As suppliers, it might seem like we’re not maximizing our shipping potential. But when you compare pricing for the same product on different shopping sites, you’ll see that their standards differ.
Communication is vital for every company, even ecommerce companies. It’s essential to do your job well and satisfy your customers, which is second priority in importance only to ensuring safety of both yourself and the people you are shipping.
Seeing how customers want the best, this guide will help you save on shipping costs to provide a better customer experience and increase revenue in your store.
Here are 6 Ways you can do to help you reduce your shipping cost.
- Reduce Weight of Packages
Weight is a crucial factor in shipping parcels to customers. The heavier and the larger the weight, the more it will cost to ship.
Lightweight packaging is good for reducing shipping costs and to increase profit margins because it only takes a few cents per package.
Some ways to reduce package weight include:
- Pack ecommerce products in corrugated boxes. Corrugated boxes provide a stronger and lighter packaging solution for customers. The boxes have rows of small air pockets in between the product and its outer wrapping.
- Pack items with lightweight packaging materials. Some of these include air pillow, packing paper, bubble wrap, foam inserts, Versa Pak wadding rolls, and excelsior. The goal is to keep your item secured and lower the weight.
- Design a customized crate. Creating a custom clay box will eliminate excess wrapping and packing materials. If you have an item that appeals to the masses and is easily packaged, you may gain the edge in terms of more efficient shipping costs.
With simple packing practices that require less materials, you can save significant amounts of money in your packaging costs over time. Over the course of a cycle of orders, this could be worth it by helping to increase profit margins and return on investment.
- Choose the Right Size Packaging
As people think about ways to lower shipping costs, one thing you can do is change your packaging like retailers have done.
Sending packages can be expensive, so it’s not a bad idea to size them to be smaller than what’s really necessary so the owner doesn’t feel like you charged them for no reason. For example, some packaging isn’t made for conveying packages and is better used for things like virtual goods, or items that are fragile.
Shipping is dependent upon weight and size when shipping through UPS or USPS. By trimming down weight, you are essentially saving time by speeding order processing and shipping.
If you want to save money, it’s important to know the quantities of packaging that you order most often. One way to track this is by watching how many types and sizes of packages for the same product you order within a certain period of time.
Begin by defining how much you ship a unit of product. This information will help determine what size package would typically fit your orders that take the longest to fill. If you’re selling one item at a time, versus several, just look at your order history to figure it out and order appropriate packaging.
- Use flat-rate Shipping
Flat-rate shipping is a specific model that reduces the cost of shipping, weight, and quantity of items. Benefits range from cheap pricing that’s all-inclusive to consistent costs that are flat and manageable.
You can create new flat rates for a specific shipping zone or a particular price range. For example, you can set a new flat rate of $5 for all orders within the United States and an equal flat rate of $3 for orders with prices of over $50.
- Be Aware of Rate Changes
Always be on the lookout for price changes so you don’t end up with a huge loss in your bottom line. Shipping carriers review their prices annually and make changes to their costs, which is why your shipping updates in January.
- Offer Pick-Up or Local Delivery
In the event of higher shipping costs and lost revenue, people have turned to local businesses. Nearly a third of consumers say they purchase something online and walk out with it, but instead of shipping it, they put it in their trunk or backseat for safe-keeping.
As an online store and allowing your customers to come pick up their order instead of shipping it is much more cost efficient than shipping with a delivery company.
Offering local delivery services also helps you Connect with your local community, Improve customer experience and Increase sales.
