Three out of four items are in stock, but the fourth isn't. What does a second shipment really cost you, when do you split the order, and when do you make the customer wait?
A customer orders four items. Three are in stock, the fourth will only be on your shopping list next week. You then have three options: hold the entire order, send in two shipments, or let the customer choose. For one order, it doesn't matter much. For fifty incomplete orders per quarter, it's hundreds of euros in extra materials, postage, and packing time — and the reviews you get with it.
Below is how to calculate the cost of a second shipment, when to choose which route, and where incomplete orders typically originate.
First, calculate the cost of a second shipment
The shipping label is the visible part. Packaging and packing time are not. Calculate it once for your own situation, then you won't have to think about it for each order.
With such a calculation, the material costs are often not too bad. The two items that do hurt are the second shipping label and the minutes spent. If you have ten such instances per week in busy months, that's half a workday that you didn't plan for.
Three routes and when to choose them
Hold everything until complete
Cheapest in terms of material and postage costs, and the customer receives one neatly filled package. This works as long as you are sure when the missing item will arrive and that date is within a few days. As soon as you doubt your supplier's delivery date, waiting is the worst of the three options: the customer hears nothing, sees nothing, and will email on day seven.
Split: send what's available now
Sensible if the available part is the largest or most urgent part — the gifts that need to be at the birthday party on Friday, for example. You pay double shipping costs, but you gain peace of mind. Splitting is especially beneficial if the missing item is small and light: that can later go in a letterbox package instead of a second box.
Offer to cancel or replace
This route is often overlooked. If your supplier's delivery time is uncertain, give the customer the choice: wait, remove the missing item, or an alternative. That costs you one email and almost always results in faster processing than deciding yourself.
Splitting without using a large box twice
The classic mistake is that the follow-up shipment goes in the same box as the first shipment. One item in a 15 x 15 x 15 cm shipping box (€ 1.99) means a lot of air, a lot of filling, and sometimes a higher rate than necessary. Therefore, keep a small size on hand for precisely this purpose:
Flat and small: the A6 letterbox box (100 pieces for € 17.95) or the A5+ variant (100 pieces for € 24.00). Check the maximum height your carrier allows for letterbox mail.
Only paperwork: a C5 envelope (25 pieces for € 4.95).
Place that size next to your packing table, not in the back of the warehouse. Otherwise, the person packing will just grab the closest box.
What to put in the email
Incomplete orders rarely become a problem due to the delay itself, but due to the silence surrounding it. Four things belong in the message:
What has and has not been shipped, with item name and quantity, not just an order number.
A date, not a period. "Probably September 9th" is useful, "soon" is not.
What it costs the customer. Explicitly state that they will not pay double shipping costs, otherwise they will assume that.
A choice. Wait, or cancel the missing part with a refund.
Include a note or packing slip with the first shipment stating what is still to come. Otherwise, the customer opens a box with three of the four items and thinks it's a picking error. Those who seal their shipments with VOID security seals (60 pieces for € 9.95) will find that conversation much easier: the seal shows that nothing was removed during transit.
Where incomplete orders originate
Four causes explain most cases, and three of them are your own settings.
No safety margin. If you leave your last item online, sooner or later you'll sell something that's already gone in the store. Set fast-moving items to a buffer of one or two pieces.
Backorders are on without you knowing it. Check per product whether selling with zero stock is allowed. For items with an uncertain delivery time, you almost always want this turned off.
Bundles and sets. A set of three is only available when all three parts are there. This link is often missing in inventory management.
Incorrect stock. Returns that haven't been booked back, breakage that hasn't been written off, display material that's still counted. A stocktake before the busy months will catch this.
For a month, track how often you split and why. If one supplier or one product group is consistently at the top, that's not a shipping problem but a purchasing problem — and then a larger order or a second supplier will solve more than a smarter box.
Prepare for autumn
Look at letterbox packaging and boxes for a small size to set aside specifically for follow-up shipments, and replenish your tape supply before things get busy. The full range can be found in Packaging & Shipping. Doubting which size suits your products, or want to know the cost per piece of a bundle? Feel free to email info@verpakkingdeals.nl — we'd be happy to calculate it with you.
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