Why Ecommerce May Drive You to Rethink Your Parcel Shipping Strategy | Transportfolio
The holidays are over, and the ball has dropped to usher in the New Year. With that, many of us are considering changes and improvements we want to make this year. If you are a parcel shipper, let me challenge you with a new year’s resolution.
Ecommerce is driving an increase in parcel shipping. This isn’t news to any of us. After all, four in ten mobile users have used their devices to make an online purchase. At the same time, the tremendous growth in ecommerce is causing parcel rates to increase—even for customers who don’t consider themselves to be an ecommerce company.
Optimize your parcel supply chain
In one sense, parcel shipping is easy. Carriers make it possible to send large volumes of packages all over the world, by simply creating and affixing a label to a box. The speed at which packages get delivered is improving every day, and ecommerce is driving that.
That’s why—no matter your industry—you need optimize your parcel supply chain. Are you leaving money on the table? Are you lacking visibility to data? The right parcel strategy can change that. Let’s make this your resolution for the new year.
The dynamics of parcel shipping
What isn’t always easy is ensuring your parcel supply chain is as cost effective as possible. Consider the various dynamics at play with your parcel shipping—dozens of service level options between multiple carriers, hundreds of possible accessorial charges, dimensional weight factors, and shippers not utilizing the optimal service when billing to your account number, just to name a few. Not to mention that if you’re on an incentive or volume-based pricing structure, your discounts could adjust weekly.
Visibility and next steps
Needless to say, parcel shipping gets complicated pretty quickly, which makes visibility key to managing your parcel business. A big part of your parcel optimization resolution this year should be to get visibility to your parcel data, and more importantly, use the data to your advantage.
Once you determine the best way to get full visibility to your parcel shipping data, start looking at the areas of high impact that are easiest to implement. For example, do you know how many of your packages were shipped via express?
Many companies turn to an express service when they want something delivered in one to three days. However, the majority of all ground packages actually deliver in two days or less. So just how many of your express packages could have shipped via ground and delivered on the same day or sooner?
Like express shipping, ground is a guaranteed service—one that comes at a significantly lower cost. While it may seem counterintuitive at first, in many situations, ground shipping is the right transit option for your parcel shipping strategy.
Switching from express to ground shipping is exactly the kind of change you’ll want to make based on your data—it can save a significant amount of money and is an easy change to make.
Remember: It starts with visibility
Make 2017 the year in which you not only see your parcel data, but act on it as well. Actionable shipping data can be your competitive advantage in the world of ecommerce and beyond.
To learn more about how C.H. Robinson can help you optimize your parcel supply chain, connect with an expert today.