The way people do business has changed. This is even more so the case today with a pandemic causing people to become wary of buying products in person. If you don’t have a shipping operation today, there’s a good chance you will be going out of business in the near future. However, shipping isn’t easy. There are a lot of challenges that could trip you up as a new business owner. With that in mind, below are some tips for taking control of your business’s shipping needs.
Consider Flat Rate Shipping
If you ship a lot of items of different shapes and sizes, the complexity of shipping can easily start eating into your resources. Your employees may not have time for much else. One way to simplify this issue is by implementing flat rate shipping which charges the same rate for every box shipped out. Flat rate boxes are available from the US Postal Service as well as other carriers. You may also be able to obtain some significant discounts going this route.
Properly Train Your Employees
A lot of the shipping problems businesses deal with stem from a lack of proper employee training. If you don’t train employees on how to safely pack your products for shipping, the amount of returns you receive of products damaged while in transit could quickly put you into the red.
In certain cases, lack of proper shipping training could put you in legal jeopardy. This would be the case if what you ship out could be dangerous to people’s health if mishandled and you did not provide the proper hazmat shipping training. Look at shipping training programs like High Q to get your employees the skills they need.
Audit Shipping Invoices
Mistakes made by shipping carriers are far more common than you may assume. This goes for even the biggest players out there. Overall, you need to perform routine audits of shipping invoices so you can spot any significant errors or mishandling of packages. Not doing so means you will be absorbing these potentially costly mistakes into your bottom line.
Be Smart Regarding What You Charge for Shipping
Not charging anything for shipping can draw customers in, but it means you will be paying for that expense yourself. If orders aren’t large, this likely means your profit margins will be minuscule if they exist at all. Charging customers for the entire cost of shipping, though, may turn some customers off.
A compromise between these two options is to give shipping discounts based on the cost of the order. It has been shown that consumers will spend more on their order if they will get free shipping. This strategy can actually increase your profits.
Shipping is more important to businesses than ever before. Without it, many businesses would not be able to survive the current climate at all. However, shipping does present its own unique challenges to business owners. Consider the four options above for giving you a better handle on the efficiency of your shipping processes.
