What are Shipping Labels? The complete guide on all you need to know

Shipping labels share essential information with your supply chain, helping technology and people alike understand the origins and destination of your package.

Orders by the customers can get lost if the shipping labels on the parcels are not made carefully and with all the correct information. This brings down the entire customer experience and reputation of the company.

A shipping label carries all the vital information about the parcel, such as the contents and the shipping address. Different carriers use different templates for printing shipping labels, and they may also carry a variety of other information like special instructions for transport, etc.

Creating a shipping label is such a crucial part of shipping any parcel, it is essential to do it the right way. Generating proper shipping labels is one of the important tasks of shipping management and good shipping management software makes your job much easier.

Orderhive makes the entire process of printing shipping labels extremely easy and seamless. You can print a shipping label for the corresponding order any time with just a few clicks.

Also read: Download & Print Shipment Labels (orderhive.com)

Shipping labels can be generated in two ways:

#1 From Orders

Go to Orders
Double click the Order for which you want to print the label from the Shipped section
Hover over the Shipment section, and you will see Print Label/Download Label buttons

#2 From Shipments

Go to Shipments
Select the Order that is in transit
Click on More > Print/Download Label

Another way to do this is from the ‘Order Details’ page.

Simply double-click the order for which you want to print the label in the transit section.
Click on More > Print/Download Label.

#3 Printing the Shipment Labels in Bulk

Visit the ‘Shipments’ section
Select the Orders for which you want to print the labels
Click on Print Label/Download Label at the bottom of the screen

Custom shipping label template using Orderhive

Orderhive provides multiple templates for creating shipping labels. Users can explore the templates and select the ones that suit their needs the best.

To look at all the templates provided by Orderhive, follow these steps:

Go to Settings
Click on Shipping
Scroll down to the Shipping label templates section.
Click on Preview to see how the template will look like.

However, the actual USP of the tool lies in its flexibility. Orderhive allows the users to create custom shipping label templates within the software by its custom shipping label maker.

By creating a custom template, the users can include all the information that they require and take out the fields that they don’t.

Create Custom Shipment Label Templates (orderhive.com)

Go to Settings
Scroll down to Shipping
Click on Create Shipping label template.
Here, you can edit the values for different parameters like Page Header, Template Name, Shipping Label Item Header. Page Footer, etc. All of these are to be coded using HTML.
Once you’ve created your template, you can then enter the values in each of the fields and create your custom shipping labels easily.

People who are not aware of shipping labels might have always thought of how shipping labels work. Let’s see everything about the working of the shipping label as well as its importance.

A shipping label consists of all the essential information to provide the correct direction to packages until they reach the accurate destinations. All the information displayed on the shipping label helps track it at every stage, ensuring the best service. They help to get read by machines and humans for making the delivery process smoother and more manageable. Every bit of shipping label information is vital to ensure a safe package delivery.

A shipping label has the below-mentioned information on it –

Source and destination, your address
Package weight
Internal shipping information
Barcode for tracking the shipment
Priority of the order

The above-mentioned is the primary and mandatory information required to deliver the package as quickly as possible.

Structure of a shipping label

1. Name and address of the sender

2. Name and address of the recipient

3. Barcode for reading and tracking the shipment

4. Order ID (Unique Number) – it is generated when you placed the order

5. Postal barcode

6. Tracking ID – a number provided to the customer for tracking their shipment

7. Service level, i.e., Express or Standard

Important Note – “Standard shipping label size – 4 x 6 inches (10 x 15 cm)”

If the standard size does not fit your package, other shipping label sizes that you can consider are – 6 x 3 inches and 4 inches.

If there is no shipping label on your package, there are full chances your order can get delivered to the wrong address or might get delayed or misplaced. Any such situation can directly lead to loss of customers as well as financial loss. That’s why a well-structured and proper shipping label is essential to attach to your shipping package. Also, it is imperative to choose the correct shipping label printer so that it doesn’t get faded or washed away in the middle of the shipment journey.

Importance of shipping labels

Easy transportation

The shipping label that is attached to the package helps to get sorted using an automated sorting system. It makes the package clear from the queue quickly based on the sorting system. Shipping labels assist the package in reaching the final destination of the customer smoothly. Also, it helps to reduce the overall cost to the companies and enhances efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Helps in tracking customers’ package

Customers always want an easy and hassle-free way to track their shipment. Using a shipping label, you can offer your customers a simple way to track their packages. The package that you had ordered online can easily get tracked via the tracking information displayed on the shipping label. In this way, you can keep your customers informed about their shipment status at every stage of the delivery.

Offers accurate information

The barcode which is displayed on the shipping label contains all the information about the shipment. However, it is a cost-effective and better way to store data. It is easier than manual entry work, but it avoids human errors and saves a lot of time.

There are full chances of returning products by customers, which may happen when the ordered product doesn’t match customers’ expectations. Other reasons for product return include wrong size, wrong color, damaged product, and more.

In such a case, it is evident that the customer will return the product. Being a renowned and reputed e-commerce company, you must offer the best customer service. When it is about returning products, then it begins with the return labels.

Product return is an integral part of any e-commerce business. The more effortless the return process, the more it will impact customer relations and help streamline the return process internally. In addition, return shipping labels make full surety on the fast delivery back to the seller that helps in enabling the seller to process all the refunds back to the customer quickly.

What are return shipping labels?

A return shipping label is a pre-paid and pre-addressed postable label that helps customers return their purchased product to the seller. You can say a return label is actually a sticker that is attached to the box. The label includes all the essential information related to the return package, like the shipping barcode and address. All this information helps to track the package and returned it correctly to the warehouse or seller.

Some of the top benefits of a return shipping label cover performance, customer satisfaction, and convenience. If you are using shipping labels, there is no need to worry about adding postage as the seller has already included shipping fees on the shipping label. It helps to eliminate mistakes that may happen with address and optimizes the whole return process. Also, it builds the best customer experience.

Understanding return shipping label is not enough unless you know it’s working.

How does a return shipping label work?

The purpose of shipping software is to build shipping labels. The seller’s requirements include choosing a shipping carrier, supplying postage funds, and mentioning the addresses. Return shipping labels highlight all the features like the address of the customers in the “From” field and the seller’s address in the “To” field and the relevant postage.

After the whole information gets completed, the shipping software will mail a print of the return shipping label to the customer. If you know how to print return address labels, you can also send that to your customer after printing. It is essential to know that there is no mail deadline for return shipping labels. So you can perform that work without taking any stress.

How to create a return shipping label?

Return labels are built with the help of shipping software at home, post office, or at an office supply chain. No matter which software you are using, there are three simple steps for generating a return label –

Select a shipping carrier and a mail class

When you are thinking of building a return label for your own cause, you will have to pick that shipping carrier you want to and under which mail class the package will fall.

Write down the address

You will need to mention the return address of your business to the label. That return label should be the exact location that is agreed to receive the returned item.

Don’t forget to pay for your postage

You must pay to cover the cost of turning the product. By doing this, your customer will not have to pay to return their product.

Above, we had tried to explain everything about the return shipping labels that you can read all at once and on one page.

Although there is a large variety of shipping label printers available today, all of them can be broadly classified into two categories:

Inkjet/Laser Printers
Thermal Label Printers

1. Inkjet Or Laser Printers

Since these printers use toners and cartridges that need to be replaced regularly, the printing costs pile up over time, especially if you’re printing significantly large numbers of shipping labels.

Moreover, with Inkjet printers, there’s always the risk of the ink getting smeared or smudged due to extreme weather conditions as well as rough handling. With a document as important as a shipping label, the risks increase substantially.

Laser printers can print with a lot more precision as compared to Inkjet printers. However, since they also use toner cartridges, the costs skyrocket when you’re printing higher quantities.

Despite these shortcomings, if you’re already using Inkjet or Laser printers to print your labels, it’d be a good idea to protect them from rain and mishandling by adding a protective cover on top of it.

One way to do this is by using waterproof label rolls. You can also go economical by simply sticking Scotch tape/Sellotape on your labels, thereby making it practically waterproof and scratch-resistant.

2. Thermal Label Printers

Thermal label printers remove the need to install costly toner cartridges. They emboss the characters on the paper by heating specific portions.

This technology, although costly initially, create shipping labels that are much more durable than Inkjet printers. The labels can withstand extreme temperatures and harsh conditions without any added protection and can retain close to 100% accuracy for extended periods.

If you’re okay with a higher, albeit one-time cost and are looking to print medium to a large number of shipping labels, it’s advisable to use Thermal printers.

Things to remember while selecting a shipping
label printer

Once you’ve zeroed in on the kind of printer you want to get, you can then look at some of the finer details and decide which model suits your needs the best.

Here are some of the things you should keep in mind while choosing your ideal shipping label printer:

Size Adjustable

If you’re sending out parcels of different shapes and sizes, it’s only natural that you need to print labels of different dimensions as well. Moreover, if you ship various products, your labels may also contain different information for each product and differ in size.

Hence, it’s advisable to check if the printer allows you to print labels with different dimensions. Some printers have pre-defined dimensions that you can select from, while a few highly advanced printers even allow you to choose the length and width of your shipping labels.

Accuracy

When you’re printing shipping labels, accuracy takes precedence over almost everything else. Hence, while choosing a shipping label printer, always keep an eye out for its resolution.

Better the resolution of a printer, the crispier its readability. Not only letters but also barcode readability increases drastically when printed with a higher resolution. This helps the scanners to quickly scan your packages and increases the overall efficiency.

Efficiency

As the eCommerce industry continues to grow leaps and bounds around the world, customers today expect lightning-fast deliveries. Companies are always looking to expedite every part of their supply chain, and printing is crucial in that process.

When you purchase a printer with higher printing speeds, the minutes, even seconds, that you save can gradually compound into hours, driving efficiency and higher profits for your company.

Connectivity

Connectivity is yet another important criterion that you must keep in mind while choosing your perfect printer. Printers today come with a variety of connectivity options, with some models even offering wireless connections.

Keep in mind that you only need to pay for the functions that are going to be useful to you. So if you’re using a wired connection between your computer and the printer, you need not go for a high-end, Bluetooth-enabled shipping label printer.

However, if you’re someone who likes to print things via a laptop, a tablet, or a mobile phone, you can explore the models that offer those services.

Prompt Customer Care Services

Printing is often a 24/7 activity in most companies. Hence, it’s extremely important to have strong customer support in case you run into some trouble with your printer at wee hours and need assistance with it immediately.

Shipping products in a timely and accurate manner is a must in today’s competitive ecommerce market. Without an ecommerce automation solution, you will need to do the process manually, which is both difficult and time-consuming. That would require you to fill in a lot of details on the shipper’s website before you can download the shipping label. This can be a complicated task for online sellers, but with Orderhive, you can print shipping labels for various 3PL service providers right from your dashboard.

You might think that a shipping label is just a simple sticker with a few pieces of information on it. But it is an important component that ensures the smooth functioning of the supply chain. Every detail mentioned on them contributes to quick and accurate delivery, so automating the process is essential.

Especially when your business starts operating higher volumes, automating your shipping label generation and printing is the only way you can keep your customers delighted. In this quick guide, we will see how you can print shipping labels for different logistics carriers on Orderhive:

Firstly, you will need to integrate the respective shipping carrier with your Orderhive.

There are two ways to print shipping labels. You can either print individual shipping labels or print them in bulk as required. For printing individual labels, you need to go to the Orders section and follow these steps:

Select the order for which you want to create the shipping label by double-clicking on it.
Simply hover your cursor over the Shipment area, and you will find that print Label/Download Label buttons will appear.
Click on it, and you are all set!

For printing Shipping Labels, you can also go to the Shipments section and follow the below steps:

Select the orders that are in the Transit stage and click on More.
Next, click on Print/Download Label, and you are ready to go.

To print shipping labels in bulk, go to the Shipments section and follow the below steps:

Select all the orders for which you want to create shipping labels.
Now, click on the Print Label/Download Label button located at the bottom part of the screen.

The process mentioned above for generating shipping labels is applicable to all shipping carriers integrated on your Orderhive. Let us have a look at the leading logistics companies that you can integrate with your Orderhive platform for a seamless shipping experience.