When you are making your business plan, your shipping expenses may be furthest from your mind. But if it comes to the point that you are sending out regular shipments, and it has become a routine procedure, then you may very well want to consider how you can control your expenses when it comes to shipping. Shipping expenses can, after all, add up significantly over time, although there are ways to minimise and manage your expenses. Here’s how you can properly control your expenses for shipping.
Your key considerations
Of course, when you regularly ship goods for your business, you need to be sure that your items are safe and secure when they are in transit. It’s a key consideration. Another critical consideration is the quick and efficient shipping of your parcels. You need to find a shipping partner who can help ship your parcels in the fastest and safest way. These details count. Fortunately, you have many options in regard to proper and more efficient shipping, whether it’s going for automated packaging to save time during dispatch or choosing a shipping partner who is capable of handling a high volume of shipping.
What you can do to control costs and expenses
- Find out your exact shipping requirements
Some businesses sell good with a short shelf life and others may have demanding customers that want fast delivery. If you are one of those, then you would need to have speedy shipping, and a courier which offers a same-day delivery service, or maybe next-day delivery would be a good choice. If your business has multiple delivery needs it might be important to have a courier that can offer same-day delivery as well as cheaper alternatives that may take a bit longer, so you can reduce costs. Find out exactly what your shipping requirements are so that you can choose a partner who can deliver on your requirements and help you become more efficient with your costs.
When you find a partner in shipping, you should also make sure to communicate what exactly it is that you want. Make your courier aware of what you want and need so that you don’t have to waste time on mistakes and errors in shipping or have unresolved expectations.
You also have to think about your packaging. Your options are plentiful, but you have to make sure that the packaging is right for your items. Packaging can be too big for the item, or it can be too small. Having the proper packaging can also help you save money, especially if you have a good packaging supplier such as www.ukplc.co.uk which can give you both a personalised and customised service that’s right for your needs.
Consult your customers
Another way to control your expenses in shipping is to consult your customers. Your shipping partner represents your business, so if the parcel is damaged or worse, lost, this will count against you. In other words, even if you spend an inordinate amount of time and money making sure your packaging is perfect, if it arrives damaged at your customer’s door, then your time and money are wasted.
Ask for customer feedback regarding your shipping process, and don’t ever compromise on the quality of your service – your parcels should be adequately and appropriately packed, and you should have the right shipping ally who can deliver them without any issues.
