Difference between Shipping and Delivery
Updated on: August 24, 2022 | Teachable Tech 🕔 5 min read
In general, there is a minor difference between shipping and delivery. In most cases, they both represent the designated final destination for the delivery of your product and both are used comprehensively while administering an Ecommerce business. Companies and retailers must use both services with marked differences to avoid customer complaints, inconvenience, and disappointment, and we should be clear about letting our customers know what their shipping and delivery dates are to avoid complaints from unhappy customers if their item is time-sensitive.
Shipping and delivery are two terms that are synonymous with each other. If anyone shops online, the product company gives them two dates: the shipping and delivery date, which in terms have two meanings in logistics and with e-commerce taking stage in today’s world.
We’ve outlined the definition of shipping v/s delivery, so let us look at the significance of the two:
Shipping is the time, day, or date when the products leave the supplier’s warehouse. If the seller tells you that the product they sold you is shipped, it means that it is already on its way to you. It typically refers to when an item has left the warehouse of the supplier and is ready for the next stage, which is delivered to the customer. This process involves loading products onto vehicles or ships and transporting them to a distribution warehouse. Shipping can be a complex process, and it is important to choose the right mode of transportation for each type of good and consider sending small items to the customers that can be sent using the local postal service or the best courier service, like FedEx.
Delivery is when the product reaches the end-user. This delivery stage refers to getting the goods transported to its final destination, which is the customer’s doorstep. The delivery signifies the time, day, or date when the buyer gets the goods they have purchased, and this can be done by many modes of transportation, including planes, trains, and boats.
What’s The Difference between Shipping and Delivery?
Shipping
- Shipping means that the item has left the supplier’s warehouse.
- For smaller parcels that can be shipped through the local postal service.
- The shipping date is the date the order is sent from the warehouse.
- Shipments can take many business days, as it depends on the distance between the warehouse and the address of the consumer.
- It originally referred to as any parcel sent using transportation via sea or ship.
Delivery
- Delivery means the date when the package will arrive at the end customer’s doorstep.
- The delivery date is when the customer finally gets the order.
- Delivery has a standardized timeline and an expected date of delivery as it is directly sent product to the customer, and a tentative date when the items are scheduled to reach the customer.
- Delivery was originally referred to as distributing parcels, physical products, and specialized goods (water, electricity, etc.).
How to Track Shipping and Delivery Products?
Barcodes are an important factor in the entire order delivery process. Modern shipping and logistics would be incomplete without them, and they are helpful in reducing shipping errors.
Managing and shipping large numbers of orders can be quite difficult to track without barcode technology. In the absence of a barcode system like this to track packages, keeping track of products and orders would be impossible, but with barcodes, you can track shipments to the tiniest details accurately.
Barcode systems are used in inventory stores as part of the items' purchase and return processes, in warehouses, and fulfillment centers. It is also helpful for tracking inventory and packages, by courier companies to locate and track shipments, and at times on invoices to help with accounting.