Spotting Ecommerce Trends in Shipping Data

Shippo connects ecommerce stores, platforms, and marketplaces with shipping providers through an API and a dashboard. Wu says unexpected or high shipping costs can drive shoppers away, while the many differences among providers make building a common integration layer difficult. She describes Shippo’s customers as businesses that want to sell distinctive products under their own brands.

Wu says ready-made ecommerce tools have lowered the cost and technical effort of starting an online store. She sees differentiation, storytelling, and a memorable unboxing experience as ways for brands to build customer attachment. She points to Glossier’s social content, packaging, samples, and referral codes as examples, and says some merchants prefer their own sites because Amazon can expose shoppers to competing products.

Wu says peer-to-peer resale marketplaces are a fast-growing, though still small, segment among Shippo customers. She also recalls spikes in shipments of hoverboards, vape products, novelty gifts, and message-bearing potatoes, showing how label data can reflect short-lived product trends. Regional and specialized carriers, such as wine shippers, can also give merchants options they might not integrate on their own.

Wu says proactive tracking updates can reduce customer inquiries and give merchants chances to bring shoppers back with product suggestions. She describes scan-based return labels, where merchants pay only when a label is scanned. While easy returns help customers decide to buy, she says merchants also need to consider return abuse and whether their messaging is attracting the right customers.

Wu attributes Shippo’s growth to ecommerce expansion and persistent work in an inefficient shipping market. She says founders should focus on urgent problems customers will pay to solve, use customer feedback to shape the product, and keep refining their pitch to investors. As a manager, she works with an executive coach, sets expectations about her direct communication style, and asks colleagues to tell her when she should recognize wins more often.