From customer satisfaction, to customer acquisition, lower shipping cost plays a significant role for online store owners. Regardless of the size of your company, quality and speedy distribution of products are imperative.
It’s becoming easier for big brands to get discounts. Every year our shipping costs increase, but it seems like these companies are getting better prices.
This blog will show you how to reduce shipping costs and rank better on the search engines.
- Reduce the weight of packages
Shoppers make expensive mistakes when it comes to purchasing items online, not realizing shipping costs for certain items are outright outrageous.
When it comes to keeping costs low when shipping packages, one key factor is the dimension weight. When dealing with heavy or large packages, make sure you’re providing accurate measurements in order to avoid excessive shipping fees.
With lightweight packaging and pricing that encourages the use of ultra-lightweights, shipping costs are reduced which will help with profit margins.
For those shipping very heavy items, check the Flat Rate packaging offered by carriers. They offer a standardized rate no matter how much the value of the package is.
Helping businesses save a few ounces in every shipment is just one of Lightweight’s sustainable packaging practices. Whether you want to make your business more profitable or do good for the environment, our lighter wrapping techniques are worth checking out.
- Offer local delivery or pickup
One way to reduce shipping costs is not to use a carrier at all. A recent trend coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic is people shopping through local, independent businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic reintroduced the need for you to examine what’s available near you before ordering something from another state or country. Nearly a third of buyers say they’ve bought something online and had it delivered locally during the pandemic according to our latest consumer trends data.
Profit by decreasing shipping costs with a local delivery option. Send products to nearby customers. You may also allow them to come into your store to pick up orders. This can help you save money and it offers convenience for customers that don’t want the wait of shipment delivery.
Giving customers the choice to get local delivery removes the barriers to purchase, which impacts your bottom line. This also gives you the chance to lower shipping costs and build customer loyalty.
- Choose the Right-sized Packaging
When thinking about cutting shipping costs, one thing that you can do is change your packaging. By looking at what you send and how often you send it, you can work with your shipper to find the best possible choices.
For example, you could use a poly mailer instead of a box or even a padded envelope if you need extra protection. Purchasing large packaging that is then full produces job entrapment when it comes to the lifecycle of parcels and returns because resources are wasted to recycling materials.
When shipping, the size and weight of a package can significantly impact your running costs. Cardboard is heavy, but if you keep your weight low, you’ll be able to make strides in meeting deadlines.
However, you can still save money on your packaging by researching what the carrier will offer for free. Many provide branded and customizable packages at no charge.
The USPS offers packs with various sizes when you pay for shipping, and other companies also offer packaging to fit your packages.
When it comes to ordering custom packaging, you might get it for free or pay a lower price if you only order the types of packages you use most often.
Take measurements of your products and determine how many pieces you supply at a time to see what size packages will best suit most orders. Consider what items you tend to provide on a regular basis and order packaging based on those numbers. If sales are split between one or two different products, ordering the item in bulk is most efficient.
- Know When Rates Change
Stay on top of pricing changes to make sure your product is still affordable. Marketing companies receive reports from their shipping carriers every year and sometimes have to change their commissions from their suppliers in order to stay up-to-date with the changing economy and costs like labor and fuel.
We keep you up to date with the latest rates through our blog. Last updated, shipping rates in 2021 went up for some countries.
- Use Flat-Rate Shipping When Possible
Flat-rate shipping simplifies variable costs into fixed costs, so if you plan to ship 10 items, for example, you know exactly how much it’ll cost. This is especially helpful for e-commerce stores or those who like to ship from a central location.
You can set up shipping rates for your customers in the checkout area of your Shopify store.
Flat rates can be structured within shipping zones or set for general parameters such as price or weight. For example, US customers could have flat rates of $5 and $3 with different parameters like pricing eligibility, their choice of flat rate, and amount.
