How to Lower Your Ecommerce Shipping and Packaging Costs

Investing in your business is a mandatory thing. The more you invest, the chances you will become successful will grow. Logically, the way you spend your money must be reasonable, but the point is – there is no reason to be afraid of risks.

However, that doesn’t mean you do not have the right to find a way to spend less. One of the things that can directly influence your sales is the shipping and packaging costs. First of all, you will not have to invest that much.

Despite that, the final price of the products that you sell can be lower. If your products truly feature quality, and the price is affordable, then you can expect a lot of people that want to buy your products.

But, we once again need to repeat the word “reasonable”. In case you decide on this move, the quality of your delivery and packaging must not go down. In other words, you need to find a reasonable way to lower your eCommerce shipping and packaging costs.

So, how to do that? Fortunately for you, there are multiple ways to do that. All of them can be perfect for you in a different way. Because of that, we suggest you pick the solution that meets all your requirements and expectations. Let’s find them out together!

First Option: Decrease the Shipping Distance

Okay, this may not be an ideal option for everyone. Some eCommerce businesses decide to sell their products to a worldwide audience. On the other hand, some markets such as those in USA, UK, and EU may be more profitable and perspective. If your business, for instance, operates somewhere in Africa, reducing the shipping distance can be tough.

On the other hand, if something like that is possible, then you will certainly reduce the shipping costs that way. For those that do not know, the entire world is divided into a few shipping zones that depend on your location. Logically, the farther away your shipping destination is, the costs will be higher.

The higher zones will take you more money. Because of that, if you want to reduce costs, eliminating shipping there would help you reach your goal. However, we do understand that changing your target audience completely is not easy. Because of that, let’s move to the second option.

Second Option: Chase Discounted Shipping Companies

We are not going to name the shipping companies that you can hire. Besides, they offer discounts from time to time, and these offers change often. However, as a rule of thumb, we suggest you constantly chase the discounted shipping companies.

Some of them will only offer their discounted services to small businesses while others put into consideration the shipping distance. However, the most common method of charging is based on the number of deliveries you have. The more you have them, the less they will cost you.

So, the only thing you can do here is to be persistent and complete appropriate research. Don’t hesitate to look for these suppliers more than usual as that can help you reduce shipping costs a lot!

Third Option: Chase Discounted and Affordable Packages

This option can be some sort of balance. For example, if you simply can’t reduce the shipping distance, then you can certainly change the packages you use. Of course, purchasing the cheapest ones is not going to be a good idea. You need to ensure that all your products have an appropriate layer of protection.

However, chasing discounted packages is going to be a good idea. Despite that, some of them are pretty affordable and they will certainly meet the expectations that you have. For instance, shipping boxes, shipping bags, and some other stuff can be quite affordable and useful. In case this seems like a good idea to you, you can click here and explore the available affordable options that feature quality.

Is there any bad side of this option? At first, you may consider this option a bit expensive. It may sound contradictory right now, but you won’t purchase only one shipping box or shipping bag. You will buy a lot of them before you even get the orders from the customers. However, the packages you bought will remain, and the investment you make pay off when you manage to reduce shipping costs and potentially earn more money. Doesn’t this seem like a good idea?

Forth Service: Shipping Insurance

The fourth option is actually another one on this list that requires upfront investments. Getting shipping insurance will help you reduce the shipping costs a lot. How much you will pay for the insurance depends on the type and value of the product that you are selling. When you get the shipping insurance, you can be sure that the third-party package insurers are going to be way cheaper. Believe it or not, their price can be lower for 50% even.
However, we once again need to mention that doing this is not going to be a good option for everyone. Doing this only pays off if your eCommerce products have a higher value. That is the reason why we suggest you calculate whether the shipping insurance will pay off or not in your case. If you see it will, then there is no reason to hesitate!

Fifth Option: Your Ecommerce Business Can Go Prepaid

Going prepaid can reduce the shipping costs by around 20%. The method of going prepaid is actually pretty simple to understand, You order a couple of shipping labels for the next couple of months. That way, your shipping costs will certainly go down.

However, there is another benefit that you need to be aware of. The user of this service will not have to affix the products to a box before someone orders them. Because of that, you will manage to save your time as well.

Yet, just like in the previous cases, doing this will be good only in a few cases. If you are shipping the products with the same dimensions and weight all the time, then something like that would be good. Despite that, if you are sure you will have orders regularly, then that will reduce the risks you have to face. In every other case, this may not reduce your shipping costs at all.