Shipping and delivery have become key components of consumer happiness and corporate success in today’s fast-paced environment. Meeting consumer expectations for timely, dependable, and cost-effective delivery will help your company stand out. Optimizing shipping and delivery operations necessitates a comprehensive approach that considers all areas of the supply chain. In this article, we’ll look at the strategies and best practices that companies can use to optimize their shipping and delivery processes, improve customer experiences, and drive growth.
Why Optimize Shipping and Delivery Anyway?
Backend process optimization may appear to be a chore to perform when you have more time and have outgrown your current ones, but this couldn’t be further from the reality. Acting now to increase your fulfillment might pay dividends in a variety of ways. Let’s look at a few examples.
Save Money To Invest
Poorly performed shipment and costly carriers lead firms to lose money. This waste produces an opportunity cost since you could invest this money elsewhere in the firm to help it grow. In contrast, the more money you save on shipping, the more money you’ll have to invest.
Increase Sales
A positive shipping experience not only benefits clients but also makes your company more memorable. This makes it easy to sell more things to these clients, which increases your bottom line.
Increase The Efficiency Of Your Supply Chain.
An optimized supply chain ensures constant and high-quality service, which benefits your business. For example, you may promptly and cost-effectively clear products through customs, refill inventory, introduce new deals, and handle returns.
Strategies To Uplevel Your Shipping Process
Whatever the scale of your company, there are certain steps you can do right now to provide a fantastic shipping experience. Let’s look at several methods you might boost your fulfillment:
1. Simplify The Stock Receiving Procedure
Receiving inventory may not appear to be an issue that might affect shipping on the surface, but backlogs in receiving inventory can create delays in replenishing and, eventually, sending items to consumers. So, examine your current process and eliminate any superfluous processes in your unloading and stock count. To accept and arrange stock shipments, you might employ robotic process automation.Amazon and Walmart, for example, are investing in warehouse automation to improve supply chain management, fulfillment, and logistics. Receiving, sorting, and retrieval are examples of such activities.
2. Review Internal And Exterior Shipping Packing
Have you ever gotten a large box carrying a little item or a product that was overly covered in bubble wrap? It isn’t perfect. These circumstances not only confuse clients, but they can also raise your delivery expenses and waste. It’s also critical to utilize the proper dunnage while transporting your goods to and from warehouses and in customer parcels to avoid damage. Some pointers are as follows:
- Establish criteria and standard operating procedures for the selection of exterior packaging.
- Optimise shipment weights at the moment of loading when transporting items to your warehouse.
- When distributing stock, transport things in bulk to your warehouses.
3. Improve Your Preparation And Packing Procedures.
The sooner you can prepare and pack orders, the faster you can ship them. Create packaging techniques that are as efficient as possible. Here are some pointers to help you prepare and pack more efficiently:
- Create and communicate standard operating procedures for each product’s packaging needs to manufacturers and personnel.
- Train your employees on how to make and pack each product type you sell.
- Collaborate with a single manufacturer to obtain labeling for exterior packaging.
- Pre-packing and storing specific products ahead of time in preparation for shipment.
- Pre-packed commodities should be shipped and stored in strategic places.
4. Think About Zone Skipping.
If you have a high order volume and often ship to certain locations, shipping options like zone skipping might be useful. Zone skipping is a fulfillment method that entails sending a large number of parcels (by truckload or less-than-truckload) to a carrier’s parcel hub that is near the final destination of the parcel.Many merchants and eCommerce firms engage in zone skipping because it helps them save money while delivering items to customers faster and with less product damage.Before you join up with a carrier, be certain:
- They have zone skipping experience for your product type.
- The cost and time savings are well worth it.
- Have the resources to create the ideal prep and dispatch configuration
5. Provide Subscriptions
Subscriptions are the most popular shipping service among customers. In 2021, the market is expected to reach $74.2 billion by 2028. Determine which goods customers buy the most, as well as their normal purchasing frequency and amount, and use this knowledge to steer your offers. To get your shipment right, you’ll need technology that allows you to effortlessly exchange customer data and provide order reminders. Nexer, ReCharge (for Shopify businesses), and Subbly are a few examples. You’ll also need to figure out how to complete orders quickly, especially if you only pack and ship subscription boxes once a month. You may, for example, designate particular days to prepare exterior packaging boxes and train employees on effective packing processes.
6. Make The Returns Procedure As Simple As Possible.
Your eCommerce company’s reverse logistics procedure is equally as important as its outgoing shipment. Even if the product wasn’t a good fit, the correct strategy would entice them to give your brand another try. Provide a variety of stress-free solutions such as Buy Online Return In Store (BORIS), paperless returns, and locker drop-offs.To keep your returns operations inexpensive and effective, you must now choose which goods make sense to return to your warehouses and which may be written off as a loss without being returned. It’s also critical to determine what you’ll do with the things once they’ve been returned. For example, you might restore them and offer them on an alternate marketplace.
Conclusion
Shipping and delivery optimization is a complicated endeavor that involves careful planning, strategic decision-making, and ongoing review. Businesses may enhance their shipping and delivery operations by concentrating on inventory management, warehousing, carrier selection, advanced shipping software, and continual improvement. The advantages go beyond customer happiness and include cost savings, operational efficiency, and a market competitive edge. As the world of commerce evolves, managing shipping and delivery optimization becomes an increasingly important component of driving development and success.
