Another customer goes to your site, finds an item they need at a price they like and adds it to their cart. They get to the checkout page and then it happens. They get hit with the shipping and delivery charges and immediately begin speculating their choice to purchase.
All of a sudden an item they thought had a reasonable cost to begin with now appears somewhat costly. One of two things happens next. It is possible that they decide to proceed regardless of the increased costs, or they abandon their purchase and leave your site disappointed. Does this sound all too familiar? Did you know that leading online sellers are turning shipping into a strategic advantage, and as a result getting higher cart conversions. How can you incorporate shipping into a strategic competitive advantage? Let’s take a look at some key strategies that you can adopt to get ahead of the competition.
Tip #1 Renegotiate Parcel Pricing Agreement
Among the ecommerce shippers surveyed, 36% named renegotiating evaluations with their logistics carriers as the primary means to keep costs in-check. Before taking a seat at the negotiating table, shippers should analyze service usage, expenditures, accessorial charges and other variables. The target of this examination is to build up a rundown of chances and needs to be arranged keeping in mind the end goal to produce the most cost savings.
Shippers should recognize the effect of add-on fees for residential deliveries, augmented zones, fuel surcharges, weekly administration charges and other handling charges. There are more than 100 of these additional charges that add to the 30% of overall logistical costs. Evaluate which additional costs have the most impact on your business and focus on those accessorial charges for waivers or reductions during negotiations.
Tip #2 Increase Use of USPS, Regional Carriers and Deferred Shipping Options
30% of ecommerce shippers surveyed have shifted some UPS and FedEx bundles to less costly options, like the U.S. Postal Service, regional carriers and postal consolidators —nothing unexpected, since Priority Mail, First Class Parcel Service and different USPS items can cost up to 70% less than comparable services with FedEx and UPS.
Regional transporters, which serve particular areas inside the U.S., are perfect for shippers with numerous distribution centers, particularly if the DCs are aligned to the regionals’ celivery footprint. Regional transporters like Eastern Connection, Lone Star Overnight, On-Trac, Spee-Dee Delivery, Pitt Ohio and others offer expeditious logistical services at rates as much as 40% less than national carriers.
Tip #3 Pass Along Shipping Costs to the Customer
Passing along transportation charges to customers is a strategy for controlling costs utilized by 26% of logistics companies. Be that as it may, charging back all expenses associated with every shipment can challenge, since as much as 20% to 25% of aggregate delivery charges are tracked on long after a shipment has been delivered. These backend charges show up on transporter receipts as ‘separate charges’ sometimes even weeks after the first shipment was charged.
For more on using shipping for a strategic competitive advantage, join expert speaker Rob Martinez in a Live Webinar on Wed, June 29, 2016. During this session, Rob will help you examine pertinent questions such as whether you’re shipping and returns policies are costing you customers.
