Most retail businesses rely on shipping and the wonderful world of logistics for their businesses to run. Especially with the rise of online shopping, shipping is one of the most important parts of retail business operations — and is also one of the most expensive. The more your business is spending on shipping your product, the more that’s cutting into your bottom line. Here are a few easy tips to start turning your shipping department into a profit center.
1. Charge More for Shipping
One of the easiest ways to turn your shipping center into a profit center is to start charging more for shipping. You have to be careful here, because raising your prices arbitrarily is just bad customer service. Tack on a shipping and handling fee on orders under a certain dollar amount or only offer free shipping on high dollar orders.
2. Use a TMS to Compare Service Levels and Routes
Another easy way to start increasing your bottom line when it comes to your shipping department is to start using a TMS. A TMS can stand for a number of different things, but what it essentially comes down to is transportation management software. Shopping for the best freight rate is a pain and it’s time consuming, but it can save you a ton of money. The trick is to let a TMS do it for you.
3. Freight Auditing
Besides charging more for shipping and also using a TMS to make sure you’re getting the best rates from carriers, you need to start auditing your freight bills. BY choosing to audit a paid freight bill, you may find that you were overcharged. If you don’t know how to audit a paid freight bill or recover overpaid freight charges — find out or outsource it because those might be dollars you’re just throwing away.
Do you have any other tips for turning your shipping center into a profit center? Feel free to share them with us in the comments section below. For more information see this.
