How to calculate and shorten your processing time when dropshipping

If you are into dropshipping for sure you have already heard about processing time. Processing time is the span that goes from when your orders reach Yakkyofy or any other supplier, to when your parcel is actually handed over to a forwarder company.

The processing time can be very short or very long and this depends on many factors, so today we want to explain better:

how Yakkyofy calculates processing time
Why sometimes it can be longer than expected;
Why it is important to shorten it during certain periods of the year;
and which are the possible ways to shorten it and deliver the parcels to your customers faster.

Make sure to read the whole article, because we will include a few useful bonus tips!

How does processing time work?

Chinese suppliers and resellers could take up to 7 business days to process your orders. These days add up to your overall delivery performance, and your customers could end up having to wait for their items longer than necessary!

The additional waiting time could potentially lead to several complaints and prevent these customers coming back to buy from your store.

If you plan for business to work long-term, you absolutely cannot afford to lose any acquired customers, and this means that using Chinese resellers or Agents is not a solution.

The best way of action would be to choose a private supplier like Yakkyofy.

Normally, Yakkyofy takes 3 to 5 days to process your orders, since we do not manufacture products, but we purchase them from factories after receiving an order from you.

When an order is generated, our Processing Team purchases the item from the supplier, who then ships the product to our warehouse in Shenzhen. Once the product arrives, we check its quality, remove all the manufacturer documentation, invoice, and leaflets, repackage the item, and ship it to your customer.

However, there are some unexpected situations that can prolong this processing time.

Let’s see together which are the most common.

Factors that can prolong processing time

There are many factors that could prolong processing time, such as natural events, like hurricanes, wildfires, and typhoons that can slow internal shipments, and extend the span for processing your orders.

It can also happen that suppliers make mistakes, such as sending wrong variants, fewer items than expected, delaying the shipping or even receiving so many orders altogether that they end up going out of stock for certain items.

Should you decide to supply your products with Yakkyofy, one of the reasons that can prolong processing time is when a product arrives in our warehouse, and it fails to pass our quality control.

For example, our warehouse team finds that the product is broken or of a very low quality. Should this happen, we return the item to the supplier, and request for a new product to be shipped, or purchase the product from a different supplier altogether.

Another factor to keep in mind is that, if you ship lots of products in a bundle, with more than one item inside the same package, it is more likely for errors to occur, and this could cause your orders to be delayed by more than 5 processing days.

Last but not least, another reason that can prolong processing time is the high season, the so-called Q4.

How to shorten your processing time

So how can we overcome all these problems? Some of them are not predictable and will be always part of your business life. Others can be avoided or solved with some smart tricks and in some cases, you can even shorten your processing time from 5 to one business day.

So let’s see together how we can do that.

First of all, during high season peak or before Chinese holidays, when you know that deliveries can be delayed, you can prepare your customers for the idea that to get an amazing deal and discount, they would need to wait a little longer than expected.

You should convince them that, also if they need to wait a bit longer, they are special because they are one of the few that could actually get this incredible offer.

Second, if you have bundle orders you can instruct our customer assistance team on how you want to handle exceptions when these happen. For example, to avoid complaints, you can decide, as a rule, to always send away the products that arrive on time, without waiting for the ones that are late.

Or you can decide to put a discount coupon in every package that has been delayed for more than 5 days, to make your customer feel better. These are all services that Yakkyofy can provide as long as you can give us a set of rules to follow.

Last, Yakkyofy offers free warehouse space to all its customers. This means that if you decide to buy not one item at a time but to buy a little stock of products together, even 20 or 50 pieces, you can reduce your processing time and also save money.

How can it be possible? When Yakkyofy receives an order for a product already in our warehouse, we don’t need to wait anymore for the supplier to ship the product to us, but we can ship out the product directly to your customers and in this way shorten your processing time from 5 to only 1 business day. Not bad right?

Normally dropshippers avoid buying products in advance because they don’t want to spend money on renting warehouse space or for eliminating leftovers. But with Yakkyofy, you will find that buying a stock is not only easier but also more convenient.

Handling stocks with us is cheaper for you than dropshipping.

Think about it.

With Yakkyofy, you don’t need to pay for warehouse space and you will also save money on product cost because by buying a stock you can get a consistent discount on the single item price, thus increasing your margin. Then, Yakkyofy doesn’t ask for an MOQ, you can buy in bulk also a few pieces so it is almost impossible to have leftovers to dispose of.

Another factor is that you save time. Because Yakkyofy can deliver products in 3-8 business days in countries like the United States, reducing the processing time from 5 to one business day, shorten your customer delivery time to at most 9 business days and this can give you an incredible advantage over others dropshipping competitors.

What do you think? Register on Yakkyofy for free right away to start using all our amazing services.

Processing time during Q4

As you probably already know, some periods are more busy than others, during these times, shipping can be delayed and products could be out of stock from one day to the next.

We are of course talking about the Fourth Quarter, most commonly referred to as Q4, is probably the most important season of the year for a dropshipper, and it goes from the 1st October up to the 31st December. During Q4, there is a concentration of very important holidays and dates, such as Halloween, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and most importantly Christmas. It is a known fact that during this period, people tend to increase their online spending, and especially during Black Friday impulse buying reaches its peak.

Q4 is the perfect occasion to take your business to the next level, but keep in mind that while on one hand customers are more likely to purchase your products, on the other hand, stocks of items can run out quickly, leaving you with no means to fulfill your orders.

Picture it this way, during the last quarter of the year online spending is at an all time high. Everyone buys products, and the possibility of suppliers going out of stock from one day to the next is very real.

Just to give you an example, on the 11th November Chinese people celebrate the Chinese Singles Day, a holiday made up by Alibaba, that has become the biggest sales day in the world. Just last year it made 5 times Black Friday sales!

During this sales day, it often happens that suppliers go out of stock. Now imagine that you dropship your items one by one, and suppliers run out of stock, and they need some time to produce new items.

This means that you will keep your clients waiting longer and that you possibly waste money on marketing campaigns, when you could have continued selling without issues if you got even a little stock of products. The best time to purchase stocks for Q4 is between the end of September and October, so hurry up!

Collect a buffer for your shipping time

As we have seen before, when dropshipping, you should allow up to 5 days processing time + the shipping time, however, if you buy a stock with Yakkyofy, you will only have 1 processing day, which leaves you with a whole 5 buffer days for your delivery.

Share truthful delivery timelines with your customers

First rule is not to commit to unrealistic delivery times. You can’t promise your customers that they will get their products in 2 days or that they will get next day delivery – this is if you want to avoid emails over emails of complaints!

Make sure you promise a sustainable delivery timeline, while not exaggerating the shipping days. The secret is to find a balance, as you want to attract your customers attention while not losing the game to your competitors.

In a dropshipping business, shipping times and product quality are the winning combo. So make sure that you get both working in your favour!

A good idea could also be to present your delivery times on your online store’s main homepage, so that your customers know exactly when they’ll get their goodies!

Predict Product Demand

Think ahead of time and use analytics to predict what products might be in demand in certain periods of the year.

Just to give you an example, close to Halloween, people buy a lot of spooky decorations, costumes and other Halloween-related items.

Using tools like Google Trends, you can look at the products that have an increased amount of search results, and predict your winning products. Make sure you invest time in product research and analysis, as it is very important to obtain success.

Once you have your winning product, you must request stock, because in Q4 onilne spending is higher than in any other period of the year, and you want to be sure to be able to fulfill all your orders.

Why should you buy stock with Yakkyofy

Handling stocks with Yakkyofy is cheaper for you than dropshipping. Just think about it:

We don’t ask for MOQs, you can buy as much as you want;
You don’t need to pay for warehouse space;
you get stock discounts on the single item price.

So following the math, if you buy a “example of product” in dropshipping you will pay $10.00 and you will deliver your item in 5 processing days (you need always to consider the worst scenario) + 8 shipping days with Premium Special line. For a total of 13 days.

Buying a stock of 10 pieces you will pay $9.00 for each piece and you will deliver your item in max 9 days. More margin, faster deliveries.

About the shipping, as we mentioned above, Yakkyofy can deliver products in 3-8 business days in countries like the United States, UK and in some other EU countries. If you reduce the processing time from 5 to only 1 business day, your customers could get their products in as little as 9 business days, giving you an incredible advantage over your dropshipping competitors.

Moreover, if you have bundle orders you can instruct our customer assistance team on how you want to handle exceptions when these occur. For example, to avoid complaints, you can decide, as a rule, to always send away the items that arrive on time, without waiting for the ones that are late.

Moreover, if you have leftovers, we can help you get rid of them by publishing them on our public catalog for all our customers to see. It is really a win-win situation!

We’ll tell you more, with Yakkyofy you can even take it to the next level and decide to produce customised packaging and discount coupons that can be inserted in each and every package. This can help you get on your customers’ good side and can also bring them back to buying from your store: as they say you’ll catch two birds with one stone!