Shipping is one of the biggest fulfillment costs for any brand. And in the competitive eCommerce space, customers have come to expect fast – and free – delivery of their packages, often within just a few days.
These costs can add up quickly for retailers. It’s no wonder most brands want to do anything and everything they can to save on postage. But you should be taking more than just cost into account when it comes to this important part of your business.
Several other important components should be considered to ensure you’re getting the best value from your shipping operation, such as:
- Time-to-home: How soon do your customers expect their product to be delivered?
- Carrier performance: Which parcel carriers are most efficient with a track record of on-time delivery?
- Package size: What is the typical size and weight of your top-selling products?
- Shipping destinations: What are your typical destination zones (i.e., where do most of your packages go)?
- Existing carrier relationships: Are you already receiving favorable pricing from an existing relationship? How do they compare to other potential carriers?
- Your goals: What are your priorities? For example, do you need to hit two-day delivery every time? Or do you simply want to reduce your current delivery time from five days to three days?
In other words, your company is unique, and so are your goals. To attain them, you need to look at your customers and their needs, as well as your past performance and areas where you can potentially improve.
The ultimate goal is to improve transit time and service while enjoying cost reductions. And that can be difficult in an ever-changing environment with rising costs and frequent changes to carrier policies.
At QuickBox, we stay on top of changes within various carriers and the broader industry. We also work with multiple carriers and offer varying service levels to help you find the right option for you and your business. The brands we work with can stay ahead of the curve to remain competitive – and even make shipping an advantage.
White-Glove Service Can Help Reduce Fulfillment Costs
One of the benefits that QuickBox clients most appreciate is our consultative shipping optimization service. With QuickBox, you aren’t alone as you navigate this complex and changing landscape. Our team takes the time to analyze your historical data to provide the best service based on your unique products, price, and performance. We then provide insights into changes and proposals, including industry changes or carrier updates.
And this isn’t just something we provide during our new client onboarding process. Our long-term clients enjoy the ongoing benefits of our proactive Client Services team, which is always looking for ways to improve. For example, we keep an eye on orders, looking for cost-saving opportunities due to weight or size changes. Slight tweaks can have a big impact on costs.
Enhanced Technology = Full Transparency Into Your Fulfillment Process
QuickBox’s iQ client portal is another powerful tool that can help to optimize your shipping operation. The iQ dashboard provides a wealth of information, such as:
- Carrier time-to-home – compare performance of multiple carriers from a single source
- SKU level data
- Real-time customer order status
- Sharable graphs to communicate performance improvements or challenges with your team
In other words, you have access to and full visibility of what’s happening with your fulfillment process in real-time. You can dial down into the data on your specific customers to help you determine which carriers are most (and least) efficient. And you’ll catch and resolve issues faster and easier than ever before.
With so many changes in the past few years — from supply chain issues to inflation to postal changes to delayed shipments and more — it’s nice to know that you aren’t alone in navigating the complexity. Rather than focusing on a “do-it-yourself” type of business model, we help brands better understand and implement changes to improve postage, efficiencies, and costs.
Looking for a new fulfillment partner? Download the QuickBox overview brochure to learn how we work behind the scenes to make sure your customers have a great experience.
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