Shipping trends for 2022

Your business needs to be on top of the newest shipping trends for 2022 if you want to get ahead. Check out some new ways of doing things.

Shipping is facing rapid changes thanks to COVID-19. If you rely on shipping for your business, you will need to know all the emerging shipping freight and delivery trends this year. 

Growing trends

First, let’s take a look at 2021 trends that are here to stay:

• Voice assistant search: Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri at Apple are all seeing growth. As consumers get used to voice recognition, you can expect voice searching to grow. This means you should think about phrasing for your analytics. Think about the search terms “[PRODUCT], free shipping]” or “[PRODUCT] overnight shipping” and how you can ensure a voice search picks this up from your website.

• Social shopping: Social media marketplaces like Facebook are taking off. If you only sell on eBay or Amazon, you are missing a massive area of the market. Cross-platform marketing is a growing trend that you should be utilising. Consider that people can now buy what they want without leaving Facebook. You need to have a presence to avoid missing out to your competitors. 

• Sustainable eCommerce: Green is the way of the future. Brands like Hero Packaging are spearheading the eco-friendly packaging movement, and sustainability is a buzzword that will not disappear quickly.

• Streamlining: More and more eCommerce companies are streamlining the purchasing process. ‘Real-time’ shipping costs at checkout, autofill capabilities for orders, live tracking, and pdf shipping labels have all been making the online ordering and receiving process smoother. 

• Buying local: The pandemic has seen people flock to support local businesses. With growing costs for international shipment and a desire to help local economies, buying local is a trend set to stay. Don’t ignore the Australian market.

• Click and collect: For many Australians, click and collect was the only way to buy consumer goods from local stores for good portions of 2021. Now people have become familiar and comfortable with click and collect, it is fast gaining traction and becoming more diverse in its application (for example, you can now ‘click and collect’ an eBay purchase from your local Woolworths store). It’s time to explore some partnerships to give your customers the gift of flexibility.

• Parcel lockers: Automated parcel machines are starting to take hold as a clever alternative to PO boxes. They minimise contact, reduce carbon emissions, and provide greater flexibility. It’s early days, but parcel lockers are worth keeping an eye on.

Shipping trends for 2022

New trends are bringing good news and less good news:

• Normal delivery times: Good news. Expect deliveries to move back towards ‘normal’ levels soon. The disruptions that saw delivery times get out of hand in 2020 and 2021 are beginning to level out, and courier services have built measures to help minimise such issues occurring again.
• Shipping costs are trending up: Not so good news. Tighter COVID-19 restrictions, especially in Hong Kong and China, along with new levies, look set to increase the cost of international shipping. At this stage, the solution may be multi-courier strategies to ship products worldwide. Domestic carriers are also increasing costs for heavy, longer or items that are awkward to ship.
• Package to stand out: While shipping costs and delays are impacting the industry, backlogs in warehouses are piling up. If you use a distinct colour in your packaging, your boxes and parcels will stand out in a sea of brown boxes and white satchels. It will make your goods easier to find in a warehouse.
• Labelling matters: Similarly, ensure your parcels are easy to identify. This may include adding stamps on the sides of the box with your logo or extra barcodes so they can be quickly scanned. 

Other shipping trends for 2022 bear watching:

• A more high-end post-delivery service: Having embraced online shopping to an unprecedented degree during the pandemic, consumers now have higher expectations. They want worldwide tracking, 24/7 customer support, premium shipping insurance, and a personalised delivery experience. For businesses, this means if your customers aren’t happy with the service from when they process their order to when it arrives at their door, they will be less likely to shop with you again.
• New markets: Australia is one of the world’s most robust online spenders but other markets are worth noting. If you sell fashion or health & beauty products, target the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. For electronics, sell to the US, Brazil, and Singapore. Sports and leisure will sell best in Singapore and Brazil. Jewellery in Singapore and Australia, and If you sell toys, stick with Singapore and Brazil.
• Zero-emission trucking: Diesel fuel shortages are seeing the trucking industry fast-tracking its evolution to all things electric. 

Online shopping and shipping of goods are not going away or slowing down. Any business that wants to get ahead will do well to work with these trends. 

Want to ship smarter in 2022? Contact us today.