Have you felt the sting of the sharp rise in shipping costs lately?
Global lockdowns over the last two years have fueled a surge in e-commerce, which in turn has led to a shortage of warehouse and freight capacity.
The result? Many merchants are being forced to pay way over the odds to receive and deliver their goods – and it’s having a significant impact on profit margins.
Coughing up the extra money might seem an unavoidable burn of the pandemic, but there are several ways to cut shipping costs and keep up with demand…
Here are just three super effective techniques to start lowering those steep shipping costs today. For our full list of cost-cutting tips, download our free Brightpearl guide via the link at the end of the article.
- Reduce your package dimensions
Shipping heavy items usually costs more, but weight is no longer the only factor that determines shipping costs. To avoid losing out on large yet light items, carriers are increasingly taking package dimensions into account and applying a “dimensional weight” in shipping costs calculation. This is a theoretical weight based on how much volume a package will occupy.
If you ship large but light items, consider splitting the items into smaller packages, as it could cost you less in shipping.
- Use multiple carriers
Using multiple shipping carriers will give you negotiation power to ensure you’re getting the best price and service. It’ll also allow you to use the provider that’s best suited to each shipment, based on factors such as destination, weight and specific product requirements. Consider using shipping software like ShipStation and seamlessly connecting this to your retail operating system so you can manage all your carriers in one place.
- Automate your pick, pack and ship process
The time your team spends on fulfilment adds invisible fees to your shipping costs. The more orders the same amount of staff can pick, pack and ship, the lower the unit shipping costs will be.
Automating manual fulfilment tasks, such as order splitting, partial fulfilment, carrier selection, warehouse transfers, PO creation and invoicing will dramatically boost efficiency, lower costs, minimize errors and free up your people for more important tasks.
TOP TIP: You can automate your pick, pack and ship workflows from start to finish by using customized rules in Brightpearl’s Automation Engine. See it in action here.
There’s lots more where that came from. Get the three expert tips above plus SEVEN more in our free Brightpearl Guide to Lower Shipping Costs and Boost Profits. With these 10 powerful techniques, you can save money and boost profits – even in the ongoing supply chain crisis.
