When it comes to shipping, it tends to affect your bottom line, especially if you’re an e-commerce business, your customers will require different shipping options as well as returns and delivery services. Here at Mac Logistics Liverpool, our team have taken a look at some of the most common issues and how to solve them.
Demand Planning
Whether you’re just starting out or you have been in the sector for years and years, planning for the demand of your product is a way to avoid shipping and fulfilment problems. In order to do this, we recommend that you track your sales trends, by forecasting the gross sales from your marketing campaigns and using industry benchmarks and your previous performance.
Inventory Management
A fulfilment centre or warehouse that’s not well organised can make it difficult to get your products out as soon as possible, products that are out of stock without you knowing may take longer to find and pack it. Major issues that you should be aware of include damaged goods, sending customers damaged items will discourage them from buying from you again. Forging a relationship with your suppliers is also a part of managing your inventory, if you don’t receive inventory from your supplier by a certain date, you will only disappoint your customers.
Packaging
The wrong packaging is one of the main causes of damaged shipments and will reduce the level of protection for the item inside, this problem will be more common for less-than-truckload and parcel shipping, this is because packages tend to be transferred from one terminal to another. Boxes can also be damaged because they may bump into different things while being handled. When it comes to this type of shipping, there will also be strict guidelines in place that you will need to follow and if you don’t comply with them, it can result in damaged freight, delays and additional costs.
Shipping
There are many factors that can contribute to shipping costs, this includes shipping costs for shipping your freight safely. The weight of your shipment will influence that rate that you’ll be charged by the carrier, shippers can invest in a quality scale so that their weights and expected freight charges will be matched. If you don’t have a scale and are estimating that your weights and the carrier weight your shipments and it’s not what you declared, they will then charge you a reweigh fee. The challenge for shipping costs is transporting the package safely while charging your customer with reasonable shipping fees. When it comes to freight and shipping, here are the questions that you should be asking your chosen shipping company.
Shipping Notifications and Transit Times
After a customer has paid for their order, they will need to be notified when it has been shipped, they will also want to be able to check the status of their package regularly, whether it’s through the website or an app. As the business owner, it’s essential that you inform your customers how many days it will be until they receive their order. It is a small thing but if they understand when their order is on its way then they won’t be worried.
Contact us here at Mac Logistics Liverpool to find out more today, our team are always more than happy to help in any way we can.
