The most critical time of year for
many ecommerce retailers is about to start — Holiday Season. So here are five
things you can do right now to tune up your parcel supply chain to ensure your
customers stay happy and your logistics costs are within budget this peak shipping
season.
1 – Know your actual costs.
For better or worse, since the beginning of the pandemic FedEx® and UPS® have
gotten the marketplace used to a slow drip of new fees and surcharges. Many
have come and gone, but most of these costs remain. The problem is it’s nearly
impossible for the average company to keep track of them all, much less
understand the impact on their bottom line. As a starting point, you can check
out TransImpact’s easy-to-read log
of all the latest carrier rate announcements — find it here.
2 – Diversify your carrier base.
A lot of companies were cut off by their carrier last year when their volumes
increased during peak season. You don’t want to be in that position this year,
and a multi-carrier approach is a way to protect yourself. Having options is
important when it comes to avoiding the extra fees and surcharges, too. Savvy
companies have a process to ensure the best carrier and rate is chosen in each
situation.
3 – Pay attention to your data.
Fortunately, shipping creates a lot of really useful data. Knowing how to use
it is not always easy, but having a dashboard view of your parcel spend that
offers actionable insights is the first step to taking advantage of what your
data offers below the surface. A tool like TransImpact’s
Parcel Spend Intelligence makes using your data simple and can provide
immediate benefits.
4 – Give customer options.
Despite what many companies assume, customers are not always interested in the
fastest possible delivery. Many would willingly opt for a slower delivery to
save a few dollars on their order. A smart move to close more sales and reduce
cart abandonment is to offer a variety of delivery speeds and costs so
customers can decide for themselves. Having a multi-carrier strategy (see #2
above) makes this possible.
5 – Negotiate. Another lousy
assumption companies make is that they cannot approach their carriers about a
new parcel
contract negotiation before the current agreement expires. First, it’s
never too early to renegotiate a parcel agreement. And more importantly, now is
a great time to secure a better contract with UPS and FedEx. Shipping rates are
generally coming down, and leverage has moved back into shippers’ favor after a
few tough years. Locking in new rates before the shipping season kicks off (and
Peak Season Surcharges are implemented) will save you a lot of money.
Peak shipping season will be here
soon. Contact info@transimpact.com to
learn about how TransImpact can offer the technology and expert advice to
prepare your small package shipping operation for the most important time of
year for your ecommerce business.