They say patience is a virtue, right? Well, that saying doesn’t apply to eCommerce.
In this day and age, the vast majority of your customers expect to receive their online orders within two days. That means if you want to deliver on those customer expectations, you’ve got to offer expedited shipping.
While that might sound like a daunting task, the key to really nailing expedited shipping is often as simple as partnering with the right fulfillment provider. That’s why we’ve created this guide, with three powerful tips that our own eCommerce retailers use to avoid operational and logistical pitfalls while securing customer satisfaction.
Read on to learn about expedited shipping, how it differs from other shipping models, and what steps you can take to offer it to your customers.
What is Expedited Shipping?
Expedited shipping is a type of shipping method that prioritizes faster transit times compared to standard shipping options. It’s designed to get the products you sell out to your customers faster — often within 1-3 business days, depending on the carrier and service selected.
As you can imagine, expedited shipping requires an efficient logistics operation. That’s why this shipping method is normally streamlined to:
- Minimize handling processes
- Make fewer stops
- Reduce shipping distance
- Use dedicated transportation routes
- Rely on optimized processing at fulfillment centers
Even if you’re new to expedited shipping from a business standpoint, chances are you’ve already experienced it as a consumer.
Here are a few examples:
- Amazon Prime – The eCommerce giant offers Prime customers free 1-2 day delivery on eligible orders, free same-day delivery if you meet a minimum spending threshold, and flat rate shipping if you’re outside the continental US.
- 2-Day UPS Ground – UPS is a household name for a reason. Their expedited 2-day ground shipping means your customer orders arrive within two days.
- USPS Priority Mail – USPS offers a couple expedited shipping options, including 1-3 day delivery via USPS Priority Mail and USPS Priority Mail Express.
If you’re not already set up for shipping products within a couple of days, it can seem like a costly and time-consuming undertaking. That’s why a lot of business owners choose to outsource expedited shipping fulfillment.
For example, Ware2Go supports brands in meeting the complex requirements for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) prep and Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP). Likewise, our unique plug-and-play solution enables customers to build a custom network that includes USPS priority delivery and same-day fulfillment on 2-day UPS Ground.
That means that every order received by 3pm local time is fulfilled that day to ensure a speedy delivery. But we’ll break down the benefits of outsourcing your expedited fulfillment in just a minute. First, let’s take a closer look at why your brand should expand your offerings to include expedited shipping.
How is Expedited Shipping Different From Other Shipping Options?
The core difference between expedited shipping and standard shipping methods is speed. Standard shipping times generally mean an order will be fulfilled anywhere in between 3-7 business days.
Meanwhile, expedited shipping generally means anything faster than standard options. In other words, customer orders are fulfilled within 1-3 days.
Then, there’s express shipping. A lot of third-party logistics (3PL) providers and retailers use the terms “express shipping” and “expedited shipping” interchangeably. As a result, there’s often no difference between expedited options and express shipping.
That being said, some businesses do use “express shipping” to describe either same-day shipping or next-day delivery times.
Why Should Your Business Offer Expedited Shipping?
The obvious answer here is that you’re getting orders out of the door faster. But what you might not realize is that fulfilling those orders faster will directly lead to other core benefits — including happier customers, higher conversion rates, and bigger revenue potential.
Increase Customer Satisfaction Levels
Customer satisfaction is all about giving your customers what they want — and your customers want expedited shipping. Research indicates that 46% of customers expect same-day delivery to be an option when shopping online.
By offering multiple fulfillment options like expedited shipping, you’ll also be influencing customer behavior.
For example, expedited shipping is crucial to fulfill last-minute gifts, impulse buys, event-based orders, or replacement parts.
Improve Your Conversion Rates
Losing customers at the checkout stage? Expedited shipping can fix that.
Research shows that shipping delays and a lack of quicker options at checkout lead to abandoned carts. By offering faster shipping, your customers are more likely to complete purchases and convert.
When orders arrive quickly and on time, it’s also going to reinforce a positive perception of your brand. This consistency leads happy customers to write 5-star reviews — pushing other customers off the fence and convincing them to hit “buy”.
Create Higher Revenue Potential
We’ve already talked about how expedited shipping makes your customers happy. But what we haven’t touched upon is the fact that your customers are willing to spend money on shipping in exchange for a faster delivery service.
Gen Z customers, in particular, say they’d pay up to 9% of their total order value for 2-hour shipping. Meanwhile, Millennials and customers with kids say they’d pay 8% of the order value for expedited delivery.
Expedited shipping also boosts your revenue through higher sales volume. Just look at plant-based protein brand ALOHA.
ALOHA teamed up with Ware2Go to build their own custom warehouse network, and optimize their inventory management to guarantee their products reach customers fast. By leveraging Ware2Go’s 1-2 day fulfillment capability, ALOHA secured 98% 2 day coverage and 42% 1-day coverage in strategic locations — subsequently growing sales by over 300%.
How Can Your Business Start Offering Expedited Shipping?
If you want to start offering expedited shipping as an option for customers, you’ve got to optimize and streamline your existing processes to ensure you can support that capability.
To help you get started, let’s break down the process you’ll need to follow:
1. Assess Current Logistics Capabilities
The first step towards expedited shipping is to take stock of your existing logistics operation. Engage with your workforce, stakeholders, and carrying partners to perform a full evaluation.
You should be looking for gaps or opportunities for improvement within your:
- Inventory management
- Warehouse operations
- Fulfillment processes
- Shipping and delivery
- Tech stack and integration
- Partner network (if using 3PLs)
For example, you might notice the potential to optimize your warehouse locations like ALOHA did using the Ware2Go network. Or maybe you’ll spot a gap regarding the fulfillment options currently under offer, underused tech integrations, or carrier partnerships that could help you go the extra mile.
2. Partner with a Reliable 3PL
Partnering with a 3PL can go a long way towards achieving the aims of expedited shipping. That’s because you can:
- Tap into an existing network – Outsourcing to a 3PL means you can optimize your inventory management around where your customers are based. For example, Ware2Go enables you to build a custom network from our 15+ warehouses nationwide.
- Scale faster – Partnering with a 3PL means you can instantly offer expedited shipping without any hassle and your operation can scale quickly. That’s why Ware2Go’s plug-and-play solution enables customers to build a custom network that suits their needs, making it simple to adjust alongside demand.
- Advanced technology integrations – A slick expedited shipping operation requires integrated technology to stay on top of multiple inventory locations, sales channels, and delivery methods. For example, Ware2Go’s RESTful API enables brands to integrate with 250+ platforms. That means your tech stack is always in sync and you’ll never miss a beat.
- Reduced capital expenditure – By outsourcing your expedited shipping to an experienced 3PL like Ware2Go, you don’t have to worry about capital investment. They already have the network, workforce, delivery process, and optimized shipping costs you need to get the job done.
Many sellers choose to outsource all their expedited shipping to make life simpler and ensure smooth fulfillment of all orders.
But others go for a hybrid model in which some fulfillment operations are kept in-house, while more complicated SKUs and other squeaky wheels are outsourced to a 3PL with more experience handling tricky deliveries.
3. Strategically Expand Inventory Across Warehouses
Whether working with a partner or now, taking steps to decentralize your fulfillment operation will help improve delivery speeds.
Decentralized fulfillment is all about identifying the locations of your customer base so you can relocate your inventory and get to those order locations faster. This involves expanding your warehouse network to include multiple locations that’ll boost your coverage and make last-mile delivery faster.
Ware2Go’s existing network of 15+ warehouse locations enables you to pick and choose optimal inventory locations for your inventory based on customer behavior. From there, you’ll gain access to a centralized dashboard that gives you constant sight of your inventory — even though it’s being strategically managed all over the country.
4. Leverage Technology for Smart Fulfillment
That holistic view of your decentralized inventory is going to be fundamental to your expedited shipping operation. As a result, you’ve got to ensure you’re investing in inventory management software with the right capabilities.
Adding inventory management software into your tech stack will maximize stock visibility, boost SKU performance, and enable you to optimize demand forecasting. In developing your forecasting capability, you’ll reduce stockouts and minimize overstock — saving your team a lot of time and money.
5. Optimize Packaging and Carrier Selection
The final step of your expedited shipping journey is to optimize your packaging and carrier selection. Maybe you want to deliver using UPS, USPS Priority Mail Express, or DHL Express. Then again, maybe you don’t have preferences and are looking to build your carrier selection from the ground up.
Start by building a packaging strategy that supports quick delivery. For example, you could standardize packaging and shipping labels, and invest in automated packing solutions if you aren’t outsourcing. You could also try utilizing pick-to-light or put-to-light systems that guide workers with visual cues to boost speeds.
From there, develop partnerships with carriers that specialize in expedited shipping. This could include teaming up with multiple carriers. But you could also leverage existing carrier partnerships by teaming up with a 3PL.
For example, Ware2Go’s plug-and-play FulfillmentVu platform lets you instantly select major carriers, including UPS, USPS, SurePost, DHL, FedEx, and more. That means you don’t have to stress about relationship management with four different carriers, and you can focus on growing your business instead.
Pro Tips to Optimize Your Expedited Shipping Services
No two businesses are 100% alike — and the way you develop your expedited services will be just as unique as your brand.
But there are a few pieces of conventional wisdom that apply to just about every shipping logistics operation:
#1: Distribute Inventory Strategically Across Fulfillment Centers
This is key. Decentralized fulfillment means you’ve always got inventory close to key customer hubs. As a result, shipping time frames will drop, and you’ll be able to offer a lower cost of shipping.
To achieve this, you’ll need to leverage data analytics and identify high-demand regions. You can then position your inventory accordingly.
Need help with strategic distribution? That’s Ware2Go’s bread and butter. Thanks to our nationwide network of fulfillment centers, we can decentralize your inventory to help you build a 1-2 day shipping capability overnight.
#2: Automate Your Order Routing and Fulfillment
Everything speeds up when you reduce manual intervention. Smart fulfillment software can automatically assign orders to the nearest warehouse with available stock — ensuring you meet expedited orders.
Look for platforms that offer real-time inventory tracking and integrations to ensure you’ve got eyes on your entire operation.
For example, Ware2Go’s FulfillmentVu platform offers 250+ seamless integrations, RESTful API, webhook capabilities, and EDI integration to help unify all your existing systems. That means you can oversee all your automations effectively and simultaneously.
#3: Offer Expedited Shipping as an Upsell
Remember how we said customers are willing to pay a higher shipping rate for better delivery times? Expedited shipping can be a great value-added option for customers. It places customers in control of delivery speed, and also means you don’t have to absorb all the expedited shipping costs.
On the flip side, you could also use expedited shipping as a loss leader. Simply require a minimum cart threshold to qualify for expedited shipping. That means higher sales revenue in exchange for absorbing the extra cost — which should ultimately work out as a net positive.
Conclusion
Gone are the days when expedited shipping was a luxury — in 2025 (and beyond), changing customer expectations have transformed the idea of expedited from a “nice to have” to “standard.”
Yet, even those customer expectations are less about posing a “demand” on your business and more about enhancing the customer experience. Faster shipping options empower your customers because they can choose faster shipping speeds and create a truly custom experience.
Of course, as a seller, you’ve got to be able to orchestrate 1-3-day shipping operationally and logistically if that’s the promise you’re making to your customers.
A fulfillment partner like Ware2Go enables you to instantly tap into a nationwide warehousing network, optimized processes, and a plug-and-play technology solution that gives you 100% visibility over your inventory management. You can rest easy knowing that your customers are getting exactly what they want, exactly when they want it.
