Whether you're just starting to sell products or you’re increasing sales, creating a shipping strategy for your business is essential. It can help you save time and money, enhance the customer experience, and grow your business.

There are several factors to consider when you’re planning a smart shipping strategy for your approach. Explore resources based on what you’re shipping, your destination, shipping costs, the speed you need, and shipment frequency. If you’re shipping freight, that’s covered in this business shipping guide, too. You’ll also get tools and tips to help your customers easily manage their returns and deliveries.

What you’re shipping matters—to you, your customers, and us. There’s more to consider than whether it goes in a box or an envelope. You want to protect your product, reduce costs, and ship more sustainably.

Depending on your product, you may need to stock up on cushioning. Packing supplies like peanuts and bubble mailers can help your shipment arrive undamaged. Efficiently packing your shipments also keeps your product safe on its journey. It can save you money, too. Have you heard of dim weight? It refers to the amount of space a package occupies in relation to its actual weight. By calculating dim weight, you can minimize extra space—and shipping costs.

Simply bring your items to our packing experts at many convenient locations. They can professionally package your products for you.

You can get your shipment tested by the FedEx Packaging Lab—it’s free with a FedEx account. Testing your packaging before you ship can help prevent damage.

Read real-world advice from a FedEx packaging engineer.

See some packaging options that protect your product and lessen your environmental impact.

Watch a how-to video on protecting breakable shipments.

To find the most cost-effective small business shipping service, calculate your shipping rate. Simply enter the details about your domestic or international shipment.

FedEx rates are calculated based on factors such as origin and destination ZIP codes, packaging, dimensions, and weight. Learn how we estimate domestic shipping rates and international shipping costs.

Open a FedEx^® business account to save on shipping and surcharges.

If you're shipping multiple packages from the same origin to the same destination, you may be able to save with FedEx multiweight pricing. This pricing option compares the total cost of sending multiple shipments versus treating all the packages as a single shipment. It then automatically applies the lower pricing.

Get rewarded for small business shipping. Sign up for FedEx Rewards to earn gift cards simply by shipping.

If you’re shipping envelopes or packages within the U.S., you have several domestic delivery options. Shipping domestic freight? Get an overview of our freight services and packaging.

If you’re shipping envelopes or packages to another country, choose from these international delivery options. If you need international small business freight shipping services, explore rates, services, and packaging.

Understand the total landed cost.

Plan ahead to make passing through customs easier.

Fill out any necessary documents online using FedEx^® Global Trade Manager.

Familiarize yourself with FedEx international shipping resources.

Use the FedEx International Shipping Assist tool to be more efficient.

Learn how to enable Electronic Trade Documents (ETD).

Let's say you're sending a contract that needs to be signed ASAP. If you go with FedEx Express, it could arrive as fast as the same day.

But next time, you planned ahead. You could ship a non-urgent package to another business with FedEx Ground. It's a low-cost shipping service that is faster to more locations than UPS Ground. 

Or you could choose FedEx Home Delivery to ship to a customer any day of the week. We offer Saturday and Sunday deliveries at no extra charge.

And depending on the origin and destination addresses, your FedEx Ground or FedEx Home Delivery shipment could get there in just one day.

As your sales increase, your shipping volume and frequency will too. That's when scheduling a one-time pickup, automatic pickups, or recurring pickups makes sense. If you have a few packages that need to be picked up, schedule a one-time pickup online. If you ship regularly, but not every day, scheduling automatic pickups might be your best bet. If you need packages picked up often, schedule recurring pickups. Learn more about scheduling pickups and see prices.

Air freight offers day-definite delivery of U.S. or international shipments. Calculate air freight rates before you ship.

LTL freight shipping can be economical because it requires only a portion of the trailer space. Get started by entering your shipment details or getting freight quotes from multiple carriers.

For shipments under 250 lbs., save by using the FedEx^® Great Rates Hotline. Get discounts on FedEx International Economy^® Freight and FedEx International Priority^® Freight shipments over 150 lbs.

For shipments over 250 lbs., use our MyQuote calculator for competitive last-minute rates. See all U.S.-outbound shipments that ship via FedEx International Economy Freight or FedEx International Priority Freight.

One of the big benefits of FedEx Delivery Manager is proactive notifications with photo proof of delivery. It provides peace of mind by showing customers that their packages have arrived. If a customer doesn’t have FedEx Delivery Manager, they can just enter a tracking number to use this feature. Download our marketing toolkit to share the benefits with your customers.

Don’t forget about your own tracking! Set your business up for success with a personalized advanced tracking dashboard. You’ll be able to track up to 20,000 shipments. You can also view estimated delivery windows to keep customers in the loop. There’s no one-size-fits-all tracking option for every business. So compare your tracking options to make an informed decision.