Shipping tips for online sellers in Nigeria

When you sell online, the delivery is part of what the customer buys. A dress that arrives late, crushed or not at all is a bad dress, however good it looked in the photo. These habits make most of the difference.

Pack for the journey, not for the photo

• Use the smallest box that protects the item. Carriers charge a large, light parcel by its size, not its weight, so empty space costs you money.
• Fill the gaps. Paper, bubble wrap or soft packing stops things moving around. If you can hear it rattle, it is not packed yet.
• Seal every seam with proper parcel tape, not cellotape.
• Keep liquids upright and bagged. A leaking cream can ruin a whole sack of other people's parcels.
• Keep packaging in stock in the two or three sizes you use most, so packing never waits for a trip to the market.

Get the address right the first time

Many failed deliveries come down to the address or the phone number. Before you book:

• Ask for a landmark as well as the street: "opposite the filling station", "the blue gate after the church".
• Confirm the phone number the rider should call, and that someone will answer it.
• Check the city and state are right. Ikeja and Ikoyi are both in Lagos, but they are not the same trip.

EviPostal keeps the landmark and the phone number with the address, so nobody has to ask for them twice.

Compare carriers for each order

The carrier that is cheapest from Lagos to Abuja may not be cheapest to Port Harcourt, or fastest to Kano. Rather than sticking with one out of habit, compare the price and the delivery time for each order. An express service is worth it for an urgent order and a waste of money for one that is not.

Tell your customer what to expect

• Give an honest delivery estimate when they pay, not the best case.
• Send the tracking link as soon as the parcel is booked. A customer who can see the parcel moving does not need to message you.
• Tell them when it is out for delivery, so they keep the phone close.

When you book through EviPostal there is one tracking page for every carrier, so the link you send always looks the same.

Plan for when it goes wrong

Even with good habits, some deliveries fail: the customer is away, the phone is off, the address is wrong. Decide in advance what you will do: try again, ask the customer to collect, or bring it back. Then act the same day. A parcel sitting in a depot is money tied up and a customer getting impatient.

A short checklist for every order

1. Packed in the smallest safe box, gaps filled, seams taped.
2. Address with a landmark and a confirmed phone number.
3. Carriers compared for this route and this parcel.
4. Tracking link sent to the customer.
5. A plan if the first delivery fails.

See how EviPostal works for people who sell online on the online sellers page.