Every Friday, we answer a common question about fulfillment, shipping, or business. This week’s question comes from one of the board gamers who entered our giveaway contest for Root. Today we will answer the following question: “how do I reduce shipping costs for my business?”
6 Quick Tips to Reduce Shipping Costs for Your Business
Shipping costs can quickly add up, so it’s no surprise that a lot of businesses are looking to save. We’ve spilled a lot of ink talking about how you can do so. Indeed, saving you costs on shipping is one of the most compelling reasons to outsource fulfillment.
With this in mind, here are six tips you can use to reduce shipping costs for your business.
- Manufacture your goods to ship efficiently. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The simple truth is that making products a little smaller and a little lighter goes a long way toward cutting shipping costs. If there is one thing you can do that makes the most difference, starting with efficient manufacturing is it.
- Outsource fulfillment to take advantage of negotiated rates. Typically speaking, once you start shipping 100 or more orders per month, it makes sense to outsource fulfillment. It often makes sense well before then. One of the main reasons? Companies like ours can negotiate lower rates with postal carriers because we’re bigger and they want to keep our business.
- Pack as light as possible. Using the right kind of packing materials can fill void space and protect fragile items without adding a whole lot of extra weight to the package.
- Pack as tight as possible. Similar to the above point, using space-efficient packing methods with minimal empty space in the box can reduce postage rates, which are heavily influenced by the dimensions of the package.
- If you are shipping fragile packages, use sturdy boxes. The boxes themselves cost more and will drive up the per-unit cost. However, the reduced return rate will quickly cut shipping expenses faster than the shipping supplies expenses grow.
- If you need to cut shipping costs to the bone, reduce value-added services. Does your package really need a signature? Is it truly cost-efficient to insure a $100 item?
Final Thoughts
You can very easily reduce your shipping costs with a little forethought. Following any of the six tips above will save you a lot of money without requiring a lot of work. And if you need more help? You know who to call!
You’ve done everything by the book. Your Kickstarter campaign is almost ready to launch.
You made a great product. Built an audience. Set up a campaign page.
But how do you ship it?
We put this checklist together to help you get started. It's free.
