In the retail industry, packaging and shipping are both essential. Manufacturers must be able to package their products in a way that allows them to be quickly shipped from one location to another. This is especially true for products shipped across state lines or internationally.
However, the costs of transporting these items add up quickly, including shipping, factory labor, material, packaging, machinery setup, and international freight expenses. Besides product deliveries, retailers should also think about item returns. These happen when the seller sends a buyer the wrong, defective, or incomplete item. This affects the company’s profits and can be costly if improperly handled.
Entrepreneurs like you can combat this by minimizing these packaging and shipping expenses. Before you can do that, you should learn how to calculate shipping costs. This allows you to offer the best rates for your prospects and compete in the industry.
Once you know how to compute shipping expenses, you can start finding ways to lower your company’s packaging and shipping costs. These include the following:
1 Minimize Returns
Failure to deliver a shipment is costly because it leads to a lost sale. This can also happen if your consumers receive the wrong or defective products and return them to you. This means that you might lose a consumer due to the negative experience and not repurchase from your online store again.
With this in mind, you must ensure that your shipments arrive on time and in good condition. You can do this by conducting quality control through pre-shipment inspection before you send the items to the buyers. This ensures that your products will meet the standard expectations of your consumers to prevent them from returning the items.
After that, you should ensure you partner with a reliable shipment company. A good one will adequately handle your products while in transit so that they arrive at their destination safely and intact.
2 Redesign Custom-Sized Packaging
Many companies still use non-custom packaging sizes and shapes for their products. This is a huge mistake because they’re paying more for the packaging than they need to.
An excellent way to reduce your packaging cost is by custom-designing your packaging to ensure that you’re only using containers that are as efficient as possible. This means you can ensure your products don’t need to be shipped in multiple containers.
You can look for a packaging company when customizing your product and shipment packaging. They can help you determine which containers will work best for your products and won’t affect their quality.
3 Reduce Packing Time
You have to optimize the packing time of your products to ensure that they’ll arrive on time. A good head start is by evaluating your current packing process to see if there are time-consuming areas that you can improve.
You might discover that some cartons or containers require more work to erect. If so, you can invest in re-engineering equipment that would allow them to be packed faster with less workforce needed. This way, you can reduce the time required for each box while reducing the need to hire more workers.
4 Optimize Delivery Routes
A logistics route is crucial in shipping your products because it determines how long it would take for the client to receive your package. You can lose significant money on each sale if you don’t know which delivery routes are the most efficient.
This is why you should optimize delivery routes with careful planning to revolutionize your logistics. You can do this by using logistics technology, like route optimization software, which will enable you to customize your shipment routes according to the most optimal delivery time and cost. This tool also recommends the best delivery path, which minimizes the gasoline usage of your fleet.
Alternatively, you may contact a third-party logistics company that will organize your recurring routed deliveries. Instead of handling the specifics of each route, you’ll be able to focus on other essential tasks, such as customer service or product development. This ensures that your products arrive on time while you continue growing your business.
Bottom Line
The whole purpose of packaging and shipping is to provide convenience and keep your product safe, secure, and intact when it reaches the buyer. However, some companies still have different issues regarding these areas of their operations. These include not using suitable packaging material or the inability to find faster delivery routes. These problems can be costly, especially if they lead to the loss of consumers due to damaged goods or delayed delivery dates.
To minimize these expenses, you may implement pre-shipping inspection to reduce client item returns. In addition, you can look for companies that customize your packaging and help you with delivery routes. By doing so, you can save money on packaging and shipping costs and enhance customer satisfaction, increasing your sales volume.