If you are a small business owner, you
have enough responsibilities on your plate eating up all your time.
You probably can’t even imagine allocating time and effort to analyze
your shipping process. But did you know that streamlining your
shipping process is one of the most critical steps to attract and
retain your customers? Let’s get set to anchor your way to
profitability!
Exercise multi courier options.
There is no one carrier that ships
cheaper than the other. Obviously their services are competitively
priced to match their peers. However depending on the product, your
target customers and geography of your customers, some carriers may
work out to be cheaper than others. So play around with various
permutations and zero on the right combination of carriers that fits
your business needs.
Get your facts right.
On a similar note, perform an in-depth
analysis of service rates drawn up on the sites of your carrier. If
express delivery and ground shipment reaches your recipient on the
same day, it makes no sense to shell out the extra dollars. Don’t
forget to keep abreast of the fluctuating surcharges due to rapidly
increasing fuel prices to protect your margins.
Thoughtful packaging helps.
A memorable branded unpacking
experience will be etched in the memories of your customers for ever.
And I bet, they will share their experience on social media providing
the product much needed boost in sales and advertisement. Add package
inserts like discounts, a personal note or small gifts, you have won
their loyalty and trust.
Weight matters.
Know that shipping rates are also
calculated based on dimensional weight and not just the actual weight
of the package. So this complicates calculating the shipping costs
even more. As if that was not enough, the billable weight would vary
depending on the service type. For example , air services always take
in to account only the dimensional weight while ground services
factor both Diligently choose the shape and size of your box and
shave your shipping costs!
Grab your refunds.
Around 12 percent of the packages are
delayed and most of the major carriers like FedEx and UPS guarantee
to deliver the packages on time. If your shipment is delayed even by
a minute you are entitled to UPS refunds or FedEx refunds. To save
you from the mind-numbing task of monitoring all your shipments,
segregating the delayed packages and submitting claims for each of
your hundred packages, you can simply sign up with LateShipment which
automatically fetches refunds for eligible packages.
Want to get more tips on cutting your shipping costs? Attend the ShipTalk webinar on 17th Feb at 2:00 PM EST where our chief strategists will share many tricks and secret ways to slash your shipping rates.