Starting an E-commerce business is pretty popular these days. And for a good reason too! It offers a lot of benefits over traditional business structures. You have a product or a service you want to monetize and sell to potential buyers and clients? Excellent! You are no longer limited by the physical proximity of the buyers. With online shops, they can be reached pretty much anywhere, and even the most niche of shops can find their buyers. However, starting an online shop can be scary, and it definitely can seem complicated. That is why we have made this E-commerce shipping guide, particularly oriented towards Bahrain. Though, that is not to say that the general principles applied here should not or could not be applied to any other part of the world. Some rules of e-commerce are rather universal. That being said, we can begin!
The first stop for the E-commerce shipping guide – cost
Ok, so first things first. If you want to start your internet business, you will need to make sure that shipping to Bahrain and shipping from Bahrain will be sustainable for you. In other words, you need to make sure you have a profit margin when you are setting up shipping. But how will you know what the price of the shipping will be?
Well, the price of shipping is determined by a lot of things. Therefore, you will need to keep track of more than a few elements. Let us list them here.
- Courier rate – First things first. If you want to do some shipping, you will need a courier service to do it. In the past, it was a regular thing for the buyer to choose the couriers, but now it is mostly to the one who provides the product, meaning you. Therefore, you will be the one who can choose the courier with the best rate.
- The price of packaging – Our E-commerce shipping guide would hardly be complete without also pointing out the price of packaging. All the packaging that goes into shipping is not that expensive, overall, but it can be that slight price that destroys your profit margin, so be aware.
- Additional flat fees – Additional fees may also apply. Here we have mostly been fees that apply to certain areas that are hard to reach, or the countries that the courier has deemed more inexorable and therefore more pricy to deliver to. These costs can be offset by making the price of the product higher, of course, but then you might get outcompeted by a local or a closer e-commerce business. Therefore, plan accordingly.
How to set up shipping
If you are shipping to Qatar you need to know the basics of shipping. If you intend to run a business that involves shipping, you will need to understand the process through and through. So first of all, w need to talk about what kind of e-commerce are you running. If you are only providing services, rather than products then this E-commerce shipping guide is of not much use to you. Shipping is not really a factor if you are producing something that is not physically tangible, for example, services or software.
So, once you know what you are selling, you need to market the products. You can run ads on the target groups you will need, or you can use Search Engine Optimisation in order to make the buyers come to you! Both can be done by you, or by a professional service. One requests a lot of time, while the other requires fonds.
Then, when the buyers are found, you will need to actually ship to them. That is when the carriers come in. You will need to pick the carriers that best suit you. That is where the next part of our shipping guide comes in.
How to pick carriers
There are a lot of carriers like Easy Move Kuwait that you can find in and around Bahrain. That is exactly why we will not be listing our top choices. Your best carrier service might be totally different than the best carrier service for the other reader, for example. Why is that?
Well, two things make a good carrier. First is the aspect of their experience and professionalism. You definitely want a reliable carrier service that has proven it’s worth and is capable of shipping in the areas you are interested in.
However, the second aspect of it is the price. There are various fees shipping carriers will impose for various difficulties they might encounter, like the area they find more remote, for example. Therefore, before you pick what cargo companies in Kuwait you will hire, you will need to make sure that they will be profitable for areas you intend to target.
Legal aspects
Finally, there are the legal aspects of shipping that you should know. Like any country out there, Bahrain to has import and export rules. Therefore, you should be sure to read Bahrain import requirements and Bahrain export requirements with great care before you ship. This is especially true if you are selling something chemical, flammable, or otherwise consider to be dangerous.
Furthermore, tracking is pretty much a must and you should pick a carrier that provides this service to the buyer. Furthermore, make sure you insure! Insurance is added cost, sure, but if you plan on expanding your e-commerce, some losses of shipped goods are bound to happen, and the profit margin can be very thin. This makes the business very vulnerable to this kind of loss.
In summary
In conclusion, that is all you will need to start preparing for your e-commerce in Bahrain. We hope that our E-commerce shipping guide will be of great help in your endeavor. Before we leave, however, we remind you that you should definitely look into all the aspects of shipping before you begin your business. Many small businesses have failed and disappeared because the price was calculated the wrong way, and it turned out to be unsustainable. That is why you need to plan ahead with great care. We hope that you will be successful in your endeavor. Best of luck!