Considering Nationwide Shipping for Your Food Business? Here are Tips to Keep in Mind
Nationwide shipping isn’t feasible for every food business, but for those capable, it’s a strategy worth considering.
The digital age has made ordering food more efficient and convenient. Gone are the days when you would have to make a phone call just to order. Food businesses have become accessible even on social media, and ordering is just a few taps away.
Limitations set by physical location and distance, however, still pose challenges. Would-be patrons are discouraged from making a purchase when the store they want to order from is located in another province altogether.
For certain food businesses, the distance can be bridged by nationwide shipping. But how should business owners go about it?
This is a question that Justine Marie Icasas, the owner of The Kind Cookie, once asked herself. Launched in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, The Kind Cookie initially survived on orders from family, friends, and Instagram delivered via self-pickup and couriers such as Grab and Lalamove.
But as the business began to grow, so did the clamor for nationwide delivery from customers outside of Metro Manila. The Business Manual spoke to the 24-year-old entrepreneur to draw insights from her experience on nationwide shipping, and gather advice for fellow entrepreneurs who want to explore the option.
Evaluate Your Product Before Anything Else
Before even considering nationwide delivery, assess whether the product can actually survive the journey. Nationwide delivery can take days, which will affect the quality of the food.
“There are certain conditions that you need to look at, such as how long does your food product keep outside of the refrigerator, does it break easily, and all that, because it [nationwide delivery] will only work well for some products,” Icasas explains.
If your food product will easily spoil if unrefrigerated for multiple days, nationwide delivery is probably not a good idea to consider.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Service Provider
Icasas suggests evaluating prospective delivery service providers based on the following:
- Ease in ordering for the customer
- Automated systems for payment
- How orders are picked up from the business
- Easy tracking of orders on customers’ side and the business’ backend
Initially opting for J&T and other similar couriers, Icasas eventually discovered that their processes involved too many steps. That led her to switching to Shopee for nationwide delivery.
“Every time we join a new order channel or add another type of shipping method for our customers, we want to make sure it is easy to use and efficient,” The Kind Cookie owner explains. “Shopee is a widely used platform for online orders so it’s something that most users are aware of already—that was one of the factors we considered: Is it easy to use and easy to learn how to navigate?”
“Another factor was definitely automating payments as Shopee already has its own payment system integrated into it, offering credit card, bank transfer, GCash, etc. for payments,” she adds. “It would be easy for us to track payments and send out orders accordingly.”
Make Necessary Changes to Packaging
As her cookies need to make the journey to other parts of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, Icasas ensures that the packaging will help her baked goods withstand the trip. Selecting the right packaging will help the food stay presentable and edible once they reach the customer.
“At first, we used our usual cookie box, with layers of bubblewrap and a courier pouch to keep it safe during delivery,” Icasas recalls. “However, we have no control of how shippers handle packages so there were times wherein the wrapped up boxes of cookies would come dented or the cookies crushed.”
This led her to creating a printed corrugated box with The Kind Cookie’s branding, which eventually served as the primary packaging for all their cookies.
“This is a much sturdier box so the cookies never actually get crushed during delivery and get to the customers in great shape,” she says.
Take Wastage Into Account
Unfortunately, not all deliveries will go smoothly. This is why Icasas advises business owners to anticipate wastage or incidents when the customer would want to return the product and ask for a refund or replacement.
“You will have to shoulder the costs because after all, the product is made already—most likely it will not be sellable once returned to you as well,” she points out.
While such incidents may result in loss, they’re not a lost cause entirely. Icasas stresses that accepting criticism is key to learning from mistakes and evolving.
Be Ready to Tweak and Adjust
Speaking of learning from mistakes, Icasas also highlights the importance of being open to suggestions and tweaking things as you go. This will show that you are committed to your customers and have the willingness to improve.
“Small tweaks in the way you do things, especially when it comes from constructive feedback from customers, will get you far,” says Icasas.
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