Small parcel shipping is becoming more expensive. As e-commerce grows, so do consumers' expectations and offerings by carriers. Lovingly known as “The Amazon Effect,” consumers want free and even faster shipping. For carriers to meet those expectations, they are investing more in their overhead and technology. Other reasons carriers have been raising their prices are rising fuel prices, overseas shipping increases, and overall inflation on the US dollar. This all leads to an increase in small parcel shipping prices. Whether you run a small or large business, you’re most likely looking for ways to save money on shipping. There are some simple ways to offset the rise in shipping costs and DesktopShipper is always here to help!
Robust Carrier Portfolio
The first step to creating an economical shipping strategy is diversifying a carrier portfolio. It’s important to stack your carrier portfolio with reliable carriers. Reliable carriers to include in your stack should be both national and local. Occasionally, the best carrier for a company could be a local carrier because they offer lower prices and can get it to consumers faster maybe than a big carrier. Multiple carriers offer discounted rates based on different services. The USPS, for example, has Cubic Pricing, Priority One shipping, and other types of shipping services that can help reduce your costs. If you are specifically looking for the cheapest shipping option, you can rate shop using DesktopShipper. Put all of your favorite carriers and batch rate your packages to pick the most cost-effective route or service.
Product Price Increase
Increasing your product prices is generally the way that companies hide the rising costs of shipping. This means that consumers are spending more on goods rather than having to pay for the cost of shipping, but studies show they prefer that. A study by Statista found that 73% of people surveyed are more likely to decide to buy an item if it includes free shipping. PR Newswire released a survey that stated, 60% of consumers would choose one online store over another due to better shipping options. So even if you are raising product costs to offset shipping costs, consumers will ignore those costs to have cheaper shipping options if not free shipping.
Commercial Pricing
Many large carriers have commercial pricing. Commercial pricing is essentially contracts set up with each carrier for those who ship in high volume. It can also be offered to smaller volume shippers at a different discounted rate. Commercial pricing is offered to e-commerce shippers of any size and is always discounted, it just depends on the discount provided by the carrier. It’s important to create a relationship with your carrier reps to negotiate rates. Commercial pricing is price saving for your e-commerce business.
DesktopShipper Commercial+ Pricing
You might be reading this and thinking, okay yeah, we’ve done all of that and still can’t seem to keep costs low. Well, we have a tip for you. DesktopShipper now offers Commercial+ Pricing through USPS. We offer additional savings of up to $1.02 per package on Priority Mail Shipments. These discounted rates apply to most zones for Priority Mail, Weight-based and Priority Mail Cubic, and all zones for Flat Rate and Regional Rate. The discounts are available for all of our shippers and occur automatically. Come and see how much money you will save with DesktopShipper and Commercial+ pricing. Keep your shipping costs down this holiday season with DesktopShipper.
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