Finding the right eCommerce shipping solution for your business

In the age of Amazon Prime and eBay Fast & Free, it’s more important than ever for small businesses to provide customers with fast and affordable shipping options. That’s where eCommerce shipping companies come in.

There are a multitude of eCommerce shipping solutions out there, so it comes down to choosing one with the right features, support, and pricing to fit the needs of your business. 

Here’s a comparison of some of the most popular shipping options:

ShipStation

ShipStation is a leading web-based shipping software that can be used to manage processing, fulfilling, and shipping of orders. It integrates with more than 150 marketplaces, shopping carts, and carriers as well as TradeGecko.

Prices start from $9 a month for up to 50 shipments and one platform user, and up to $159 a month for unlimited shipments and 10 users. Support is available via their online help center or by logging into the customer service portal.

Headquarters: USA

Pros

• Easy to setup and use
• Seamless integration with TradeGecko
• Excellent support
• Remote label printing works well (even with non-US based UPS accounts)
• Web-based
• Multiple shipping providers in one location

Cons

• No in-built inventory management
• Limited options for international shipments
• More expensive than some other shipping software
• Difficult to print multiple tickets for the same shipment without processing individually

Good for: Multi-channel sellers based in the US or globally.

StarShipIT

StarShipIT is a cloud-based shipping software that handles delivery of online and offline orders. Although it is cloud-based, StarShipIT is headquartered in Australia and New Zealand, and has been specifically developed to service these markets.

Prices start from $40 a month for up to 250 shipments and unlimited carriers, and up to $160 a month for up to 20,000 shipments. Custom packages above and beyond 20,000 shipments are also available. Online support is available in addition to an online customer service portal.

Headquarters: Australia

Pros

• Multi-carrier shipping software
• The user interface is easy to use and constantly improving
• A wide range of services to choose from
• Integrates with TradeGecko

Cons

• Limited support for non-ANZ markets
• More expensive than some other options

Good for: ANZ-based small to large businesses with over 250 shipments a month.

Shippit

Shippit manages deliveries for thousands of retailers throughout Australia, handling order fulfillment, tracking and notifying, shipping automation, integration, and reporting.

Prices start at $19 a month for up to 20 orders and up to $149 a month for up to 500 orders (plus 45c per additional shipment). Support is available via email for starter-tier customers, email and live chat for mid-tier customers, and email, live-chat, and phone support for top-tier customers.

Headquarters: Australia

Pros

• Extensive carrier support in ANZ
• Supports both wholesale and eCommerce businesses
• Supports partial shipments of documents
• Supports pre-negotiated courier rates and direct merchant accounts
• Integration with TradeGecko

Cons

• Limited support for carriers outside ANZ
• No in-built inventory management

Good for: ANZ-based small businesses with less than 500 orders a month.

Shiptheory

Shiptheory integrates eCommerce channels with the largest UK carriers to automate the shipping process. Their flexible shipping rules allow businesses to control how orders are sent by carriers based on weight, order value, and destination.

A free plan is available for up to 500 shipments a month with limited features and paid plans cap at £300 a month for up to 20,000 shipments. Support is available online, via email, and by phone.

Headquarters: UK

Pros

• Free plan available
• Support for UK carriers
• TradeGecko integration 

Cons

• Limited support for non-EU customers
• No in-built inventory management

Good for: EU-based small to large businesses.

EasyShip

EasyShip provides more than 100 shipping products for small businesses on a global scale. They aim to facilitate global shipping for businesses by connecting customers with couriers all over the world.

Prices are calculated depending on the shipment origin, destination, weight, number of shipments per month, and the chosen courier. Support is available online or through the customer service portal.

Headquarters: Hong Kong

Pros

• No upfront costs for download and installation
• Keep track of and manage shipping through nearly all major couriers on one platform
• Automatically handles tax and duty for worldwide destinations
• Built-in checkout functionality to plug directly into an app or website

Cons

• Smaller businesses that don't do that much shipping may not find this platform to be cost-effective or worth the effort
• No direct TradeGecko integration, but can be integrated using Shopify

Good for: Small businesses that regularly ship internationally.

EasyPost

EasyPost is a shipping API which was started in September 2012 by Jarrett Streebin and allows businesses to get the best shipping rates by unlocking every major carrier in one simple integration.

Headquarters: San Fransisco

Pros

• Integrate with 100+ carriers worldwide including the Postal Service, U.P.S., Federal Express and DHL. 
• Pay as you go at only 1c per package with no setup, support or cancellation fees
• TradeGecko integration via Cartrover

Cons

•  Some functionality might be lost through an API connection so if you are looking to get more control over a specific carrier integration, you should try a direct implementation.

Good for: Small businesses.

TradeGecko works with shipping management software to streamline and automate the order fulfillment process by syncing shipping labels, tracking information and more. This means that the entire order management process – from purchasing through to fulfillment – can effectively be managed from one dashboard.

Setting up a shipping integration with TradeGecko is as simple as authorizing the connection between the two systems via TradeGecko and your shipping software, which takes just a few minutes.