As an eCommerce merchant, you look for ways to lower operating expenses, save time, and win over would-be customers.

The Instant Courier Network from Easyship was created to help you do all these things at once. So what is an Instant Courier Network?

Basically, it's your "in" with every global shipping and logistics company. Joining our business-level network for shippers is a competitive advantage for most small businesses. The main benefits of joining the Instant Carrier Network include:

Access to pre-negotiated shipping rates up to 91% off listed retail prices
Access to the perks of linking your store directly with courier services
Access to shipping automation that saves time on shipping processes

When you use Easyship, you become a member of the Instant Courier Network. Next time you calculate shipping costs and wonder – am I actually getting the cheapest rates? – you'll know the answer is a "Yes." That's because Easyship is a direct partner with all global courier services, and now you are too.

You'll also gain a suite of powerful features that streamline your shipping processes. For example, shipping automation to optimize your store checkout. Automated duties and tax calculations. Warehousing partnerships to scale globally without the hassles. And this is just the beginning.

Here’s a quick overview of the savings and benefits of the Easyship Instant Courier Network.

1. Access Shipping Rates up to 91% Off

Think back to when you started in eCommerce. Like most merchants, you probably read blogs on how to create a cost-effective shipping strategy. To find the cheapest rates, it was suggested that you compare rates and negotiate with couriers for a discount.

Thing is, shipping couriers don’t offer discounted rates to small and medium-sized businesses. Couriers like USPS and FedEx require a mega-volume of monthly shipments to access savings or features that help you streamline operations.

Fortunately, there’s a better way to access the guaranteed best rates on shipping. As a business partner with all global couriers, Easyship gives you direct access to our pre-negotiated business-level shipping rates. This means you see all shipping rates at up to 91% off retail prices.

We’re also the only shipping platform that has these partnerships. By contrast, when other shipping platforms say they save you money, they’re actually just presenting you with full-price retail from the courier sites.

To get these shipping discounts, use the Get A Quote feature in the Easyship dashboard. Or pop over the Free Shipping Rate Calculator, shown below.

Seen here, you save 40% on USPS Priority, 15% off Priority Mail Express, and 40% off Priority Signature with Easyship pre-negotiated rates. These rates are sourced directly from courier sites in real-time, then the ‘in network’ discount is applied.

Visibility of the guaranteed-cheapest rates anywhere lets you ship with confidence.

2. Leverage Dynamic Rates at Checkout

These days, buyers have many reasons to abandon their shopping carts. With our Rates at Checkout feature, shipping won’t be one of them.

Dynamic Rates at Checkout is a cart optimization that automatically transfers the best rates (with your discount) from couriers sites to your store checkout. This way, your buyers get accurate and real-time shipping rates at bottom-dollar prices. It’s the go-between for customers and your discounted shipping rates.

Automating your shipping quote process helps put the kibosh on cart abandonment. After all, 6 in 10 shoppers say they abandon carts due to unexpectedly high shipping costs.

Seen below is a store checkout equipped with Rates at Checkout.

With Rates at Checkout, your cart page auto-displays three shipping options: the cheapest, the fastest, and the best-value option. These rates are pre-calculated based on the order specifics, such as delivery destination, package weight, plus any duties and taxes for international orders.

By linking your store to the courier network via Rates at Checkout, you can offer the guaranteed-best rates on shipping to boost conversions.

3. Ship Globally As Easily As Domestically

Say you’re a crowdfunding company that’s eyeing international shipping as it expands into full-time eCommerce. First off, great idea! Who wouldn’t want to access billions of customers instead of millions?

For newbies, though, international shipping presents a lot of questions: What’s the deal with duties and taxes? Customs paperwork? Are there regional or local shipping companies that offer better rates than global express couriers?

When you’re part of the Easyship Instant Courier Network, global shipping is just as easy as domestic shipping.

This is because our powerful shipping automation handles most processes around international shipping for you. Of course, you still get the same rock-bottom rates on international shipping as domestic. You also gain full visibility of all available global couriers, including regional and local companies.

This mix of savings and automation, when networked with to all couriers services worldwide, really does make short work of international shipping. Here’s how.

Dynamic Duties and Taxes at Checkout: This cart feature automatically shows international customers any duties and taxes due for their order. Just like Rates at Checkout, this is a hands-free way to increase conversions while providing much-valued transparency on shipping costs to buyers.

Automatically generated customs paperwork: Every international order auto-generates its own customs paperwork based on the shipment details. Since your store is linked to the courier, both you and your courier have all the documents you need to clear customs and complete delivery. Plus, shipping labels are ready to download and print in seconds.

With automated document generation and the lowest rates, international shipping is much more approachable.

4. Scale with Global Warehousing and Logistics

Say your LA-based rave apparel brand is popping-off in Berlin. You decide to start shipping to Germany to capitalize on the fifth-largest eCommerce market in the world.

Scaling your business means finding cost-effective ways to ship internationally. But the challenge of growing is always growing lean.

Best practices for global logistics suggest that you store inventory in Germany. With Easyship's Instant Courier Network, you get partner-level savings from warehousing companies and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) in Germany and more.

Using warehouse partners in Germany lets you scale your fulfillment capabilities without incurring extra overhead costs. You can provide faster delivery, which customers love, without spiking delivery costs. You’ll also realize huge cost savings by using local shipping and fulfillment in three ways:

Save on duties and taxes when you send one large inventory shipment instead of multiple smaller shipments
Save on shipping costs by shipping in bulk instead of piecemeal
Save on last miles delivery with local courier rates instead global rates from your LA warehouse to doorsteps in Berlin

With a global courier network at hand, you can access the most reliable partners in whatever market you need. If you like, Easyship experts can help you understand and make these connections. Plus, you’ll get the guaranteed lowest rates on shipping overseas so you know you’re doing it right.