Are you expanding your business to other countries? International shipment is one concern that you need to get sorted out before that happens. There are a lot of additional expenses that come with sending products abroad. You have to consider taxes, packaging, and the courier. Although some of them are unavoidable, it is possible to minimize costs in delivery without jeopardizing your product’s quality.
Go with aerial freight
Without a doubt, transporting goods by plane is the faster option, but that’s not the only thing that businesses need to consider. The price of aerial transportation tends to be higher because of the operational costs. Shipments that are below 500 kilograms or 1,100 pounds are better shipped through a plane. Any more than that would be cheaper on sea freights.
Another thing that you need to consider is the kind of item that will be shipped. Those going through planes will be moving less and generally more protected, especially if you invest in insurance. People with commercial pilot licenses are specifically trained to handle sensitive goods, so you know they are in good hands.
Also, perishable items are best to be shipped through the fastest means possible. With sea freight, they can only dock on large ports, unlike cargo planes. That means extra time is spent delivering the item from the dock to the storage area. It means additional road transportation costs as well.
Create local storage
Customers like deliveries that arrive speedily, and one way you can reduce delivery time is by having local warehouses. You can already have items stored on-hand, and all there is left to do is ship it from the warehouse to the individual customers. From weeks, delivery can be reduced to just days. This can have a positive impact on your customer reviews and services.
Logistics services are also a good way of tracking your items. Having a person on the ground to monitor the oncoming shipments will help you reduce errors in delivery. In case there are issues with the item, collecting and replacing said items would be more streamlined because it no longer has to go through so much travel.
Ship in bulk
Individual items can easily get lost in delivery. It’s easier to track items that are grouped together or in large containers. Aside from that, individual shipments are also the most costly because it requires separate packaging. Most deliveries use weight for their pricing. That means at a certain range. The price remains the same. It will be a waste if you don’t maximize the price by shipping multiple items at once.
If you are working with a third-party shipping company, they will likely offer discounts for bulk deliveries. You don’t have to be a big-named company to get these benefits either. It is also possible to negotiate with them directly. Most of the time, they are willing to offer such discounts if they see that you have a record of regular deliveries
Produce locally if possible
This may or may not apply to your company, but one food option to avoid delivery costs is by creating it locally. It may be possible to have some of your products done in the target country. Some companies only ship items in parts, and then the local partners are the ones who assemble with the rest. This results in fewer items being shipped, which means fewer expenses overall.
In some cases, local productions can be more cost-efficient. This allows you to increase profits for that specific audience. Certain countries offer significantly cheaper labor. Though that doesn’t mean that you should abuse the system and underpay, it means that you can make production a lot cheaper as a whole.
