Choosing which eCommerce platform to use for your company is essential in ensuring your business operations run seamlessly. However, with so many options out there, coming up with the right choice can be quite overwhelming. So you would have made a step ahead comparing various platforms before settling on the most outstanding one.

Anyway, what are the underlying differences between these two order fulfillment solutions? How much does each of them cost? Which can be a better fit for my e-commerce business?

If you’re seeking an order fulfillment solution for your Shopify online store and find yourself asking these questions, you’ve made the right decision to come here.

With the consistent rise of global eCommerce sales, order fulfillment is one of the most significant yet complicated parts of effectively running an online store. Doing it perfectly well paves the way for a seamless experience in the day-to-day running of business operations. On the other hand, not having a correct order fulfillment process in place can lead to order cancellations, refunds, and lots of wasted time spent on rectifying easily avoidable errors. 

In this guide, we’ll look into details, of two of the best e-commerce fulfillment services  on the market, Shopify Shipping and ShippingEasy, and then break down their primary differences for you to make an informed decision about what’s most ideal for your online business.

What do we mean by the term Shopify Shipping?

Shopify Shipping  is an order fulfillment tool by Shopify, the most preferred e-commerce platform. It polishes the order fulfillment process for online stores controlled by Shopify, assisting them in managing their buyers’ purchases easily and promptly. 

Its highest-ranked features include making it possible for sellers to buy and print their shipping labels within Shopify itself and gain access to specially negotiated and fairly affordable shipping rates, thanks to its partnerships with reputable top logistics companies such as UPS, USPS, and DHL.

Shopify Shipping is available for sellers making use of Shopify. The flipper side of it is that it is relatively simple to access, and has its section on the Shopify admin page, conveniently offering online store owners the power to consolidate and manage all of their eCommerce activities on the Shopify dashboard. 

What is ShippingEasy?

ShippingEasy is specifically made for the online seller and eCommerce business that needs to automate and take away the pain from many back-end fulfillment processes.   It offers the necessary support for businesses selling on leading marketplaces and e-commerce platforms including eBay, Etsy, and Shopify, making it possible for them to sync and efficiently manage their digital orders in one single space. 

Similar to Shopify Shipping, ShippingEasy has partnerships with reliable shipping companies and can provide its users with special rates for their shipments—be they domestic or international. ShippingEasy assists its users in automating their shipping process for a hands-off fulfillment experience, from managing orders and creating labels to tracking packages. 

Some of the observable differences between Shopify Shipping vs ShippingEasy 

Now that we have gotten a vivid picture of what Shopify Shipping and ShippingEasy are, let’s look into the details of some of their differences.

1. Pricing

Shopify Shipping

If you are lucky enough to be a Shopify merchant, then Shopify Shipping is absolutely free for you. This is a clear indication that if you have an existing Shopify plan, you’ll have full and unrestricted access to Shopify Shipping. Meanwhile, Shopify itself has a free trial, after which fees apply. This varies according to the different subscription plans:

    Starter: $5/month ( strictly social media selling)

    Basic: $39/month (up to two staff accounts)

    Shopify: $105/month (a maximum of five staff accounts)

    Advanced: $399/month (a maximum of 15 staff accounts)

Better still, you can as well choose to subscribe to Shopify’s annual plans and enjoy savings of approximately 50 percent. 

ShippingEasy

With ShippingEasy, users have the privilege of choosing up to six plans including a free plan: 

    Starter: $0/month (a maximum of 25 shipments)

    Basic: $29/month (a maximum of 500 shipments)

    Plus: $49/month (a maximum of 1,500 shipments)

    Select: $69/month (a maximum of up to 3,000 shipments)

    Premium: $99/month (a maximum of up 6,000 shipments)

    Enterprise: $159/month (a maximum of up to 10,000 shipments)

Additionally, ShippingEasy’s paid plans to provide up to a 30-day free trial. As opposed to Shopify, there are no discounted annual plans. 

It’s crucial to note that ShippingEasy places restrict the number of packages each of its users is allowed to ship per month. 

For instance, users on its Starter (free) plan are allowed up to 25 shipments, whereas Basic plan users can send up to 500 shipments. This proceeds up into the thousands for its other subsequent paid plans. There exists no such hindrance with Shopify Shipping.

2. Availability

Shopify Shipping

Shopify Shipping is readily accessible by Shopify merchants in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain and can ship everywhere in the entire globe. This is an indication that if you’re an online seller situated in any of these seven countries and at the moment selling on Shopify, you won't have a problem using Shopify Shipping.

However, if you’re not based in any of these countries and need assistance with creating shipping labels, don't hesitate to take advantage of Shopify's free shipping label maker, which you can also use to create return labels. 

ShippingEasy

ShippingEasy is only accessible to sellers in the US. Unfortunately, If you’re located outside of the US (and US territories), it won't be possible for you to create an account with them.

3. Their Shipping carriers and discounts

Shopify Shipping

Shopify Shipping cooperates with leading logistics companies to provide its users discounts of 88 percent on shipping rates for various mail classes. This entails expedited shipping options like two-day and overnight delivery. 

The carriers Shopify Shipping works within the US include USPS, UPS, and DHL. Globally, Shopify works with a wide range of Oversea Carriers. 

ShippingEasy

ShippingEasy prides itself on its ability to offer significant pre-negotiated discounts with top carriers, including approximately 86 percent off UPS’s daily rates. Its main associates in the US include USPS, UPS, DHL, and FedEx. 

 Both Shopify Shipping and ShippingEasy offer these special shipping rates from within their platform, and as such, they do expect you to have your own separate account with these couriers.

4. Order fulfillment

Shopify Shipping

Shopify Shipping makes it possible for users to purchase and print shipping labels within Shopify itself, sparing you the hassle of having to head down to the post office. And since it’s built into the Shopify dashboard, there’s completely no setup required, and better still, it’s in a similar space where you manage your products, customers, and inventory.

No sooner are you ready to fulfill your orders, than you are simply required to choose the ones you want to fulfill and make sure parcel information like weight and quantity is filled in. Depending on this, Shopify Shipping will automatically calculate shipping rates and create shipping labels for you to print out at home and stick onto your packages. You can then drop them off or plan for a pickup with your chosen courier—all within the Shopify platform.

ShippingEasy

Executing orders with ShippingEasy is a no-brainer as it also makes it possible for you to generate and print shipping labels on their platform. The whole shipping process can also be automated, and this is applicable to all orders, whether they’re coming in from a marketplace or your own e-commerce website. 

Besides, you can personalize the whole shipping experience for your buyers by adding your brand logo on shipping labels (this is not accessible for its free Starter plan) and customizing tracking emails.

5. E-commerce support and integrations

Shopify Shipping

Since Shopify Shipping is constructed into the Shopify dashboard, users can with ease obtain the thousands of apps and connections present on the Shopify app store  easily. From logistics couriers and e-commerce store design  all the way  to dropshipping and marketing, the associations available to Shopify users are wide-ranging. 

This is clear proof that whether you’re running a small e-commerce store or a huge company with additional moving parts, you’re sure to find integrations that suit your business needs.

ShippingEasy

With less than 60 integrations (at the time of writing), ShippingEasy offers significantly minimal support for e-commerce businesses than Shopify. Additionally, since it’s a shipping solution, most of its integrations are connected to logistics, order and inventory management, and online marketplaces.

That being said, ShippingEasy makes it possible for users to work with its in-house marketing support. This is an add-on that’s accessible for a monthly fee starting at $14/month and has the possibility to get assistance with segmenting customers, establishing customized email campaigns, automating requests for product reviews, and many more.

6. Package tracking and insurance

Shopify Shipping

Shopify Shipping provides tracking services for all shipments, irrespective of which logistics carrier sellers decide to use.

Shopify sellers get up to $200 worth of shipping insurance coverage automatically integrated with each label they purchase—at absolutely no added cost.

 This is as long as they:

• are subscribers of the Shopify, Advanced Shopify, or Plus plan
• Make use of Shopify Payments 
• Are living in the US

US-based sellers also have access to purchase extra protection of up to $5,000 from Shipsurance. Meanwhile, Insurance claims can be comfortably filed on the Shopify platform itself. 

ShippingEasy

Similar to Shopify Shipping, ShippingEasy also provides tracking services for users who generate labels via their platform. Users can decide to track the status of their shipments on ShippingEasy itself or even the carriers’ website. 

Certain shipping services discharged through ShippingEasy entails insurance protection of up to $200 per shipment. If you’d like more coverage, ShippingEasy also partners with Shipsurance to provide coverage of up to $10,000. Based on the insurer, complaints can be filed through ShippingEasy directly. 

7. International shipping

Shopify Shipping

 E-commerce store owners have unlimited access to ship both globally with Shopify Shipping, and the ability to enjoy the simplified international shipping process.

Moreover, Shopify Shipping has built-in customs forms and produces the recommended paperwork for all international shipping labels purchased with them. As if that's not enough, sellers using DHL Express to ship from the US will have their documentation sent to customs automatically.

Similar to domestic shipments, sellers shipping internationally with Shopify Shipping can also enjoy the privilege of their specially negotiated rates and arrange for courier pickups.

ShippingEasy

With ShippingEasy, sellers have access to ship to any destination in the entire globe. The platform facilitates the process by assisting its users in preparing the recommended paperwork for customs clearance.

Moreover, ShippingEasy permits you to submit your customs forms electronically when shipping with USPS, UPS, or FedEx.

Shopify Shipping vs ShippingEasy: Which one should you opt for?

After all has been said and analyzed, which shipping fulfillment should you use—Shopify Shipping or ShippingEasy?

 There is an argument that both are excellent order fulfillment solutions. Nevertheless, there are of course certain features that set them apart that must be put into consideration when deciding.

Let's take a scenario where you have just started your online business and are trying to keep your overhead costs relatively low. ShippingEasy’s free plan, which has a maximum of 25 shipments per month will in this case be the most ideal and attractive option. Meanwhile, if you’re already running your online store on Shopify, it would perhaps be more sensible to use Shopify Shipping. This is because there is no added cost or shipment limit, and it’s also integrated into the Shopify platform, so you can effectively manage orders with ease in just one space.

Well-established e-commerce businesses or those in their expansion stage may also receive more benefits from Shopify Shipping because of the seamless integrations Shopify provides. 

 Finally, deciding on whether to go for  Shopify Shipping or ShippingEasy will definitely boil down to your location.

Shopify Shipping enjoys massive availability as it is accessible to sellers in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain. ShippingEasy on the other hand is available to only merchants in the US, who have the right to create accounts, which is required even for their free Starter plan. 

Bottom Line

In the long run, deciding on whether to use Shopify shipping, or ShippingEasy narrows down to painstakingly checking out and analyzing both solutions. Because both offer the option of trying them out for free, you can bravely dip your toes in and see what each one is like.

From a technical standpoint, Shopify Shipping seems to have an edge with its integrations. If a huge number of your customers are in the USA, Shopify Shipping will still offer better leverage on cost given the fact that it has tens of thousands of stores leveraging the cost.

 If you would like to know more about what's expected and how it is best to configure your store, feel free to reach out to us as our customers are always ready to chat. At Webinopoly, offering the best quality of digital services and solutions to our clients is our No. 1 priority. As the premier digital agency in Houston, TX USA we strongly believe that in order to efficiently guarantee quality, we must remain affirmed to the highest degree of quality-related processes, rules, and standards – a strongly convicted notion that forms the crux of Webinopoly’s QA philosophy.