You may have a reasonable understanding of your shipping processes – but to improve your shipping costs, you need to think differently about how you set your shipping budget.
For aspiring eCommerce businesses budgeting for shipping is especially hard. So how do you manage unexpected fluctuations in shipping rates, carrier performance and even customer demand? Real-time challenges that impact performance. Here are 4 tips to consider when setting your shipping budget.
Single vs Multi-Carrier Management
In the majority of cases, using one carrier to ship your orders has become impractical. Whilst you may have negotiated an exclusive rate with a carrier, you have no control over the carrier’s overall performance and limited flexibility to respond to your customers’ demands.
Furthermore, even if you use more than one carrier, managing individual accounts takes a lot of time, and IT resources to maintain—budget for a system that enables you to access multiple carriers in one place. Shipping software like SmartConsign lets you manage your costs by comparing and selecting the best carriers to ship your orders.
Efficient Order Processing
We are all at the mercy of customers need for speed and convenience; paying closer attention to the time it takes to process order data to meet cut-off times is a crucial element of the process that can often get overlooked. Why? Because legacy systems are doing the job but only marginally better than yesterday.
The reality is that there is more advanced shipping software with sophisticated labelling systems that can support your fulfilment needs much faster. Delivering real impact on your bottom line, and they are more affordable than you think.
Shipping budgets should take into consideration all aspects of the process, not just carrier costs. When budgeting, take account of the time it takes to process orders.
“The automatic eBay dispatch is a COMPLETE GAME CHANGER! SmartConsign has freed up 50% of our dispatchers day meaning we are consistently hitting dispatch targets again and again. Plus, so far, we have ZERO address mix-up’s. I’ll say that again ZERO!” Courier UK
Returns Management
More orders equal more returns. Shipping costs can escalate if returns are not included when you’re setting your budgets. 25% (the average return rate for online sales) is a severe hit on the bottom line. Shipping software that includes returns management helps you to stay in control of your shipments and plan ahead.
Failed Deliveries
Alas, not every order makes it to its destination successfully. In many cases, a failed delivery will cost your company extra to make it up to the customer. Accurate address look-up tools are one solution, but a more considered approach is required for events beyond your control, such as bad weather, strikes, or carrier overcapacity. Shipping software with multiple carriers can help spread your risks and is an effective contingency planning tool.
Maximising your Shipping Budget
Shipping costs fluctuate, but with the correct shipping software, you can gain greater visibility of the critical drivers of shipping performance. As a result, you’ll be able to control your shipping costs without wasting your capital. That said, you’ll want to make sure you work with technology from a company you can trust.
SmartConsign has been in operation since 2008, we know what it means to do shipping right. We’re a multi-carrier management system that offers efficient and reliable cloud services regardless of business size. We also know how to scale with your business, and we’re ready to grow right along with your company’s needs.
Ready to get started? Please look around our site to learn more about what we have to offer, or get in touch. We’re more than prepared to help your company succeed!