Ian
Cinching the best deal with the shipping carrier is still a challenge for most small businesses. Here are some tips to overcome the challenge:
Quote accurately to your
customers
Do you offer
real-time shipping quotes to your customers? If yes, then make sure
that these quotes are accurate. Make sure that your rate checker
understands and factors every single additional charge, tax and
surcharge involved in shipping. UPS and FedEx have dynamic charging
systems. There are fuel surcharge, residential delivery surcharge,
and address correction fees.
In order to give the right quote, get
the necessary information from the customer. You need to have the
correct weight for your package, the correct box size for your
package, a validated address for the shipment, and whether it is a
residential or office address. This is because there is an
additional surcharge on deliveries to residential addresses.
The right packaging box
Don’t think it’s just the product’s
weight that the shipping company is going to charge you for. Your
product needs to be wrapped or packed in boxes. Factor the weight of
the packaging material, cushions, boxes etc. If your shipping quote
to the customer is based on the weight of the product alone, you will
end up shelling money out of your pocket. This is especially if you
ship a lot of expedited packages or bulky, lightweight items. You
think the product is light and you might not factor the collective
weight of everything put together.
FedEx and UPS now the greater of
dimensional weight and actual weight on any expedited method as well
as on ground shipments if the package is larger than three cubic
feet. If you don’t know what dimensional weight is, read on it and
figure out how to cut down on dimensional weight.
Now, you need to choose a box that’s
big enough to hold the product comfortably but small enough to
optimise costs when it comes to dimensional weight pricing methods.
So, for all the products that you sell, make sure you have boxes that
are just right. Not too big that your shipping bills are high and not
too small that your product ends up being damaged. You need to pack
in such a way that your orders arrive in pristine condition. You
can’t buy customer loyalty with bad boxes, bad packaging and shoddy
presentation however great your product is. And if the packaging is
so bad that the product gets damaged in transit, it kills your bottom
line to reship items for free.
Buy supplies locally
You will be surprised by how much you can save
when you buy your shipping supplies locally. There are online shops
that offer a fantastic selection of products and service standpoint.
However, they are not the cheapest options you have. So, go to places
nearby and see if you can buy shipping supplies in bulk and cut
costs. There are small business houses that stock up for a year
ahead. A box is not a perishable commodity. So, hunt for good deals
and stock up.
