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Finding a 3PL that ships heavy items affordably and fast
Discover how weighted blanket brand My Calm Blanket increases conversions by offering free 2-day shipping and partnering with ShipBob for order fulfilment.
Customer Profile
My Calm Blanket is a weighted blanket proven to improve rest, help with ADHD, reduce anxiety and stress, and keep you warm. It is scientifically engineered to respond to your temperature, weight, and shape for personalised comfort and support.
Key metrics:
- 18% reduction in cart abandonment with 2-day shipping
- 5 fulfilment centres used to expedite shipping and reduce costs
- 25 pound average weight of products fulfilled by ShipBob
My Calm Blanket was designed to help those who struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep. At 7-12% of your body weight, its mild pressure reduces stress by promoting the production of serotonin and melatonin, natural chemicals that regulate your mood and overall sense of calm.
The idea of weighted blankets has been around for a while, especially in the autism community, but it’s recently taken off as more people have discovered additional use cases to help stay relaxed — from aiding people with insomnia to calming nervous flyers.
These use cases have translated into great demand for weighted blankets. We chatted with the founder of My Calm Blanket to learn more about how their product took off.
Finding a 3PL that ships heavy items affordably and fast
As told to ShipBob by the Founder of My Calm Blanket.
When we were launching the business and creating our ecommerce site, we were very aware of the implications of selling heavy products online, especially how expensive it is to ship heavy items.
We did our homework and knew we didn’t want to handle order fulfilment ourselves. With the number of hours we were already putting in each day, our best bet was to secure a 3PL upfront.
When we first launched, we briefly worked with a different 3PL, but the biggest issue was that they were too small. They only had two locations, so I knew they wouldn’t be able to accommodate the growth we anticipated.
Then we found a sweet spot with ShipBob.
Our product is pricier than a typical item bought online, so we offer free shipping on all orders. But covering that cost for our customers isn’t always enough to get them to buy; the other important shipping consideration today is fast delivery.
Many 3PLs will say they can help you offer free shipping but what they mean is that the order will take 7 days to reach the customer. Balancing speed and costs is easier said than done.
“ShipBob’s 2-Day Express Program has been phenomenal for us. Because of Amazon, our customers expect 2-day shipping and we couldn’t find other 3PLs that can provide that. If they do, you are going to pay a lot for it. Without ShipBob, it would cost more than $100 per order to ship that fast.”
Founder of My Calm Blanket
Shipping to a far away location increases both the cost of shipping and transit time. And the heavier an item is, the more you will pay in shipping costs, which increases as you ship to higher zones. Shipping a 25-pound blanket is not the same as shipping a t-shirt.
That’s why we knew that shipping from only one or two fulfilment centres wasn’t going to cut it.
Luckily, ShipBob has fulfilment centres in major cities all over the US, so we can spread out our inventory across the country to reduce the shipping zones and costs associated with shipping orders to destinations that are far away.
In fact, we’ve distributed our inventory to all ShipBob fulfilment centres to be near our customers and joined ShipBob’s 2-Day Express Shipping Program, which leverages ground shipping and is an inexpensive alternative to expedited air shipping.
Increasing conversions by offering free 2-day shipping
We promote the fact that we offer free shipping for all orders on a site-wide banner. This encourages shoppers to add to their cart and get to the checkout process in the first place.
On top of that, we can offer 2-day shipping and capture additional sales from people who value a speedy delivery.
ShipBob’s 2-Day Express option integrates directly with Shopify, which really involved no extra work to set the program up.
When a customer checks out on our store, ShipBob’s technology checks if the shipping destination is within the predetermined coverage area and if there is enough inventory on-hand at the fulfilment centre that’s closest to them.
If the order qualifies, 2-Day Express is displayed as a new shipping option in addition to the usual options.
The more fulfilment centres we have inventory in, the more potential shipping addresses we can offer this 2-day option to. And the more people that we offer the benefit of free 2-day shipping to, the more conversions we get.
“With ShipBob’s 2-Day Express Program, we’ve seen an 18% reduction in cart abandonment.”
Founder of My Calm Blanket
Why 2-Day Express works and is a winning combination for My Calm Blanket:
- We offer free shipping on all orders
- We advertise free shipping on a banner on our website
- We offer guaranteed free 2-day shipping for qualifying orders
- We split our inventory across all of ShipBob’s fulfilment centres
- We save a lot of money because our products are heavy and thus very expensive to ship as distance increases
Looking ahead
There are a lot of issues with shipping products like ours, but we’ve been able to do it successfully with ShipBob. I’m very glad we found a 3PL partner that can ship hundreds of 25-pound blankets everyday, while providing a great customer experience.
“We understand that whatever Amazon does, we also need to do or we are going to lose business. The cost of offering free 2-day shipping through ShipBob is more than covered and offset by all of the additional orders and revenue we’ve gotten as a result.”
Founder of My Calm Blanket
The weighted blankets movement is really just getting started. We look forward to continuing our partnership with ShipBob and having them help us expand even more.
ShipBob is very fast and on top of things, and our great account manager works to get any issues resolved right away. I have nothing but good things to say about ShipBob.
Learn more
Need to partner with a 3PL for ecommerce fulfilment? Download “ShipBob’s 2-Day Express Shipping: How to Drive Revenue Through Ecommerce Fulfilment” or get in touch with ShipBob and learn how you can scale your business while enhancing the customer experience.
