- Carbon neutral delivery that is good for the planet
- Open API
- Multi-store management
- Free Shipping optimizer and delivery analytic tools
The only drawback we have found is its limited freight courier options.
Shipping Pricing Includes;
Grow: It costs $49/ month for up to 250 orders. You can get 34% off at shipping rates.
Unleash: It costs $149/ month for up to 500 orders. You can get 45% off at shipping rates.
Empower: It costs start from $249/ month where shipment ranges from 1500 to 10,000
13. Shopify
Shopify offers a customizable store along with a hosted solution. It hosts around 4 million online stores currently. It has better features than its competitors.
Let’s have a look into it;
- Create your online store and manage payments through Shopify or other payment gateways
- Use Shopify lite for inventory management and selling on other platforms
- SEO functionality
- Third-party real-time carrier shipping
- Huge shipping discounts
- Point of sale functionality
- Accepting multiple currencies
- Abandoned cart recovery feature add on in just $9
- Create automated sales and customer report
- Email marketing tool for emailing the first 25000 subscribers for free
One drawback of this platform is charging a transaction fee if you use a third-party payment gateway.
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Shopify pricing includes;
Basic: $29 per month
Shopify: $79 per month
Advanced: $299 per month
14. ShippyPro
You can scale your business through ShippyPro as it provides;
- Unlimited Sales Channels
- Custom labels
- Easy Return
- Multiple Sender Address
- Advanced marketing tools
The only drawback is important features like return API and reporting are not available for the basic plan.
ShippyPro pricing shows that it is the best shipping software solution for small business that wants to make plans according to features rather than quantity of orders.
Pricing includes;
Fast-growing: You can create a customized label and use standard APIs and live checkout for 500 orders/month
Professional: Return API is present here.
Enterprise: You get ERP integration, dedicated customer support, an account manager, and many more.
15. Essential Hub
It is truly the best shipping solution software for small business that don’t want to commit to any plan for shipping and pay any subscription.
It offers;
- Free trial
- 3 carrier options USPS, FedEx, and UPS
- Multicarrier API
- Custom labels
- Address verification
- Insurance
- 100+ shipping integrations
There is a shipping calculator so you can calculate shipping charges in real-time where you can choose the desired service.
Summing Up
There is great shipping software available for small businesses but all come with their pros and cons. It is best to consider twice before signing up for any subscription services.
Your 1st step is to determine the services you believe are required. Look for software that specializes in the services you require.
Don’t rush; it’s best to start with a free trial and later upgrade to a subscription plan. Check out the company’s customer service as well.
For a free starting package, you can go with Shippingeasy. Switch to Shipstation if you want to optimize your logistics. For more complex features and better customer service, you may choose well-known systems like ORDORO.
