September 2022

Developments in the World of E-Commerce

Welcome to E-Comm Unboxed, our monthly newsletter!

Here we showcase major updates from the e-commerce world, our partners, and Soapbox.

If you have any feedback or would like to contribute, let us know.

In this edition of our newsletter, we recap September’s software updates, E-Comm Elevated Podcast episodes, recent blog posts, and more.

Now, let’s kick things off with a deep dive into holiday surcharges.

The Front Page

In The News

2022 Holiday Surcharges: How to Get Ready Now

Q4 is an exciting and challenging time that presents unique opportunities for sellers to grow and succeed. Given the increased volume and shipping demand this time of year, shipping carriers have already started implementing holiday surcharges to adjust for the overall cost of shipping packages.

In our latest blog post, we look at holiday surcharges by carriers, how they can impact your business, and tips for optimizing your fulfillment strategy in light of these temporary changes. Or, if you’re pressed for time, check out our key takeaways to save money on your holiday shipping below:

1. Suggest that your customers ship their packages with longer shipping times.
2. Always use the smallest packaging possible, and if an order is heavy, consider splitting it into multiple packages.
3. Research shipping providers to see which one has the best deal for the specific package you’re shipping.

Soapbox Announcements

We're excited to announce that Soapbox is now available on the Shopify App Store. You can easily access our platform and manage your orders, inventory, shipping, warehousing, and returns from the Shopify 3rd-party app section. To learn more, head to the Shopify App Store.

Soapbox is elated to announce our official acceptance into the UPS Ready Program. As a certified vendor, we easily plug into small, medium, enterprise, and e-commerce businesses to streamline all processes. Simple, streamlined, and designed for scale - Soapbox is the one software for all of your fulfillment needs. Manage shipping, inventory, packaging, rates, and label printing all in one place.

Soapbox also provides WMS functionality to help manage warehouse operations as you continue to grow. All UPS customers are welcome to engage with Soapbox to discuss integrations and how Soapbox can help streamline your operations and help scale your business. Head to our blog post to learn more, or contact us at support@soap-bx.com for additional information.

Tech Talk

We introduced new features, made enhancements, and applied a few bug fixes to our software in August.

Let’s take a look at the biggest updates:

New Features & Enhancements

• When connecting a Shopify storefront, users are now required to select the location to which Soapbox will sync inventory.
• Users can now update addresses for imported open orders if modified on their Shopify storefront.

Bug Fixes

If you recently encountered any of the following bugs on the Soapbox platform, they have now been fixed:

• Session Expired modal appears randomly
• An error page is displayed after an attempt to add an ACH payment option
• Bundles pagination issues
• The “Additional Handling” toggle does not show up for users with their own UPS carrier account
• Carton-related package appears selectable when the carton is deleted
• Searching for products by SKU in the Inbound Shipment modal not returning results

Curious about how our software can help your business? You can create a free account or attend our Platform Demo Webinars every Monday from 10-10:30 AM PST.

Click here to add our webinar to your calendar.

Outside The Box Insights

E-Comm Elevated, our Soapbox-produced podcast, provides a platform for thought leadership and to share exciting, transformational ideas in the digital commerce space. In September, we had the pleasure of interviewing two entrepreneurs with a wealth of knowledge on product development.

Gembah

We interviewed Zack Leonard, founder and president of Gembah. Gembah is an all-in-one platform made for product creators, having helped design for brands like Under Armour, MUD/WTR, and more.

To learn more about Zack’s business journey and how Gembah helps entrepreneurs bring their products to life, tune into our E-Comm Elevated episode.

Stikit Charge

Next, we interviewed Jackson Weinreb, founder and CEO of Stikit Charge. During his freshman year in college, Jackson was inspired to create a wireless, portable phone charger. As such a young entrepreneur, Jackson dealt with his fair share of self-doubt. In our episode, he shares tips on handling feedback, what advice to take as a young entrepreneur, and how to get sales going once you have reached the market.

If you’re ready to learn more, tune in to our latest episode.

Network News

Sharing is caring, and we love talking about the great customers and partners that are working with Soapbox. This space is dedicated to updates, announcements, and cool innovations coming from our partners and customers. Let’s dive in!

Partner Portal

Podium is a comprehensive marketing and communication platform for businesses across various industries, including retail, home services, healthcare, and more. Powered by text messaging, Podium helps businesses increase leads and revenue, communicate more effectively with customers, and get more done in less time.

Head to Podium’s website to learn more about this Soapbox partner.

A Look Ahead

We’re going to be staying busy at Soapbox HQ in September. Here’s a peek at some topics we’ll be tackling in our next newsletter:

• Black Friday Checklist: From stocking up on products and packaging to social media planning and more, we deep-dive into what sellers need to know to prepare for the holiday season.
• E-Comm Elevated Featured Guests:
• Austin Kreinz, founder and CEO of Atomix Logistics
• Nick Raschke, COO at DOE Media

Closing Thoughts

Thank you for reading E-Comm Unboxed. We’ll see you next time with more updates and inside scoops from the world of e-commerce.

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