For many businesses, shipping rates can be their undoing. You have a great product that could sell fantastically well, but it costs too much to ship to customers. As a result, people are apprehensive when buying it. This can sometimes make you lower the asking price to attract more customers, meaning you make less money with each sale.
So, some businesses are getting creative when it comes to lowering shipping costs. Here’s what they’re doing:
Compare quotes
The simplest way to reduce shipping costs is by looking at the different quotes out there. You’ll be amazed at how different the instant freight shipping quotes for SMBs can be. One company may charge x amount, while the other charges considerably less. If you’re not shopping around and comparing quotes, you’re most likely going to lose money.
Use the right packaging materials
Typically, shipping costs are calculated based on the size and weight of a product. If something is big and heavy, it will cost more money to ship than an item that’s small and light. While the product itself comes into play, businesses also need to consider the packaging.
You might have a small product, but if you package it using heavy materials or use a massive cardboard box, you’re instantly upping the shipping fees. Instead, look for different packaging materials that save as much space and weight as possible. This will reduce the size and weight of each product that’s shipped, helping you save money.
It can also mean you’re able to ship more items at the same time, which will save more money. Why? Because you may only have to pay for one truckload shipment, rather than paying for two because all of your items can’t fit.
Consider dropshipping
Dropshipping is a tactic more and more companies are starting to employ. It’s a brilliant idea if you are a small business and don’t have enough money to afford a large workplace with room to keep your stock.
The process of dropshipping is very simple. You start by looking at sites online that tend to sell goods for really cheap prices. There are loads of wholesale sites like this you can find, and you get to choose what products you want to then list on your site. As orders come in from your site, you essentially buy the products from the original website but put your customers’ addresses on the delivery form.
In essence, the order gets fulfilled and delivered straight to them. You can greatly reduce shipping costs as you only pay for the product to be shipped to the buyer. In fact, you can include the cost of shipping in the price you list on your site. There’s no need to pay to have items shipped to a storage location, and then shipped out to customers.
As you can see, there are ideas to explore if you want to lower shipping costs for your business. The less money you spend delivering items, the more money you can make from every single sale that goes through your site.
