Estonian e-commerce turnover grew by 10.7% last year, but competition is becoming increasingly international. Competing with large global platforms on price alone is difficult for local online stores. However, local businesses can compete on speed, reliability, and customer experience — and delivery plays a major role in all three.
What should a new online store owner know about delivery, and what common mistakes should be avoided? Here are five practical recommendations.
1. Choose a battle you can win
Don’t try to beat Asian e-commerce platforms on price. As a local online store, you have different advantages: proximity to customers, local inventory, and the ability to ship orders quickly.
If the same product costs the same in two online stores, but one delivers within one to two business days and the other takes three to four, the first store already has an advantage. Orders from another continent can take even several weeks to arrive.
Think carefully about where your advantage lies. At SmartPosti, we see strong results among customers exporting to the Nordics and among businesses selling niche products. Online stores can test products with a clearly defined target audience before expanding into larger sales channels or retail.
Launching an online store has become easier than ever. Winning customers has not. If you cannot be the cheapest option, give customers another reason to come back. Fast delivery can be one of those reasons.
2. Make sure your online store and logistics can communicate from the start
Don’t build your online store first and start looking for a delivery partner afterwards. Consider logistics already when choosing your platform.
If you are building your store on Shopify or WooCommerce, check which delivery integrations are available. SmartPosti offers ready-made checkout modules and dedicated IT support for both platforms.
A small online store does not need complex automation from day one. You can start with self-service tools and create shipping labels manually. As order volumes grow, automation becomes more important. This is where easy integration with your delivery partner matters.
Through integrations, order information flows directly from your online store to the delivery partner, and shipping labels can be created directly from the store’s management system without manually re-entering data.
3. Consider whether your products can handle outdoor conditions
If you sell jewellery or clothing, temperature is usually not a major concern. With cosmetics, food products, liquids, and other temperature-sensitive goods, the situation is different.
Think about the customer collecting the parcel as well. On a dark November evening, there is a significant difference between picking up an order from a warm, well-lit shopping centre and standing outside in the rain and wind. SmartPosti parcel lockers are located indoors.
The customer experience does not end when payment is completed. It ends when the product reaches the customer.
At the same time, don’t force every customer to use a parcel locker. If someone lives in a remote location and the nearest parcel locker is far away, courier delivery may be a much better option. Whenever possible, offer both and let customers decide.
4. Don’t build a system for Estonia that you need to rebuild when you start exporting
If you start selling in Estonia and discover a year later that customers in Finland also are interested in your products, there are two possible scenarios. In one, you start looking for a new carrier, negotiating new contracts, and building another integration. In the other, you simply select a new destination country within your existing system.
With SmartPosti, you can use the same solution to deliver parcels to Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and elsewhere in Europe. For the online store, only the destination and shipping label change – the logistics are handled by the delivery partner.
You should not assume that deliveries within the Nordics automatically mean long delivery times, either. In many cases, parcels sent from Estonia reach Finland or Sweden the next or following business day. In Finland, SmartPosti is supported by its parent company, Posti.
When launching an online store, you do not need to know whether you will be selling in ten countries in three years. However, you can avoid a situation where your first international order forces you to rebuild your entire logistics setup.
5. Choose a partner who takes logistics off your desk
When selecting a delivery partner, look beyond the price list. How much of your own time will be spent managing deliveries?
You do not need to be a logistics expert. Your job is to sell, market, develop your products, and grow your business. If a delivery gets delayed or another issue arises, your delivery partner should know how to handle it.
Ask who you will contact if something goes wrong. Can you reach a specific person? Will the partner proactively solve the issue, or does everything remain your responsibility? Do they have experience with products like yours? What happens if a parcel arrives late or gets damaged?
And, of course, consider delivery costs from the customer’s perspective. If customers discover unexpectedly high shipping fees at checkout, they may choose another store instead. You can include part of the delivery cost in the product price or introduce a free-shipping threshold that encourages customers to add another item to their cart.
If you would like to outsource even more of your logistics, choose a partner who can also handle warehousing, order fulfilment, and sending orders out. This leaves you with more time to focus on sales and growing your business.
In the customer’s eyes, the online store is always responsible
According to Lemmi.ee representative Mart Maidessoo, whenever something goes wrong in the delivery chain and a customer does not receive their order on time or in the expected condition, the criticism is directed at the online store. That creates a poor customer experience and additional work for the merchant.
“We have taken steps to reduce certain risks. For example, we added notes to temperature-sensitive products recommending SmartPosti parcel lockers located indoors. We also make realistic delivery promises,” said Maidessoo.
His advice to new online store owners is to look beyond price when choosing a delivery partner and make sure the service is reliable and convenient for both customers and the online store itself.
Would you like to add SmartPosti delivery to your online store? Get in touch with us.