Keeping overheads under control is an important part of managing any business. And one way to help reduce ongoing costs is by finding ways to reduce how much needs to be spent on shipping. Whether it is money spent on shipping necessary materials to a business or money spent shipping products to customers. If you’re looking for ways to reduce your business shipping bill, here are some tips that may help.
1 – Pay in advance
Who doesn’t love being paid in advance? Courier and freight shipping companies all have bills to pay. And since their industry is fairly vulnerable to peaks and dips in demand, it is common for shipping companies to offer perks and discounts to clients willing to pay in advance. Especially when said clients are also big spenders.
If you aren’t aware of any such programs, get in touch with your courier service provider. They might have a program you haven’t heard about. And if they don’t, you might want to take a look into what the competition has to offer.
2 – Compare prices
Speaking of the competition, it’s a good idea to check what rates other freight companies and courier service providers in your region are offering. The shipping industry is as competitive as any other, and switching providers is often a great way to reduce costs. That’s the reason why there are so many courier price comparison tools out there, as this website exemplifies.
If you’d rather not change providers, you can still benefit from checking the rates offered by the competition. Your courier service provider may be willing to price match to keep your business.
3 – Ship on off days
Shipping companies are often willing to offer a discount for customers who are willing to ship on less busy days of the week. Exactly which days of the week are the busiest varies from region to region, but Monday and Friday are typically the days to avoid.
It’s worth noting that such discounts aren’t always available to retail clients. But if you’re dealing in large volumes of goods, you may be able to negotiate a discount by committing to avoiding certain weekdays.
4 – Optimize packaging
Of course, the cost of shipping includes more than just the money going to couriers. You also need to account for the cost of the time your employees spend dealing with ingoing and outgoing packages. Therefore, it’s a good idea to look for ways to make that process less time-consuming.
Better packaging tools can help speed up that process. If you’re receiving items in bulk, it’s good to avoid providers who like to overpackage things. Peeling layer after layer of packaging is time-consuming, and it generates a lot of waste.
5 – Keep track of costs
Carefully keeping track of all the costs involved in shipping an item is key to making sure the process is as efficient as possible. Items that are hard to package or ship, for example, may cost your workers so much time as not to be worth the effort, especially if those items don’t sell that often, to begin with.
